Already thin at the cornerback position, the Carolina Panthers took another hit Thursday, when the NFL announced that third-year veteran Rashard Anderson has been suspended for the entire 2002 season after a repeat violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

The team's first-round choice in the 2000 draft, and the 23rd player selected overall that year, Anderson will begin the suspension immediately. Under terms of the policy, he is eligible to apply for reinstatement after the 2002 season.

Anderson's agent, Ben Wilson, said his client has a "drug issue'' and takes full responsibility.

"Rashard has made a terrible mistake and will pay a terrible high price for it,'' Wilson said. "He regrets the mistake that he has made resulting in the suspension.

By definition, the season-long suspension means that Anderson has violated the policy on at least three occasions.

"It's unfortunate,'' Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. "He's told me that he's getting help for the problem. At this point it goes beyond football and our concern is for the person, not the player. We just hope that he can get help.''

Anderson, 24, recently underwent surgery to repair a disk problem in his neck and likely would have missed all of training camp. There was speculation Anderson would not have been rehabilitated in time for the start of the regular season.

Carolina has signed three veteran free agent cornerbacks in the offseason -- Terry Cousin, DeRon Jenkins and Fred Vinson -- but the position remains a problem. Club sources said the cornerbacks have not performed well so far in minicamps. The Panthers passed on the top-rated cornerback in the draft, Quentin Jammer of the University of Texans, to instead choose North Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers.

In two seasons, Anderson appeared in 27 games and started nine contests, all of the starts coming in 2001. He had 45 tackles, one interception and five passes defensed last season. For his career, he has 59 tackles, one interception and six passes defensed.

The former Jackson State standout, who also played safety in college, signed a five-year, $6 million in 2000. The deal included a $2.83 million signing bonus. Carolina will recoup Anderson's base salary of $533,750 for 2002 and will likely recover a reporting bonus of $100,000 as well.

That financial tradeoff aside, the cap-strapped Panthers remain even more hampered by the lack of quality cornerbacks on the roster.

The suspension of Anderson continues the misfortune the Panthers have experienced with their first-round draft choices. The team has exercised nine first-round picks since it came into the league in 1995. Of that group, just two -- middle linebacker Dan Morgan (2001) and Peppers (2002) -- remain on the current roster.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior writer for ESPN.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report.