Tag: Lano Hill

Panthers sign former Bengals linebacker Josh Bynes

Bynes offers experience and versatility – he has played every linebacker spot at some point in his career.

The Panthers just announced that they have signed free agent linebacker Josh Bynes.

After playing his college football at Auburn, Bynes went undrafted and was first signed by the Ravens in 2011. He spent three seasons in Baltimore, followed by three in Detroit and two in Arizona before going back to the Ravens in 2019. Bynes suited up for the Bengals last season. All together, he’s appeared in 117 NFL games, totaling 477 tackles.

Bynes offers experience and versatility – he has played every linebacker spot at some point in his career.

The Panthers have also released safety Lano Hill.

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Panthers preparing to release S Lano Hill

Hill signed with Carolina back in May, but he hasn’t had much luck since.

The Carolina Panthers are preparing to release former Seattle Seahawks safety Lano Hill, according to a report by Joe Person at the Athletic.

Hill signed with Carolina back in May, but he hasn’t had much luck since. He began camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list with a foot injury that he suffered during OTAs. Not long after, Hill was placed on the team’s reserve/COVID-19 list, which he’s still on.

When Hill was signed we thought he might have a chance to compete for the starting free safety spot in Tre Boston’s absence. It seems the Panthers have settled on their choice, though. In the first unofficial depth chart that was released yesterday, Jeremy Chinn is listed as the starter at that position.

Once Hill’s release has been officially announced, the Panthers will have two open spots on their 90-man roster. Fullback Mikey Daniel was also released yesterday.

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Panthers announce 3 more roster moves before first training camp practice

Rookie defensive tackle Phil Hoskins is also being placed on the active/PUP list due to a foot injury.

The Carolina Panthers will be starting their first training camp practice of 2021 in about half an hour. Before they begin, there’s a couple more housekeeping notes.

Yesterday, the team placed outside linebacker Frankie Luvu on the reserve/COVID-19 list and safety Lano Hill on active/PUP. Today, two more players are going on the COVID list: Hill as well as tight end Stephen Sullivan.

Rookie defensive tackle Phil Hoskins is also being placed on the active/PUP list due to a foot injury.

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Panthers place one player on PUP, another on COVID/reserve list

The Carolina Panthers will begin 2021 training camp a couple of players short.

The Carolina Panthers will begin 2021 training camp a couple of players short.

According to a release on the team website, outside linebacker Frankie Luvu has been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. Like starting quarterback Sam Darnold, Luvu spent the first three seasons of his career with the Jets. In 40 games he’s posted six sacks and 16 quarterback hits in a rotational role. He signed a one-year deal with the Panthers in March.

The Panthers also announced that safety Lano Hill has been placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to begin camp. Hill comes to Carolina by way of Seattle, where he was a third-round pick in the 2017 NFL draft. Hill has only started six games since, but he is one of the candidates to take over at free safety in the absence of Tre Boston.

Everyone else is expected to report tomorrow morning when the first practice begins.

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Panthers 2021 training camp: 4 under-the-radar players to watch on defense

The Panthers defense developed a lot late in the 2020 season.

The Carolina Panthers defense developed a lot late in the 2020 season. That growth down the stretch plus the addition of a few new faces has brought out a bit of hype for this unit for the first time in several years.

During training camp, we’ll hear a lot about guys like Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn and rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn. For now, let’s take a look at a few under-the-radar defensive players heading into camp.

Panthers save $3.5 million in cap space with Tre Boston release official today

That move becomes official today (June 1), which will save the team roughly $3.5 million in salary cap space for 2021.

Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has had an impressive first offseason. He got high marks for both his work in free agency and during the 2021 NFL draft, and rightfully so. However, no executive is perfect and he has made a couple of questionable moves, as well.

The biggest to follow in the coming years will be whether or not it was the right call to pass on Justin Fields in the draft – regardless of how well Jaycee Horn plays corner. On a far smaller scale, Fitterer’s decision to cut free safety Tre Boston a couple months ago was also iffy.

That move becomes official today (June 1), which will save the team roughly $3.5 million in salary cap space for 2021.

While it’s nice to get that extra chunk of change, the price of forfeiting the best (and only) true free safety on the roster just wasn’t worth it.

Even with a gaping hole at this critical position, it’s gone pretty much entirely unaddressed this offseason until very recently. After ignoring a deep market of veterans, the Panthers completely passed on what was considered a strong class of safeties in the draft, leading to questions about who will replace Boston in the starting lineup.

At the moment, our best wild guess is that it will be Lano Hill, who signed a couple weeks ago after playing the first few years of his career in Seattle. The Seahawks picked him in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft but he never saw much playing time. Hill started just six of 42 games and saw his snap count shrink every year. Worse, injuries have cost him 18 games over the last two seasons. Hill should be considered unproven as far as potentially taking over Boston’s former role.

Other options on the roster include Juston Burris and Jeremy Chinn, neither of whom are particularly well-suited to play the centerfield spot in what’s been a heavy cover 3 scheme from defensive coordinator Phil Snow so far.

For what it’s worth, Earl Thomas is still out there.

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Panthers sign 2 players, waive 3 after rookie minicamp

Panthers sign 2 players, waive 3 after rookie minicamp

The headline grabber for rookie minicamps this weekend, perhaps particularly amongst Carolina Panthers fans, was the New York Giants trying to revive whatever’s left of wide receiver turned tight end Kelvin Benjamin. But, hey, your team did some work, too!

On Sunday afternoon, the Panthers announced the signings of two participants from their tryouts, safety Lano Hill and defensive end Kendall Donnerson.

Hill, formerly known as Delano, was a third-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2017. (So, yes, there are some ties to general manager Scott Fitterer.) He has played 42 career games, having started six of them in the Seattle secondary from 2018 to 2019.

A seventh-round selection by the Green Bay Packers back in 2018, Donnerson entered the league as an outside linebacker from Southeast Missouri State University. He has yet to log an official NFL snap, having also bounced around to the practice squads for the Las Vegas Raiders and the Cincinnati Bengals over the last two seasons.

The corresponding moves to free up space for Hill and Donnerson came at the expense of three others, with kicker Matt Ammendola, linebacker Daniel Bituli and defensive tackle P.J. Johnson having been waived.

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Seahawks place Lano Hill on injured reserve, promote Damarious Randall

The Seattle Seahawks have placed safety Lano Hill on injured reserve and promoted Damarious Randall to his spot from the practice squad.

The Seattle Seahawks are busy adjusting their roster as they return from the bye week, having gotten a more thorough look at the injury situation. On Wednesday, Seattle placed safety Lano Hill on the injured reserve and promoted Damrious Randall to Hill’s spot on the active roster from the practice squad.

Hill had been battling a back injury that coach Pete Carroll had feared could develop into a long-term issue. The safety had missed the last three games for Seattle.

“Lano’s got some issues with his back that haven’t really turned in the right direction,” Carroll had said Monday. “We’re looking after him right now. He’s not ready to come back yet.”

Because Randall had already been elevated twice this season, Seattle had no choice but to sign him to the 53-man roster to continue to utilize his services on game days.

“He’s a good ballplayer and he’s been around us now enough as he’s starting to dig in,” Carroll said of Randall on Monday. “So I’m excited about what he can add.”

Seattle also signed two linebackers to the practice squad on Wednesday, including former Seahawk Mychal Kendricks.

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Seahawks sign linebacker Mychal Kendricks to practice squad

The Seahawks have signed linebacker Mychal Kendricks – who spent the last two seasons in Seattle – to the practice squad on Wednesday.

The Seattle Seahawks announced a number of roster moves on Wednesday, including the return of another familiar face, signing linebacker Mychal Kendricks to the practice squad.

Kendricks spent the last two years in Seattle and finished 2019 on the injured reserve after tearing his ACL. He started 14 games for the Seahawks last season, logging 71 tackles, 3.0 sacks and one interception.

“We were fortunate to get him on our practice squad right now,” coach Pete Carroll told reporters during his press conference. “He’s still a free agent and all that but he’s on his road to recovery right now, coming back in and proving he can do it.”

Kendricks had reportedly visited the Seahawks earlier in the month.

Seattle also signed another veteran linebacker to the practice squad, Ray-Ray Armstrong. Armstrong, who has spent time with the Cowboys, 49ers, Giants, Raiders, Rams and Browns over his eight years in the league, has appeared in 84 games.

Finally, the Seahawks have promoted safety Damarious Randall from the practice squad to take the spot of Lano Hill, who has been placed on the injured reserve.

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Seahawks injury updates ahead of Sunday night vs. Vikings

Coach Pete Carroll provided a number of Seattle Seahawks injury updates ahead of the Sunday-night contest against the Minnesota Vikings.

The Seattle Seahawks only ruled out one player ahead of the team’s Week-5 matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. Safety Jamal Adams will not sit up Sunday night due to his lingering groin injury.

On Friday afternoon, coach Pete Carroll gave injury updates on the five players Seattle had designated as questionable to play.

Cornerback Quinton Dunbar (knee): “He did really well, particularly yesterday in a full-go practice,” Carroll said. “There’s a really good chance that he’s going to be ready to go.”

Linebacker Jordy Brooks (knee): “He is feeling a lot better,” Carroll stated. “He has made a turn, so it’s positive. Again, with that week next week looming, it’s kind of hard to not utilize that for some of these guys, so that’s in the back of my mind for sure.”

Guard Mike Iupati (knee/back): “Mike came back today and felt OK,” Carroll noted. “We took care of them today, but he just had some lower back spasms or something that jumped up and resolved real quickly.”

Running back Carlos Hyde (shoulder): “We just have to make the decision on whether or not he’s going to be safe to go,” Carroll said. “We don’t want to set him back at all knowing we have a big break coming. So he’s another one of those guys that kind of falls into that consideration.”

Safety Lano Hill (back): “He has not been able to make the turn,” Carroll revealed. “He’s got some issues he’s dealing with that seems to be in a pattern where it’s not changing much, so we’re concerned about him getting right.”

The inactive list will be released 90 minutes before kickoff on Sunday night.

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