Tag: Miles Sanders

Panthers’ deal with Miles Sanders listed amongst NFL’s worst contracts for 2024

The Panthers may have buyer’s remorse on Miles Sanders.

Plenty of eyebrows were raised when the Carolina Panthers signed running back Miles Sanders to a four-year, $25.4 million deal last spring. Turns out, those eyebrows weren’t unjustified in their positioning.

David Kenyon of Bleacher Report recently rattled off the NFL’s ten worst contracts ahead of the 2024 campaign. In at No. 8 on the list is that very pact between Sanders and the Panthers:

Miles Sanders assembled a decent four-year run with the Philadelphia Eagles and entered 2023 free agency on a high note. He’d rushed for 1,269 yards and 11 touchdowns in the previous season, and that production convinced the Carolina Panthers to offer a four-year contract.

Through one season, it’s a bust of a deal.

Sanders rushed for just 432 yards and lost his starting job to Chuba Hubbard in 2023. Then, the Panthers used a second-round pick on Jonathon Brooks in the 2024 NFL draft.

As a result, Sanders may hold a minimal role despite his contract having $7.5 million in dead money at best in 2024.

In all likelihood, the Panthers will release him next offseason when the penalty drops below $3 million.

Those 432 rushing yards were a career-low for Sanders, who was coming off his most productive season as a pro in 2023. He also hit worsts in starts (five) and attempts (129) while averaging 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest amongst all qualifying ball carriers.

President of football operations and general manager Dan Morgan did have some nice words on Sanders during the draft, stating that he still envisions a “big role” for the sixth-year veteran. But with Brooks in the fold and Hubbard continuing to impress this spring, Sanders may just be an expensive spectator for much of the upcoming season.

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Miles Sanders speaks on Panthers’ chemistry, competition at RB

Miles Sanders was asked about the chemistry and competition in Carolina’s crowded RB room.

Around this time last year, Miles Sanders was the guy of the Carolina Panthers’ running back room. And now, he’s just one of the guys.

Sanders spoke with reporters following Tuesday’s session of mandatory minicamp. He was asked about his impressions of the new offensive scheme under first-year head coach Dave Canales.

“Lookin’ at the new scheme—we’re gonna run the ball, we gon’ run the ball, we gon’ run the ball, we gon’ run the ball. And we’re gonna create a lot of opportunities for the guys that we have to get the ball in their hands. And it’s gonna be a fun year. It’s gonna be a very fun year.”

Some of those guys may include Sanders’ backfield mates—more specifically, last year’s leading rusher Chuba Hubbard and this year’s second-round pick Jonathon Brooks. So with quite a few mouths to feed at the position, Sanders was asked about the chemistry of the crowded spot.

“We had chemistry since I got in here last year starting with Chuba and Raheem [Blackshear],” he replied. “And now we got Jonathon, we got a couple of other new guys, we got [Rashaad] Penny, Penny in there too and [Mike] Boone. The guys are great. We all get along very well. We compete real good. And the chemistry in there, we all help each other to learn to the playbook.”

Sanders, who signed a four-year, $25.4 million deal with the Panthers last offseason, is coming off career-lows in starts (five), attempts (129) and rushing yards (432).

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Panthers RB Miles Sanders dealing with heel injury during OTAs

Panthers HC Dave Canales told reporters that RB Miles Sanders is currently dealing with a heel issue.

The Miles Sanders Revenge Tour isn’t off to the best of starts.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales spoke with reporters following Tuesday’s outing of organized team activities. He was asked about Sanders, who did not participate in drills on the afternoon.

“Miles just has a little something in his heel,” Canales stated. “It flared up on him a little bit a couple weeks ago. So we’re just trying to be really cautious with that. He’s been doing some running on the side, getting treatment, all that. He’s here, he’s locked in. So, just another precautionary measure there.”

Sanders, who signed a four-year, $25.4 million deal with the Panthers last offseason, is coming off one of the NFL’s most disappointing campaigns from 2023. He recorded career-lows in starts (five), attempts (129) and rushing yards (432) while scoring just one touchdown and averaging 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest amongst all qualifying players.

His down year gave way to teammate Chuba Hubbard, who rushed for a team-high 902 yards. Sanders may also be giving way to rookie Jonathon Brooks, whom Carolina selected with the 46th overall pick of the 2024 draft.

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Chuba Hubbard named Panthers’ most underappreciated player (again)

Perhaps Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard should be appreciated a bit more.

It might be time to start appreciating Chuba Hubbard.

For the second straight year, NFL.com has named the 24-year-old running back the most underappreciated player for the Carolina Panthers. This time around, it’s content editor Tom Blair singing the praises of Hubbard:

Hubbard made my colleague Cynthia Frelund’s list of underappreciated players last year, but I’m going with him here again because of what he did after that — and because, for the second straight offseason, the Panthers have invested in competition for Hubbard. In 2023, Carolina signed Miles Sanders to a fat new contract, only for Hubbard to end up carrying the ground game (238 carries, 902 rushing yards, five rushing TDs) in his third pro season. He also became the second Panthers running back to top 1,000 scrimmage yards in a season since Christian McCaffrey did it in 2019. This year, they drafted Jonathon Brooks in the second round — but the rookie is coming off a torn ACL. At the least, Hubbard can serve as a reliable option while new coach Dave Canales attempts to straighten out the rest of the offense around Bryce Young.

Hubbard took advantage of a slow start from Sanders, who joined the team on a four-year, $25.4 million deal last spring. The only numbers the Panthers got in return from Sanders, however, were a career-low 432 rushing yards and just one touchdown.

Carolina’s struggling offense would turn to Hubbard less than two months into the campaign. And while the unit didn’t exactly turn things around as a whole, they watched Hubbard lead the Panthers in rushing yards for the second time in his three pro seasons.

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Panthers RB Miles Sanders named top post-June 1 cut/trade candidate

Is Miles Sanders’ time in Carolina already up?

Last offseason, the Carolina Panthers broke out some bills for running back Miles Sanders—agreeing upon a four-year, $25.4 million contract. But is their time together already up?

Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently named his top post-June 1 cut and trade candidates. Sanders squeezes into the six-player list following a nightmarish start to his relationship with the Panthers:

A year after signing a top free-agent deal with Carolina, Sanders may well be fighting for backup carries alongside Jonathon Brooks and Chuba Hubbard, even with new coach Dave Canales angling for a stronger run game. Releasing Sanders would save the Panthers an instant $200,000.

Sanders, who had a career year for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2022, hit lows in starts (five), attempts (129) and rushing yards (432). He also scored just one touchdown and averaged 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest in the NFL amongst all qualifying players.

But perhaps there’s hope for this marriage. Even after being bumped out of the starting duties by Hubbard and seeing the Panthers take the first running back of the entire 2024 draft, Sanders—at least according to president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan—may still have a place on this team.

“In terms of Miles, we love Miles,” Morgan said after drafting Brooks in April. “We see a big role for him. I think Dave [Canales] will tell you the same thing—we think really highly of Miles, we love Miles. He can do a lot for our offense. He’s versatile in the pass game and he’s a really good runner. So we’re excited about him as well.”

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PFF ranks Panthers’ Chuba Hubbard as NFL’s 28th-best RB

Pro Football Focus gave some props to Carolina’s Chuba Hubbard after a career campaign.

Did anyone have Chuba Hubbard as one of the NFL’s top 32 running backs on their bingo card going into last season?

Well, if you did, mark it off!

Pro Football Focus fantasy contributor Thomas Valentine recently ranked the league’s best 32 rushers heading into the 2024 campaign. In at No. 28 is Hubbard, whose spot on the list certainly wasn’t an expected one around this time last year.

Valentine writes:

Like Singletary, Hubbard was destined to be the backup in Carolina after the team brought in Miles Sanders on a big contract, but Hubbard took on the role of lead back after Sanders struggled to make an impact.

He carried the ball 238 times for a career-high 902 yards and five touchdowns while earning a strong 77.2 grade. Whether or not Hubbard is the starter in 2024 remains to be seen, but his 2023 performance should give him the nod ahead of Sanders.

Sanders, who inked a four-year, $25.4 million deal last spring, ran for 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest mark amongst all qualifying players in 2023. Hubbard took advantage of his teammate’s slow start, grabbing the starting job a little over a month into the season and parlaying it into a career-high 902 rushing yards.

Unfortunately for Hubbard, however, that may not be enough to secure his place as a starter once again. The Panthers are likely to feature rookie Jonathon Brooks, whom they selected with the 46th overall pick of the 2024 draft.

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Panthers RB Miles Sanders listed amongst veterans with most to prove in 2024

Miles Sanders is entering an important season.

There’s no doubt, that after the most disappointing season of his five-year NFL career, Carolina Panthers running back Miles Sanders will have to “prove it” in 2024. Will he, however, even get the chance to?

Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently named nine veterans with the most to prove in the upcoming campaign. Sanders, who rushed for just 432 yards in 2023, lands on the list—but with an interesting caveat.

Not only did Sanders take a backseat to Chuba Hubbard on the depth chart, but the Panthers also invested a second-round pick into University of Texas standout Jonathon Brooks in the 2024 draft. Brooks, in fact, was the first running back chosen in the class.

So Knox wonders if Sanders will be on the roster come Week 1:

It’s probably only a matter of time before Brooks ascends to the starting role with Hubbard as Carolina’s second option.

If Sanders can’t show shades of the Pro Bowler he was two years ago, he might not even get the chance to earn a roster spot in training camp.

While dumping Sanders after one season would sting, the Panthers could afford to do it. Releasing him after June 1 would trigger a dead-cap hit of $10.4 million but would save $200,000 in 2024 cap space. Trading him after June 1 would save $4.2 million in cap space—though, of course, finding a trade partner could be a challenge.

Along with total rushing yardage, Sanders also amassed career-lows in starts (five) and attempts (129) while averaging 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest in the NFL amongst all qualifying players.

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Dave Canales on Panthers’ crowded RB room: ‘We need all the backs’

Panthers HC Dave Canales believes having a crowded RB room is more of a need than a problem.

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales wasn’t lying when he said he was excited to show how stubborn his offense can be in running the rock.

Canales spoke with reporters following his first outing of rookie minicamp on Friday morning. He was asked about his current expectations for 2024 second-round pick Jonathon Brooks, who is still healing up from a torn ACL.

While Brooks wasn’t able to participate in on-field work, Canales said it’s still important the rookie knows that intent of the offense is to “run the ball.” Canales also said that having a crowded running back room is more of a necessity than a problem.

“In my experience, we need all the backs,” he stated. “We need all of ’em to contribute at some point in the season. Knock on wood. But they get nicked, or it’s in a game and then he busts a shoestring and they’re switchin’ his shoes out to get him back ready and those other backs have to be ready to play. So for me, this is just adding another great player to really challenge our roster.”

Brooks is joining a depth chart that also includes 2023’s leading rusher in Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, who signed a four-year $25.4 million deal last offseason. Those three will soon be joined by recent free-agent addition Rashaad Penny, who Canales spoke a bit on as well.

“Rashaad’s another guy that can return kicks,” he said. “Bringing him in to really push the group, but also he knows the language. He knows how to run certain run types. So I think that as he gets his reps in there, the guys will be able to see the pace that we’re looking for and all those things—even from a pass protection standpoint.

“So I love having that experience—the same thing on defense with some guys who have been in our defensive scheme. It really does elevate the intelligence of the whole group.”

And that whole group, as Canales again expressed, is needed.

“I think it’s a great thing for us,” he replied when asked about the quantity of rushers. “And I think it’s our approach is to not let good players get out of here in terms of that room. As we come along and as we challenge them to compete, we’re gonna see some great effort out of the backs in this camp and I’m really excited about it.”

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Is Miles Sanders on the outs with Panthers’ reported signing of Rashaad Penny?

Will the Panthers’ expected signing of Rashaad Penny push Miles Sanders out of the RB room?

The numbers game may have just caught up to Miles Sanders, and it almost has nothing to do with the three years and $22.8 million left on his contract.

We learned on Monday, per ESPN senior NFL insider Jeremy Fowler, that the Carolina Panthers are expected to sign running back Rashaad Penny following rookie minicamp this weekend. Penny would stand as the second notable addition to the team’s backfield over the past few weeks, as they also grabbed University of Texas standout Jonathon Brooks with the 46th overall selection of the 2024 NFL draft.

So, where does all of this leave Sanders? Well, the outlook for the 27-year-old rusher wasn’t particularly encouraging, even prior to these latest moves.

Sanders was one of Carolina’s major free-agent signings from last offseason, as he inked a four-year, $25.4 million pact off a career campaign with the Philadelphia Eagles. But that deal came behind the backing of general manager Scott Fitterer, head coach Frank Reich and running backs coach Duce Staley—none of whom have an office at Bank of America Stadium anymore.

The first year of that agreement ended up being the worst of Sanders’ pro tenure. He scored just one touchdown, hit lows in starts (five), attempts (129) and rushing yards (432) and averaged 3.3 yards per carry—the third-lowest in the NFL amongst all qualifying ball carriers.

Hopes of establishing himself as a do-it-all back, perhaps even as a lite version of Christian McCaffrey, were quickly dashed—as third-year rusher Chuba Hubbard effectively took over lead duties in Week 6. Hubbard wouldn’t let Sanders back in either, as he finished with a career-high 902 rushing yards in 2023.

2024 was likely to see Hubbard maintain the starting job over Sanders, and that thinking existed before Brooks and Penny would come along. Now, the organization has invested quite a bit into the former and may be bringing in the latter as his complement.

Not only did the Panthers draft Brooks as the first running back of the draft, but they moved up to do so. He won’t be treated as just another competitor on the depth chart.

The same might go for Penny—who brings a style Sanders, and even Hubbard, cannot. At 5-foot-11 and 220 pounds, the former Seattle Seahawk could very well be the occasional smash to Brooks’ dash and help Carolina finally get over the hump on those ill-fated short-yardage situations.

If the Panthers are rolling three-deep at the spot come September, Hubbard should be the favorite to stick over Sanders as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. While a trade or release of Sanders would create some considerable dead cap moving forward, general manager Dan Morgan and executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis have shown they’re not afraid to take some financial lumps during the reconstruction of their roster.

Just ask Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Donte Jackson and Bradley Bozeman—who will combine for nearly $40 million of dead cap this season. Depending on the designation (pre- or post-June 1), Sanders would account for $10.4 million or $7.5 million in 2024 off a cut or $4.4 million or $1.4 million via trade.

But maybe, just maybe, Sanders isn’t through in Carolina. His saving grace could be the vision Morgan laid out for him after drafting Brooks two weekends ago.

“In terms of Miles, we love Miles,” he said when asked of the team is open to trading Sanders. “We see a big role for him. I think Dave [Canales] will tell you the same thing—we think really highly of Miles, we love Miles. He can do a lot for our offense. He’s versatile in the pass game and he’s a really good runner. So we’re excited about him as well.”

But if that’s just GM speak, Sanders will have to find another team that’s actually excited about him.

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Panthers reportedly expected to sign RB Rashaad Penny

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Panthers are planning to sign RB Rashaad Penny.

Ok, now the running back room at Bank of America Stadium is about to get really crowded—especially with a 5-foot-11, 220-pounder set to join in.

According to ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Carolina Panthers are expected to sign free-agent rusher Rashaad Penny. The deal, per Fowler, likely won’t be official until after rookie minicamp—which takes place from May 10 to May 12.

Penny was selected with the 27th overall pick of the 2018 NFL draft by the Seattle Seahawks, who were employing current Panthers head coach Dave Canales as their quarterbacks coach at the time. The San Diego State back went on to spend his first five pro seasons there, running for 1,918 yards and 13 touchdowns on 337 carries.

He then inked a one-year pact with the Philadelphia Eagles for the 2023 campaign. Penny would appear in just three games, totaling 33 yards on 11 rushes.

Carolina’s depth chart at the position already includes Chuba Hubbard, Miles Sanders and Jonathon Brooks—whom the team traded up to select with the 46th overall pick of the 2024 draft a little over a week ago.

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