Tag: Brandon Zylstra

8 Lions who ended 2022 on the practice squad are now free agents

8 Lions who ended 2022 on the practice squad are now free agents after their contracts expired and did not sign reserve/future deals with the team

Monday marked the day when players who finished the 2022 regular season on the practice squad saw their contracts with teams expire. The Detroit Lions had eight members of the practice squad expire and not sign to a reserve/future contract.

Those eight players are now free agents who can sign reserve/future contracts with any other team or a practice squad deal with one of the eight teams still alive in the postseason.

The eight expired contracts:

PK Sam Ficken

TE Garrett Griffin

QB Steven Montez

CB A.J. Parker

CB Saivion Smith

LB Julian Stanford

OT Jarrid Williams

WR Brandon Zylstra

The Lions have 11 players signed to reserve/future contracts. All of those players were with the Lions practice squad or injured reserve at the end of the season.

For the players not signed to reserve/future contracts, it’s a pretty good sign their time with the Lions is over.

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Shane Zylstra relishes celebrating his 1st NFL touchdown with brother Brandon on the Lions sideline

Shane and Brandon Zylstra are the 1st brothers to play offense together in the same game in Lions team history

Lions tight end Shane Zylstra scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on Sunday, a sliding catch in the end zone. The accomplishment of scoring in the NFL is a grand feat in its own right, but Zylstra was lucky enough to share the moment with his brother, Lions teammate Brandon Zylstra.

Both Zylstras were elevated from the practice squad against the Packers. Brandon, a wide receiver, returned the opening kickoff. Shane was one of the blockers in front of him, making them the first brothers who play on offense to ever take the field together in Lions history.

When Shane scored his touchdown, celebrating with his brother made it extra special.

“The first thing I did was go back to the sideline and embrace with Brandon,” Zylstra said. “He was one of the first people I talked to on the sideline. It was a pretty special moment.”

The bond between the brothers is obvious. Shane talked about the support Brandon has given him on his “unconventional path” to scoring his first NFL touchdown.

“He always knew I’d be here,” Shane said of his older brother. “His belief in me that’s really kept me driven and motivated me to get to this spot. He just said he’s proud and so happy for me.”

Lions sign WR Stanley Berryhill, elevate Zylstra brothers from practice squad

Lions sign WR Stanley Berryhill and elevate the Zylstra brothers in advance of the Week 9 game with the Packers

The Detroit Lions, as they do every Saturday, made a couple of roster adjustments in advance of Sunday’s home date with the Green Bay Packers.

With an opening on the active 53-man roster following the trade of tight end T.J. Hockenson, the Lions signed wide receiver Stanley Berryhill to the active roster from the practice squad.

Berryhill was elevated from the practice squad last week but did not have any statistics. He was originally signed to the Lions practice squad in October after being released by the Arizona Cardinals.

Joining Berryhill on the active roster against Green Bay in Week 9 are the Zylstra brothers. Both Shane and Brandon were elevated from the Lions practice squad to the active roster. Brandon is a wide receiver and Shane is a tight end. Both have played exclusively on special teams for the Lions in limited time on the roster in 2022.

Lions add kicker Michael Badgley among practice squad signings

Badgley made all four of his FG attempts for the Bears in Week 4

There is a new kicker in the Detroit Lions building. The Lions signed veteran Michael Badgley to the practice squad among a couple of additions to the reserve unit.

Badgley and wide receiver Brandon Zylstra signed to Detroit’s practice squad on Tuesday.

Badgley, now on his fourth NFL team in the last 11 months, fills the No. 2 kicker role behind Austin Seibert previously held by Dominik Eberle. The Lions waived Eberle from the active roster after he missed two extra points and booted a kickoff out of bounds in his Lions debut in Week 4. Badgley was the Chicago Bears kicker in Week 4 and made all four of his field goal attempts in Chicago’s 20-12 loss to the New York Giants.

Zylstra joins his brother, Shane, on the Lions’ practice squad. Brandon Zylstra is a 6-2, 215-pound wideout who spent the last three seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He caught 18 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown in 2021.

Brandon Zylstra could be a replacement for wideout Quintez Cephus, who suffered a foot injury in the Week 4 loss.

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Panthers cut WR Brandon Zylstra

The Panthers’ WR room is beginning to take shape, as they cut ties with the versatile Brandon Zylstra.

The Carolina Panthers are now down a wide receiver/punt returner/kick returner/emergency kicker.

On Tuesday, Brandon Zylstra was the 16th known player to be cut by the team in their move to an initial 53-man roster. Joseph Person of The Athletic was first with the news.

Following two years as a member of the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos, Zylstra broke into the NFL as a free agent signing by the Minnesota Vikings in 2018. He’d appear in all 16 games that season— primarily as a special teams piece—recording four punt returns and one kick return as well as a single reception for 23 yards.

Carolina then scooped Zylstra off waivers on Sept. 1, 2019. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder saw his role increase a bit, as he reeled in eight receptions for 106 yards in addition to playing on special teams.

In his three campaigns with the Panthers, Zylstra amassed 391 yards and one score off 29 receptions over 37 games.

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Panthers to bring back WR Brandon Zylstra on one-year deal

WR Brandon Zylstra is headed back to the Panthers on a one-year pact.

According to his own agent, wide receiver Brandon Zylstra will return to the Carolina Panthers on a one-year deal. The 28-year-old has spent the last three seasons with the organization and is coming off a career-best campaign in 2021.

We will update you on the agreement as more details become available.

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Panthers snap count standouts: All Cam Newton, no P.J. Walker

Well, so much for the Panthers’ two-quarterback system, huh?

The Carolina Panthers were getting on everyone’s last nerve by blissfully employing their odd two-quarterback approach. Heck, even P.J. Walker admitted that it isn’t much fun, and he’s the backup.

Well, maybe he had more fun not playing at all in the team’s 31-14 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 15 . . .

Watch: Panthers hold kicker tryouts during Week 15 pregame warmups

Watch as the Panthers try out a handful of kicking hopefuls less than an hour before their Week 15 contest.

With everything that has gone down between the Jacksonville Jaguars and now former head coach Urban Meyer, it’s really difficult to find a hotter mess in the NFL right now. But the Carolina Panthers may ask the Jaguars to hold their beer.

As if using an obnoxious two-quarterback approach after firing your offensive coordinator while riding an embarrassing three-game losing streak wasn’t enough, the Panthers lost kicker Zane Gonzalez to a quad injury during warmups on Sunday. The absence of Gonzalez, who’s been one of the few highlights of a dim 2021 campaign, then led to Carolina having to hold pregame tryouts for the vacant kicking duties.

And, uh, well . . .

The Panthers gauged the “services” of punter Lachlan Edwards, wide receiver Brandon Zylstra, running back Reggie Bonnafon and quarterback P.J. Walker prior to the Week 15 matchup against the Buffalo Bills. None of them, by the way (even Edwards), has attempted a field goal in their NFL careers.

Should be a fun one today, folks!

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Panthers bring in RB/KR Ameer Abdullah for Wednesday visit

With their return options dwindling, the Panthers brought in special teams specialist Ameer Abdullah in for a visit on Wednesday.

With Brandon Zylstra now on the injured reserve and Alex Erickson currently dealing with a concussion, the Carolina Panthers will once again have to find someone to return kicks. That someone could be a guy they just saw this past Sunday.

Per the league transaction wire, the Panthers brought in running back Ameer Abdullah for a visit on Wednesday. The 5-foot-9, 196-pounder was released by the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday, just after taking back a pair of kickoffs in the Week 6 matchup with Carolina.

Abdullah has had more than a fair share of experience in the kickoff return game, having now totaled 94 career attempts between his time in Minnesota and Detroit at an average of 26.2 yards per try. He has not, though, fielded a single punt over his seven seasons.

The week is still relatively young, so the situation remains fluid. But if Erickson does, indeed, stay put for the Week 7 trip to New York, the answer to this potential void doesn’t appear like it’ll be an easy one.

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Panthers sign P Ryan Winslow to active roster, place WR Brandon Zylstra on IR

The Panthers called a guy up, put a guy down and brought another guy back in a trio of roster moves on Tuesday.

The Carolina Panthers did their due diligence yesterday, having worked out punter Drue Chrisman alongside long snapper Turner Bernard. But, it seems they’re just fine with the leg they have there now.

On Tuesday, the team announced the signing of Ryan Winslow to the active roster. Winslow was an addition to the practice squad last week following the back injury to Joseph Charlton.

In his call-up in Week 6 against the Minnesota Vikings, the 27-year-old booted six punts for an average of 40.7 yards per attempt. Three of those six were pinned inside the Minnesota 20-yard line.

Winslow will be taking the roster spot of wideout Brandon Zylstra, who has been placed on the injured reserve after sustaining a hamstring injury in the loss. Despite his return to the game following the issue, the fourth-year receiver will sit the next few weeks out.

Over the team’s six games, Zylstra has caught eight passes on eight targets for 139 yards and a touchdown.

Additionally, in a second corresponding move, the Panthers have brought back rusher Reggie Bonnafon to take Winslow’s spot on the practice squad. Bonnafon has played in 18 career games, all for Carolina, over his three-year career.

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