Panthers sign rookie LB on Thursday

The Panthers signed rookie LB Aaron Beasley on Thursday.

The Carolina Panthers kept themselves busy on Thursday.

As announced this afternoon, the team has signed rookie linebacker Aaron Beasley. The 6-foot-1, 225-pound defender joins the roster after completing a workout earlier in the day.

Beasley, a Franklin Ga. native, played all five of his collegiate seasons at the University of Tennessee. Over 56 games between 2019 and 2023, he recorded 238 total tackles (32.5 for a loss), 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception and seven passes defensed.

To make room for Beasley, the Panthers waived/injured offensive lineman Badara Traore. Traore, who first joined the team last December, played 25 snaps in this summer’s preseason opener against the New England Patriots—with 11 coming at left tackle and 14 at right tackle.

Carolina also pulled the trigger on a trade with the Seattle Seahawks just hours before the addition of Beasley—acquiring cornerback Michael Jackson in exchange for 2024 seventh-round pick and rookie linebacker Michael Barrett. Beasley could see action in Saturday’s preseason finale with the departure of Barrett.

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Panthers sign 11 players to future deals on Monday

The Panthers have signed 11 members of their practice squad to future deals.

Carolina Panthers assistant general manager Dan Morgan began the organization’s transition from Scott Fitterer on Monday.

In addition to signing tight end Stephen Sullivan and defensive linemen Nick Thurman and LaBryan Ray to one-year extensions, the team also brought back 11 practice squad members on future deals.

Here are those 11 players:

Panthers’ updated practice squad after addition of Badara Traore

The Panthers added another hog molly to their practice squad on Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the Carolina Panthers filled the spot left behind by Chris Wormley’s promotion to the active roster.

Taking the 16th place on the practice squad is offensive tackle Badara Traore—who has previously spent time with the Chicago Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals.

Here’s an updated look at the group following the addition:

Panthers sign offensive lineman to practice squad on Tuesday

The Panthers have added OT Badara Traore to their practice squad, just one day after he signed a letter of intent with the XFL’s DC Defenders.

The Carolina Panthers added a pretty big hog molly to their practice squad on Tuesday.

As reported by Darin Gantt of Panthers.com, the team has inked offensive tackle Badara Traore to the group. The 6-foot-7, 327-pound lineman now accounts as the 16th member of the practice squad.

A Hyde Mark, Mass. native, Traore played his first two years of collegiate ball at ASA College in Brooklyn, N.Y. He then transferred to Louisiana State University in 2018, where he started five of his 26 games for the Tigers.

Traore would crack into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Chicago Bears in the spring of 2020. He’d stick around in the Windy City for two seasons as part of the Bears’ practice squad.

After being waived by Chicago in the summer of 2022, Traore was claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He appeared in one game for Jacksonville in 2021 and, following another release, one game for the Arizona Cardinals in 2022.

Traore now joins the Panthers just one day after signing a letter of intent for the XFL’s D.C. Defenders.

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Cardinals training camp roster preview: OL Badare Traore

We take a look at OL Badara Traore and his chances of making the final roster for the Cardinals.

The Arizona Cardinals open training camp at the end of this month, so we will do a roster review, highlighting each player currently on the roster, going over last season, their salary and cap number, questions they face and what their expected roster status will be.

Next up is OL Badara Traore.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

Notre Dame adds another 2023 defensive line commit

The defensive line haul is extremely impressive for the Irish

The Irish have consistently been ranked at the top or near the top of the 2023 recruiting cycle. This evening they have added Massachusetts defensive lineman Boubacar Traore to the already impressive class.

At six-foot-five-inches and 235-pounds, Traore selected the Irish over Boston College (was once committed), Michigan, and Pittsburgh. Those were his only current offers, which is a bit strange for a player who is viewed as one of the top players at his position. It’s also a bit odd due to the family lineage, his brother Badara, went to LSU and although went undrafted is currently an offensive tackle for the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Traore becomes the eleventh total commit in Marcus Freeman’s first full recruiting cycle, the third defensive lineman with Keon Keeley and Brenan Vernon. The 2023 Notre Dame recruiting class is beginning to look like it will be on that will shape Freeman’s tenure.

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Jags elevate 5 players from practice squad before season finale vs. Colts

Danny Etling will officially be the Jags No. 2 QB Sunday against Indy after the team elevated him and six others from the practice squad.

The Jacksonville Jaguars announced that they elevated six players from their practice squad Saturday for Week 18’s game against the Indianapolis Colts, and those players are as follows:

  • P Joseph Charlton
  • RB Nathan Cottrell
  • QB Danny Etling
  • WR Josh Hammond
  • OL Badara Traore
  • OL Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms

With all of the COVID-19 cases the team has endured the last few weeks (or instances that requires a player to quarantine), it was a given that they would be elevating a good amount of players for their season finale to fill out their roster. According to the team’s official site, there are nine players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list currently and a few of them are starters.

The most notable player placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list this week was backup quarterback C.J. Beathard, which explains the elevation of Danny Etling.

Punter J.K. Scott was placed on the Jags’ Reserve/COVID-19 list early in the week as well, which put the Jags in a predicament where they had to sign Joseph Charlton to the practice squad and elevate him to the active roster. The move is one that will give the Jags their second change at punter this season as the team’s original starter, Logan Cooke, was placed on season-ending injured reserve on Dec. 28 for a knee injury.

When the Jags take the field Sunday, they will also be without three offensive linemen in starters Brandon Linder and Cam Robinson, and one of their top backups on the unit in Will Richardson. That explains why the team elevated both Badara Traore and Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms, who were elevated last week as well alongside running back Nathan Cottrell.

Jags activate 9 from practice squad before game vs. Patriots

With several Jags players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, they decided to activate nine practice squad players for Sunday’s game against the Pats, including veteran offensive lineman D.J. Fluker.

With several of their players being placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list dating back to last week, the Jacksonville Jaguars went through this week short-handed on players. For that reason, it was almost a certainty that they would have to activate several players from their practice squad despite getting a wave of players back from the list on Friday and Saturday.

They did that Saturday afternoon by activating nine practice squad players for their Week 17 game against the New England Patriots — and that list is as follows:

  • CB Lorenzo Burns
  • DT Doug Costin
  • WR Jeff Cotton Jr.
  • RB Nathan Cottrell
  • OL D.J. Fluker
  • DB Michael Jacquet
  • S Bradley McDougald
  • OL Badara Traore
  • OL Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms

The Jags’ offensive line in particular is the unit most seem to be concerned about as they will be without starters Cam Robinson, Brandon Linder, and Ben Bartch. Additionally, their third-string guard, Will Richardson, went on injured reserve this week, too.

Thankfully, the Jags have an experienced player in Tyler Shatley (31 career starts) to start in Linder’s place and second-round rookie left tackle Walker Little (one start and 110 offensive snaps) to play in Robinson’s place. However, it appears the team could be eyeing Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms (no career starts) and recent free-agent signing D.J. Fluker (96 career starts) to be their guards this week.

The other notables added from the practice squad who could see significant snaps on offense include receiver Jeff Cotton (replaces Jaydon Mickens) and running back Nathan Cottrell (because James Robinson and Carlos Hyde are on IR). Then on defense, defensive tackle Doug Costin (Dawuane Smoot and Jay Tufele on Reserve/COVID-19) could be that player on defense.

Jags make a few practice squad moves to begin Week 9

Jacksonville added defensive lineman Jeremiah Ledbetter to its practice squad, among several other moves.

Jacksonville’s 31-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon was one the team will want to forget about quickly. Unfortunately, with Buffalo coming to town next week, the road only gets tougher.

On Monday, the Jaguars made a couple of roster moves after the game involving their practice squad. The first was signing defensive end Jeremiah Ledbetter, who is a free agent that was most recently on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad until he was released last week.

A former sixth-round pick out of Arkansas in 2017, Ledbetter saw the bulk of his playing time come with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020, and he has 18 tackles and a sack on his career.

Further, offensive lineman Badara Traore was restored to the practice squad from the practice squad injured reserve list. Traore, an undrafted pickup for Chicago last year, has only appeared in one NFL game.

To help clear space on the practice squad, the team released receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe. The former Illinois player is an undrafted rookie who the Jags signed this offseason, but he suffered an injury during the preseason and was released on Aug. 26. He rejoined the practice squad on Oct. 12, but it seems he’ll be looking for a new home once again.

Jaguars resign OL Austen Pleasants to practice squad

Pleasants was with the team during the offseason, but he was released ahead of final roster cuts.

Jacksonville has made a move with its practice squad, as offensive lineman Austen Pleasants has been brought back into the fold. This move comes after offensive lineman Badara Traore was placed on the practice squad injury list.

The 6-foot, 7-inch Pleasants was originally signed by the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent out of Ohio last season. He didn’t make the final 53-man roster but was placed on the practice squad. After the season, he signed a futures contract with the team.

Pleasants was released this offseason ahead of the final roster cut date after mostly seeing action on the interior at guard throughout training camp. With him coming back, it could be a sign that Jacksonville wants more bodies on the interior with A.J. Cann struggling while Ben Bartch and Tyler Shatley are the only non-starting interior players on the active roster.

The nature and severity of Traore’s injury remain unclear, but it seems Pleasants will be around the locker room for at least the short-term future.