Tag: LaBryan Ray

Panthers sign 3 of their own free agents

The Panthers signed three players to one-year extensions on Monday.

Firing general manager Scott Fitterer didn’t stop the Carolina Panthers from making some roster moves on Monday.

As announced this afternoon, the team has signed tight end Stephen Sullivan and defensive linemen Nick Thurman and LaBryan Ray to one-year extensions.

Sullivan, who was slated to be a restricted free agent this spring, recorded career-highs in offensive snaps (170) and special teams snaps (185) in 2023. He also notched bests in targets (24), receptions (12) and receiving yards (125).

Thurman and Ray, exclusive rights free agents, will also be returning off the heels of their most productive pro campaigns. Both appeared in each of the Panthers’ 17 games.

Ray registered his first career start in the Week 14 loss to the New Orleans Saints. He finished the year with 19 combined tackles, three of which came in yesterday’s finale against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Thurman, who played in 34.9 percent of the team’s defensive snaps, ranked eighth on the unit in stops (16).

With the trio inking back on, the Panthers now have two remaining restricted free agents (wide receiver Ihmir Smith-Marsette and tight end Giovanni Ricci) and one remaining exclusive rights free agent (running back Raheem Blackshear).

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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

8 Panthers get new uniform numbers on Wednesday

Eight players on the Panthers’ active roster donned new digits on Wednesday.

While we were busy putting much of our attention on Brian Burns and his fellow team captains, quite a few Carolina Panthers debuted some new digits on Wednesday.

Here are the uniform number updates for eight of the active roster’s players:

Former Panthers DT Bravvion Roy thanks Carolina

Bravvion Roy, who was waived by the Panthers on Monday morning, thanked Carolina right after the news broke.

Right before the start of their fourth practice at training camp, the Carolina Panthers officially swapped a Roy for a Ray.

To make room for new defensive lineman LaBryan Ray, the team waived fourth-year veteran Bravvion Roy. Roy had spent all three of his NFL seasons with Carolina, and thanked them for his time shortly after the news broke:

A Houston, Texas native, Roy attended nearby Baylor University from 2016 to 2019. There, he recorded 133 total tackles (19.0 for a loss), 7.5 sacks and a forced fumble over 42 outings.

Roy would then be taken by the Panthers with the 184th overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft, following Baylor head coach Matt Rhule to the pros. The sixth-round selection played in 45 games for Carolina between 2020 and 2022—amassing 76 tackles, 1.0 sack, eight quarterback hits and an interception.

With the defense’s move to a 3-4 base under new coordinator Ejiro Evero, the 6-foot-1, 330-pounder may be lacking the length at the nose tackle position—helping prompt their move for the bigger Ray.

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Former Alabama DL LaBryan Ray signs with the Carolina Panthers

Former Alabama defensive lineman finds a new home in the NFL!

The 2023 NFL season is just around the corner and roster movement is now a constant. On Monday it was announced that former Alabama Crimson Tide defensive lineman, LaBryan Ray had signed with the Carolina Panthers.

Ray played for the Crimson Tide from 2017-21 where he accumulated 76 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks. He was a member of the 2017 and 2020 national championship teams.

The Madison, Alabama native would go undrafted in the 2022 NFL draft but was signed by the New England Patriots where he spent the entire season before being waived in February 2023.

Ray was a member of the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars where he had three sacks this past season.

Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Stacey Blackwood on Twitter @Blackwood89.

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Alabama football countdown to kickoff: 89 days

We are just 89 days away from the start of Alabama’s 2023 football season. Let’s take a look at a former No. 89 for the Tide, LaBryan Ray.

The Alabama Crimson Tide will take the field for the 2023 college football season in 89 days, as Middle Tennessee State visits Bryant Denny Stadium on Sept. 2.

Here at Roll Tide Wire, we will be counting down the days until [autotag]Nick Saban[/autotag] and his team take the field.

Today, with 89 days remaining, we will take a look at the last scholarship player to don the No. 89 for the Crimson Tide, [autotag]LaBryan Ray[/autotag].

Ray had an up-and-down career with the Tide as he battled injuries throughout his college career. In his five seasons with Alabama Ray amassed 76 total tackles, 14 tackles for loss, and 6.5 sacks.

Ray would switch to No. 18 for his final two seasons in Tuscaloosa. Currently, true freshman tight end Ty Lockwood wears No. 89 for the Tide.

LaBryan Ray’s Photo Gallery

9 former Patriots players who are still free agents

Here are the last remaining former Patriots players still listed as free agents.

After one week of free agency, the New England Patriots have managed to re-sign the vast majority of their pending free agents since the turn of the new league year.

They’ve also lost some key players as well, including wideout Jakobi Meyers and running back Damien Harris.

But not everyone has been picked up by another team yet. There are still some considerably noteworthy names swimming in the massive pool of free agency. For New England, that number has dwindled all the way down to 10 players left on the list.

Here are the former Patriots players still waiting to be signed in free agency.

Patriots signed these 11 practice squad players to future contracts

The Patriots signed 11 practice squad players to future contracts.

Even though the season is over, Tuesday was still a busy day for the New England Patriots with the team signing 11 practice squad players to future contracts.

These might seem like no-big-deal signings to some, but as the Patriots learned in an injury-plagued 2022 season, there’s no such thing as a no-big-deal signing. They’ve had to lean heavily on their practice squad to help fill thinning positions on the roster throughout the year.

The team even went out and signed offensive tackle Conor McDermott off the New York Jets’ practice squad to help fill the void left after the injury to former first-round draft pick Isaiah Wynn.

So the ability to develop players that can potentially help the team when called upon is obviously a big deal.

With the future contracts, the names that didn’t make the list were veteran linebacker Jamie Collins, offensive lineman Bill Murray, wideout Lynn Bowden, kicker Tristan Vizcaino and quarterback Garrett Gilbert.

Here are the 11 players that made it.

Many familiar faces return to practice after initially being cut by Patriots

Multiple preseason fan favorites were back at practice on Wednesday.

There were plenty of familiar faces back at practice after initially being cut by the New England Patriots on Tuesday.

Like the rest of the league, the Patriots went through the tough process of trimming their rosters down to 53 players. On Wednesday, many of the players on the cut list went on waivers with the chance of being claimed by another team.

The Patriots were fortunate that tight end Devin Asiasi was their only former player that got claimed on waivers. So that paved the way for a slew of fan favorites to return, including Lil’Jordan Humphrey, Tre Nixon, J.J. Taylor and LaBryan Ray.

Even veteran cornerback Terrance Mitchell was spotted at practice.

There was also a reported “mystery lineman” wearing a No. 68 jersey. Could it be Drew Desjarlais?

The Patriots will lean on some of their practice squad talent to fill roles at certain points throughout the season for a team that currently has more questions than answers.

At the very least, there are several players within the group that showed they were up for the challenge during the preseason slate.

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