Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
We’re not really sure if Jeremy Chinn is a safety anymore. Nonetheless, he and the rest of the players at the position had their “Madden NFL 24” ratings revealed on Monday.
The Carolina Panthers’ safety room includes one of the best at the position, a young dawg and a guy who may not actually be much of a safety anymore. But for whatever they all are, their “Madden NFL 24” ratings were revealed on Monday.
Check ’em out:
On Thursday, the Panthers signed minicamp tryout invitee Greg Mabin.
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The Carolina Panthers made a swap in their secondary on Thursday.
Cornerback Greg Mabin, who was invited to mandatory minicamp as one of three tryout players this past week, has been signed by the team. To make room, the Panthers released safety Vernon Scott—who was added to the roster one month ago.
Mabin cracked into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017. After being waived just a week later, the University of Iowa product played his rookie campaign as a member of the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers—appearing in a combined seven games.
He’d then go on to pick up six more stops with four more teams—the Cincinnati Bengals, Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars and Arizona Cardinals—over the next five years. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound defensive back spent the last two seasons, in what was his third stint for the franchise, as a Titan.
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The Panthers smelled what the XFL was cookin’.
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The Carolina Panthers smelled what the XFL was cookin.’
As officially announced on Tuesday morning, the team has signed three players from the minor league football organization—all of whom were invited to rookie minicamp this past weekend. The trio includes defensive lineman Antwuan Jackson, wide receiver Gary Jennings and outside linebacker/tight end Jordan Thomas.
Jackson, who tweeted out his signing on Monday, attended Ohio State University from 2018 to 2021. He totaled 48 tackles and 3.5 sacks prior to his jump to the XFL.
Jennings has previous ties to general manager Scott Fitterer—who was in the front office for the Seattle Seahawks when they selected the West Virginia University product in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL draft. The 6-foot-1, 219-pound pass catcher has played in one NFL game, which came later in that 2019 season with the Miami Dolphins.
Thomas, before his move to defense, was a part of five NFL franchises between 2018 and 2022. The 6-foot-5, 277-pounder reeled in 22 catches for 226 yards and five touchdowns over 27 games.
Carolina also announced the additions of three non-XFL players—offensive tackle BJ Wilson, wide receiver Marquez Stevenson and safety Vernon Scott.
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The Packers waived safety Vernon Scott on Friday.
The Green Bay Packers waived safety Vernon Scott on Friday, according to the league’s transaction wire.
Scott, a seventh-round pick of the Packers in the 2020 draft, missed the entire 2022 season while on injured reserve. He was waived/injured by the Packers on August 23 of last year, passed through waivers and reverted to injured reserve.
Waiving Scott leaves the Packers with Darnell Savage, Rudy Ford, Dallin Leavitt, Tarvarius Moore, Innis Gaines, Tariq Carpenter and James Wiggins at the safety position.
Scott, the 236th pick in the 2020 draft, played in 18 games and one postseason game for the Packers, tallying 19 total tackles and a sack.
Scott is the third player from the team’s 2020 draft class to exit Green Bay, joining Kamal Martin and Simon Stepaniak.
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The Packers are waiving injured safety Vernon Scott, who suffered a shoulder injury against the Saints last week.
In getting the roster to 80 players by Tuesday’s deadline, the Green Bay Packers waived safety Vernon Scott, who exited last Friday’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints with a shoulder injury.
As of Monday, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said the severity of Scott’s injury was still being determined.
The move means Scott, a 2020 seventh-round pick, will go on waivers. If unclaimed, he’ll revert to the Packers injured reserve list. From there, the Packers can either pay him on injured reserve for the full season or reach an injury settlement so the team sides can part ways. In most of these scenarios, an injury settlement is reached and the player gets a chance to play elsewhere.
Given the depth at safety, the release was somewhat surprising.
As recently as this past week, Scott was running with the first-team defense at safety, a position lacking numbers. Throughout the summer, he has been competing with Shawn Davis for the No. 3 safety role. Innis Gaines and Tariq Carpenter just returned from injuries, so both now have a better chance to make the team. Elsewhere at safety, Micah Abernathy has been a late riser who is making a legit run at a roster spot. Dallin Leavitt (shoulder) is dealing with a potentially serious injury but could make the initial 53-man roster before going on injured reserve.
The Packers also traded offensive lineman Cole Van Lanen to the Jaguars and placed running back Kylin Hill on the reserve/PUP list, officially getting the roster to 80 players.
On Sunday, the Packers released linebacker Chauncey Manac and offensive lineman Ty Clary.
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Safety Vernon Scott was injured during the Packers’ win over the Saints on Friday night.
Following the Green Bay Packers’ second preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, the team finds themselves awfully thin at the safety position.
Darnell Savage injured his hamstring during warmups prior to the Packers’ annual Family Night practice, and he has been sidelined since. He will hopefully be available come Week 1.
Dallin Leavitt would injure his shoulder against the San Francisco 49ers, and as Matt LaFleur said, he is expected to be out “a while.”
Both Innis Gaines (hamstring) and Tariq Carpenter (knee) have missed practice recently, and both were inactive against New Orleans.
Then the most recent injury happened to Vernon Scott in the Saints game, as he left with what looked like a shoulder injury.
This leaves the Packers with veteran starter Adrian Amos and expected backup Shawn Davis, plus Micah Abernathy, who was signed just over a week ago after playing the USFL, and De’Vante Cross, who was signed earlier in the week.
Depending on the availability of Gaines, Carpenter, and Scott in the coming days, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Packers pick up another safety before Thursday’s final preseason game. With Amos not playing, as currently constructed, that would leave the Packers with only three active safeties for that game.
Scott had emerged as the Packers’ go-to third safety, often lining up next to Amos with the starting defense during Savage’s absence. He brings versatility to this defense, having lined up all over the field at TCU.
Davis has seen some reps with the ones as well and he continues to make splash plays, oftentimes finding himself around the football. We saw this on Friday as he came away with a fumble recovery on Friday night. However, on Chris Olave’s late second-quarter touchdown, it did look like Davis was late getting over to help in coverage.
The safety depth was one of the big question marks facing this Green Bay Packers team prior to training camp beginning, given the lack of experienced depth on the roster. We have since seen the emergence of Scott, Davis continuing to make plays, and the addition of Leavitt, all of which helped create a rosier outlook at the position.
However, a slew of injuries in recent weeks has zapped some of that momentum.
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Now 11 practices in, Vernon Scott looks like the front runner to be the Packers’ No. 3 safety behind Darnell Savage and Adrian Amos.
Even with two or three roster spots up for grabs this summer at the safety position for the Green Bay Packers, Vernon Scott, who is entering his third NFL season, may not have been front of mind at the beginning of training camp – or at least that may have been the case outside of Lambeau Field.
Prior to training camp beginning, the Packers signed Dallin Leavitt, a core special teams member in Las Vegas under Rich Bisaccia. Then there was Shawn Davis, who was consistently the team’s third safety during OTAs and minicamp, along with seventh-round pick Tariq Carpenter. There is also Innis Gaines, who made some noise last summer.
Despite the lack of defensive experience overall behind Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage, this has been a crowded and competitive safety room this summer. And while each of the aforementioned players has a case to make when it comes to making this roster, over the last week, it has been Scott who has been flying up the depth chart.
During last Monday’s practice, Scott would intercept Jordan Love to end a two-minute drill. Then on Family Night, following Savage’s early exit with a hamstring injury, it was Scott who took over, playing next to Amos. That was then the case during Sunday and Monday’s practices as well.
Scott is a former seventh-round pick by the Packers in the 2019 NFL Draft out of TCU, where he spent relatively equal time lined up in the box, the slot, and as the free safety. He was also on the field for 476 career special teams snaps, an impressive amount, and he played a variety of roles.
As a rookie, Scott appeared in 10 games on defense and was on the field for 90 defensive snaps, along with another 184 on special teams.
He entered last training camp as a favorite for the third safety role but lost out to Henry Black. Scott would still make the 53-man roster, but he didn’t take any defensive snaps, and only 17 on special teams, while often being a healthy inactive on game day.
Although last season didn’t play out how Scott or – I imagine – how the Packers wanted it to for him, to some degree, this commitment to keeping him on the roster last season despite a lack of contributions does show that the team values what he can add to this defense; time was obviously required for him.
While it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, we did see Green Bay take a similar approach with Yosh Nijman in 2020, who was on the 53-man roster but rarely utilized, even when injuries occurred.
Black was on the field for nearly 300 snaps last season, according to PFF, and although that third safety may not have as prominent of a role in 2022 with the addition of Quay Walker at linebacker, it’s not a job that is completely going away either.
The Packers need someone who can play deep, as well as in the box and contribute on special teams from the safety position – all of which are roles that Scott held at TCU.
Green Bay may be 11 practices in, but there is still a ways to go with the preseason games carrying a lot of weight when it comes to these roster decisions. But for the time being, it is Scott who has been climbing the depth chart.
“I really just took a different approach to this offseason, tried to lock in and get better with my techniques and take care of my body better, and really come back stronger and prepared,” Scott said following Sunday’s practice via Packers.com. “My confidence has been high, but (this new opportunity) is just showing my teammates I can step in and they can trust me if someone goes down.”
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The Packers have signed seventh-round pick Vernon Scott, a safety from TCU.
Officially a Packer! It’s a blessing to be here..Ever since i started my journey 6 years ago, I always visioned this but i knew it would take a tremendous amount of hard work, dedication, and sacrifice! This is just the beginning, can’t wait to get to work in Green Bay!#gopackgo pic.twitter.com/FJtD9PfXtx
— Vernon Scott II (@OfficialVern_) May 30, 2020
The Green Bay Packers have signed safety Vernon Scott to a rookie contract.
Scott, the 236th overall pick in the 2020 draft and the first of the Packers’ two seventh-round picks, announced the signing via his Twitter account on Saturday morning.
“This is just the beginning, can’t wait to get to work in Green Bay,” Scott wrote.
Scott (6-2, 202) started 10 games for TCU as a senior and produced 44 tackles, seven pass breakups and an interception return for a touchdown.
According to Over the Cap, Scott’s deal is projected to be worth $3.38 million over four years, with a signing bonus of just $84,000 and a cap hit of just over $630,000 in 2020.
With Scott and edge rusher Jonathan Garvin now under contract, the Packers have signed both of their seventh-round picks and two of their nine overall draft picks.
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