Tag: Panthers Roster

Panthers waive FB Mikey Daniel, leaving one roster spot open

Carolina just announced that fullback Mikey Daniel has been waived, which opens up one spot on the 90-man roster.

The Carolina Panthers have been busy churning the bottom of their roster throughout training camp. In the last week, they’ve added half a dozen new players. Today, they made another change.

Carolina just announced that fullback Mikey Daniel has been waived, which opens up one spot on the 90-man roster.

The undrafted rookie Mason Stokke was also released recently, which leaves former Cowboys back Rod Smith as the only player on the team with experience at fullback.

For the last several years this role was filled by Alex Armah, but he signed with the division rival New Orleans Saints in free agency. It’s possible the Panthers will be de-emphasizing this position in Year 2 of the Joe Brady era.

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Panthers re-sign special teams stud, LB Julian Stanford

Linebacker is one of the positions the Carolina Panthers have reinforced the most this offseason.

Linebacker is one of the positions the Carolina Panthers have reinforced the most this offseason. They upgraded inside by signing Denzel Perryman to replace Tahir Whitehead and also boosted their outside pass rush with Haason Reddick the same day. The work continued today, with the team bringing back a veteran depth piece. According to Darin Gantt, the Panthers have re-signed Julian Stanford.

Stanford is a special teams ace who came to Carolina from Buffalo. Last season he played all 16 games and was on the field for 277 snaps – mostly on special teams – which he led in tackles.

After playing his college ball at Wagner, Stanford went undrafted but he’s gone on to appear in 104 NFL games. His experience should be a welcome commodity for a young Carolina team. Overall, they are tied with the Vikings for the second-youngest roster in the league.

By our count, Stanford brings the roster to 90 players.

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Ranking the Carolina Panthers’ most-pressing roster needs going into 2021

Here are the six most important needs heading into the new year for general manager Marty Hurney and coach Matt Rhule to address.

2020 has been a challenging year for everybody. While anything can happen these next couple of weeks, the calendar will be mercifully turning over to 2021 soon, so it’s time to start thinking about the future.

When it comes to the Carolina Panthers, that means addressing some of the personnel issues that have become apparent during this uniquely-challenging season. They have some exceptional young talents on the roster, but there are obviously a lot of holes yet to fill. Here are the six most important needs heading into the new year for general manager Marty Hurney and coach Matt Rhule to address.

Panthers updated 2020 depth chart projection after final roster cuts

The Carolina Panthers finished reducing their initial roster to 53 players early Saturday afternoon.

The Carolina Panthers finished reducing their initial roster to 53 players early Saturday afternoon.

Although the team will undoubtedly be in the market for more roster depth (especially at tight end) this weekend, here’s a first look at our current projected Week 1 depth chart for Carolina.

Offense

QB Teddy Bridgewater P.J. Walker Will Grier
RB Christian McCaffrey Mike Davis Trenton Cannon
FB Alex Armah
WR D.J. Moore Robby Anderson Curtis Samuel Seth Roberts
WR (contd.) Pharoh Cooper Keith Kirkwood Brandon Zylstra
TE Ian Thomas Chris Manhertz
LT Russell Okung Trenton Scott Greg Little
LG Dennis Daley Michael Schofield
C Matt Paradis Tyler Larsen
RG John Miller
RT Taylor Moton

Defense

RDE Brian Burns Marquis Haynes Shareef Miller
DT Kawann Short Zach Kerr
DT Derrick Brown Bravvion Roy
LDE Stephen Weatherly Yetur Gross-Matos
MLB Tahir Whitehead Adarius Taylor
ROLB Shaq Thompson Julian Stanford
LOLB Jermaine Carter Jr. Sam Franklin
RCB Eli Apple Rasul Douglas
LCB Donte Jackson Stantley Thomas-Oliver
SCB Troy Pride, Jr. Corn Elder
SS Jeremy Chinn Juston Burris Myles Hartsfield
FS Tre Boston

Special Teams

K Joey Slye
P Joseph Charlton
LS J.J. Jansen
PR Pharoh Cooper
KR Pharoh Cooper

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Panthers coach Matt Rhule ‘not overly pleased’ with energy level in today’s mock game

The first-year NFL coach told reporters afterward he was “not overly pleased” with the energy level of the starters.

The Carolina Panthers held a mock game at Bank of America stadium today, and to say head coach Matt Rhule was unsatisfied with its result would be an understatement. The first-year NFL coach told reporters afterward he was “not overly pleased” with the energy level of the starters.

With the Panthers announcing an empty stadium for at least Week 1 against the Raiders, creating energy on the field will be solely on the players and coaching staff. Even though many teams intend to pump artificial crowd noise in, the atmosphere lost without live fans in attendance is sure to change the experience.

One problem is that after losing the league’s highest number of players to free agency, trade and retirement over the last few months, this group’s chemistry is still forming. They’ll need every opportunity to build it up.

Unfortunately, those opportunities have been severely limited this year with the lack of any preseason games. While the most obvious victims of this development have been the rookies fighting for a roster spot, the inability of teams to practice in a real game limits how they can grow.

There were a couple upsides to today’s practice though, with Joe Person of The Athletic singling out all-pro running back Christian McCaffrey and versatile defensive back Jeremy Chinn as two bright spots on an otherwise lackluster performance on the field today. Rhule also mentioned that he liked the energy level many of the second and third-team players put in, which makes sense, given many of them are competing for their roster spots.

Roster cuts are expected to begin tonight and continue into tomorrow morning. The Panthers roster currently sits at 79, and it needs to be cut down to 53 by Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET.

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Panthers rookie WR’s tweet could indicate he’s being cut

Tweet by Panthers undrafted rookie wide receiver Omar Bayless could indicate he’s being cut.

The Panthers have to cut their roster down from 80 to 53 players by tomorrow at 4:00 eastern time. Coach Matt Rhule told reporters on Thursday that some cuts may be coming today, though. While there’s nothing official, this tweet by undrafted rookie wide receiver Omar Bayless could be an indication that he’s going to be one of them.

Bayless doesn’t spell anything out here, but this is a pretty typical inspirational kind of tweet players usually share when they either get cut or suffer a serious injury.

While he had a strong start to training camp, Bayless has been out for a few weeks due to swelling in his knee which required surgery. Carolina placed him on injured reserve August 26. His recovery time is supposed to be only a couple of weeks. However, every rep was critical this offseason due to having no preseason games and Bayless’ absence at practice could definitely cost him a roster spot.

Originally we were projecting Bayless would take the team’s seventh and last wide receiver spot. Now, it’s looking more like they will only carry six.

There’s always a chance the Panthers will bring Bayless back, though. His size and catch radius make him a unique receiving option. Greg Olsen used to be the team’s best red zone target. Now that he’s in Seattle, Carolina needs somebody to fill that void.

Ian Thomas hasn’t proven he can be a reliable receiver yet and the other wideouts on the roster are all relatively small compared to Bayless. The fact that Teddy Bridgewater has been talking up Chris Manhertz as a potential red zone target says a lot about his total lack of options.

Even if there’s no room for him on the 53, Bayless would be an excellent candidate for the practice squad.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: 7 takeaways from Matt Rhule’s Monday presser

Here are seven takeaways from Rhule’s Monday press conference.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule spoke with the media following today’s training camp practice, which consisted mostly of team drills inside the bubble.

Here are seven takeaways from Rhule’s Monday press conference.

A long post-scrimmage personnel evaluation

On Saturday, the team tried to get a taste of real NFL action by holding a scrimmage inside Bank of America Stadium. Teddy Bridgewater reportedly got off to a hot start and finished with a strong line. Christian McCaffrey was pulled early, as were several other important veterans on defense.

When it was over, Rhule says he and his staff spent seven-eight hours evaluating the personnel.

The personnel Rhule has been given by general manager Marty Hurney is a mixed bag. There’s only one true elite-level, exceptional talent. There are also several promising young pieces, a couple of reliable veterans and a bunch of reclamation projects who need a strong season to revive their careers.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: Projecting 5 potential cuts on defense

Let’s take a look at the next potential five cuts on defense.

The Carolina Panthers began padded practices yesterday after announcing a series of offensive roster moves on Sunday. The team picked up wide receivers Tommylee Lewis and Marken Michel plus tight end Andrew Vollert. To make room, they cut DeAndrew White, Cam Sutton and two rookie linebackers.

More releases will be coming soon. Let’s take a look at the next potential five cuts on defense.

DE Myles Adams

Myles Adams
Don Wright-USA TODAY Sports

As an undrafted rookie, Adams already had a difficult road to make the 53-man roster this year. Things got more complicated on Monday when the Panthers claimed former Cowboys defensive end Jalen Jelks off waivers. Early-round picks like Yetur Gross-Matos are assured their spots, but Adams doesn’t have that advantage built in for him. He will need to separate himself from the rest if he’s going to survive the next round of cuts.

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Christian McCaffrey on the new-look Panthers: ‘Everybody is hungry’

Now arguably the top running back in the sport, McCaffrey remains the centerpiece of Carolina’s offense.

The Carolina Panthers don’t have many stars left. A number of franchise legends like Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly departed this offseason, leaving behind a largely young and inexperienced roster. On the bright side, the most gifted athlete on the team is still around and he likes what he’s seen from the rest so far.

Speaking with reporters today, All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey said one thing he loves about this new-look Panthers team is that everybody is hungry.

Now arguably the top running back in the sport, McCaffrey remains the centerpiece of Carolina’s offense. There are a few major new pieces though – including a new starting quarerback.

On the subject of Teddy Bridgewater, McCaffrey had nothing but praise, calling him a pro who is dialed in.

Another massive change that will affect McCaffrey and the rest of the team is the arrival of 30-year old offensive coordinator Joe Brady. McCaffrey called Brady’s scheme both fast and fun.

They probably won’t win many games, no matter how hungry they are. However, if Brady can find the right balance between running and passing while putting all of Carolina’s weapons to use, this is going to be an entertaining offense to watch.

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Panthers 2020 training camp: Five players waived, bringing roster to 80

The team has announced five cuts, bringing the number of players on the roster down to 80.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule won’t wait until August 16 to trim his roster down after all. The team has announced five cuts, bringing the number of players on the roster to 80.

RB Rodney Smith

Smith is the most surprising cut, if only because of the competition at his position. Releasing Mike Davis instead would have saved Carolina $3 million in cap space. Instead, they’ll move forward with the veteran as the No. 4 running back on the roster behind Christian McCaffrey, Reggie Bonnafon and Jordan Scarlett.

WR Damion Jeanpiere Jr.

Wide receivers will have a tough time making the team this year given all the free agents the Panthers picked up this offseason. Guys like Ishmael Hyman, Brandon Zylstra and the undrafted Omar Bayless can now breathe a little easier.

G Tyler Marz, C Fred Mauigoa

The loss of the preseason means Carolina’s offensive line needs experience above all else, so younger linemen will be at a disadvantage this month. Marz has only played six NFL games and Mauigoa was a college free agent. These cuts were good news for former Baylor center Sam Tecklenburg and former Auburn guard Mike Horton.

LB Jason Ferris

The Panthers also waived undrafted linebacker Jason Ferris with an injury designation. With Jordan Mack having opted-out, we’re down to three UDFA linebackers, with Chris Orr, David Reese and Sam Franklin all competing for what will likely be the last LB spot on the roster.

The Panthers also announced that OL Greg Little and Branden Bowen passed their physicals.

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