Tag: JJ Jansen

Report: JJ Jansen likely returning for 16th season with Panthers

Longtime long snapper JJ Jansen may be back with the Panthers in 2024.

The longest-tenured Carolina Panther may be tenured even longer.

Joe Person of The Athletic dropped a few bits of info in a new report on Thursday. Amongst the nuggets was one on long snapper JJ Jansen, who is currently set to hit free agency.

But according to Person, the longtime long snapper is likely staying put in Charlotte. He writes:

The team’s previous regime was interested in re-signing the 38-year-old Jansen, who has played in 243 consecutive games since arriving in 2009 in a trade from Green Bay, according to a source briefed on the situation. The sense here is Jansen will be back for a 16th season.

Those 243 games stand as a franchise record, one he broke in the middle of the 2022 campaign. Jansen surpassed former kicker John Kasay, who appeared in 221 games for the Panthers between 1995 and 2010.

Jansen has already played under four different head coaches in Carolina—including John Fox, Ron Rivera, Matt Rhule and Frank Reich. So, will Dave Canales become No. 5?

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Full list of 2024 Panthers free agents

The Panthers currently have 26 players slated for free agency in 2024.

Things have changed a bit since the last time we brought you this free agent list.

A few weeks back, the Carolina Panthers held on to a few of their own—re-signing tight end Stephen Sullivan and defensive linemen Nick Thurman LaBryan Ray to fresh deals.

So, let’s take an updated look at the team’s pending 2024 free agents.

4 Panthers receive All-Pro votes for 2023 season

Four Panthers players got some recognition on this year’s All-Pro ballots.

The Carolina Panthers didn’t have a single player land on either of the Associated Press’ 2023 All-Pro teams. But they did have a handful who garnered a bit of recognition.

This year’s results showed that four Panthers received at least one vote from the panel of 50 national media members. The players who got some love include defensive tackle Derrick Brown, running back Raheem Blackshear, wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette and long snapper JJ Jansen.

Despite setting a new single-season record for most tackles by a defensive lineman (103), Brown finished sixth amongst all interior defenders—a group led by Los Angeles’ Aaron Donald and Kansas City’s Chris Jones. The fourth-year wrecking ball, who also led his peers in stops (53) and run stop win rate (47 percent), received one first-place vote.

Blackshear and Smith-Marsette were considered for their production on special teams. Blackshear, who got two second-place votes as a kick returner, averaged 26.9 yards per attempt. Smith-Marsette, the owner of two first-place votes as a punt returner, fielded a league-high 37 tries with one touchdown.

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2024 free agents who may be playing their final game for the Panthers in Week 18

Week 18 may mark the end of an era for a few Carolina Panthers players.

Sunday will not only represent the end of a brutal 2023 season for the Carolina Panthers, but it may also mark the end of a few eras.

Here are 23 pending free agents who could be playing their last game for the Panthers in Week 18:

*List excludes pending free agents who are on the practice squad, who are on injured reserve and who have been ruled out

4 Panthers named alternates for 2024 Pro Bowl Games

The Panthers didn’t have a single player named to the NFC’s 2024 Pro Bowl Games squad. But they do have four alternates.

Unsurprisingly, the 2-14 Carolina Panthers did not have a single player named to the NFC Pro Bowl Games squad. But they do have a handful of understudies.

As announced on Wednesday night, four Panthers have been named alternates for this year’s all-star festivities—defensive tackle Derrick Brown, outside linebacker Brian Burns, punter Johnny Hekker and long snapper JJ Jansen.

Brown, who is a first alternate, may stand as one of the conference’s biggest snubs. The fourth-year wrecking ball currently leads all players at his position in run stop win rate (48 percent) and stops (48), and is only three takedowns away from setting a new single-season tackles record for a defensive lineman.

Interim head coach Chris Tabor spoke about Brown earlier today.

“Oh, I think he’s havin’ a heck of a year,” Tabor said. “What is he? Three tackles short of 100?  I mean, think about that. That position, and to have the opportunity to get over 100 tackles.

“I’ve said it for weeks—I don’t call him ‘DB,’ I call him ‘Pro Bowler.'”

Burns, a starter for the NFC in 2022 and 2023, is a second alternate while Hekker and Jansen are third alternates.

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Johnny Hekker calls Madden’s long snapper ratings ‘ridiculous’

Panthers P Johnny Hekker wants the folks over at EA Sports to know that long snappers are people, too. #SaveTheSnappers

With the NFL currently ablaze under the burning topic of the depressed running back market, Carolina Panthers punter Johnny Hekker hit Twitter on Friday to take up for another overlooked position. The 12th-year veteran and four-time First-team All-Pro simply wasn’t having it with EA Sports, who weren’t too kind to long snappers in their ratings for “Madden NFL 24.”

Sure, long snappers aren’t exactly the most important players on the field. But Hekker’s got a point.

For one, they don’t even have their own designation on the video game’s official website. Instead of being listed as “LS,” since—ya know—they’re long snappers, they’re categorized as tight ends.

EA.com

And that 36 rating for JJ Jansen! My goodness!

Apparently, the developers over at EA are unaware of the Iron Man-like durability of Jansen—who just broke the franchise record for most games played. They probably don’t even know about his dual-threat skills as a director either.

Hekker’s right. Save the snappers!

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Who belongs on the Carolina Panthers’ Mount Rushmore?

Three cheers for the black, white and process blue! Here are our picks for which Panthers would occupy the franchise’s Mount Rushmore.

Happy Fourth of July, folks! Now, let’s celebrate the red, white and blue with a little black, white and process blue.

Here—based on which players have put forth the most productive, successful and impactful careers in franchise history—is our Mount Rushmore for the Carolina Panthers.

Carolina Panthers 53-man roster projection: OTAs edition

As we enter June, let’s take a crack at projecting the Panthers’ initial 2023 53-man roster.

With one of the franchise’s most exciting offseasons in the books, the Carolina Panthers might be primed to contend this upcoming season. And although there still may be moves on the horizon, we can still sift through the 88-player program to make an opening-week projection.

So, here is our current set of predictions of how the team’s 53-man roster will look come Week 1.

(Side note: Players are listed in alphabetical order. So, no, this is not a depth chart projection.)

Panthers LS JJ Jansen delivers Oscar-worthy performance in schedule reveal

Panthers LS JJ Jansen received critical acclaim for his performance in the team’s 2023 schedule reveal video.

JJ Jansen is more than just a long snapper.

On Thursday night, the Carolina Panthers released their highly-anticipated schedule reveal video—a production that starred the longtime long snapper Jansen. And if the 37-year-old calls it quits from the football field after the upcoming 2023 season, he may have a career in Hollywood waiting for him.

After the video hit the web and made its rounds, Jansen promptly received rave reviews—one of which came from his fellow special teamer . . .

A few of Jansen’s other teammates were interviewed about the video during the team’s release party. WCNC’s Nick Carboni was on the scene following the scenes:

Before dominating the set, Jansen was re-signed to a one-year deal back on Feb. 20, which’ll bring him into his 16th NFL campaign. He’ll look to add to his franchise-record 226 games played, a mark he established this past season.

But for now, he’s got the acting credits up to one—and an impressive one at that.

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