Panthers Not In On Veteran QBs
- If the Panthers are to bring in a new quarterback in 2019, head coach Ron Rivera said it is more likely to come through the draft rather than free agency, Panthers team writer Bill Voth tweets. That would take them out of the hunt for a proven veteran backup to Cam Newton, who dealt with injuries throughout the 2018 season.
- Sticking with the Panthers, tight end Greg Olsen has met with ESPN about opportunities but that does not include the Monday Night Football post that was vacated yesterday when Jason Witten returned to the Cowboys, The Athletic’s Joseph Person writes. Those talks could eventually come, but the Panthers fully expect the veteran tight end to return to the field in 2019.
ESPN, Fox Pursuing Panthers TE Greg Olsen
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen has already begun preparing for his post-playing career, having auditioned to be an analyst on ESPN’s Monday Night Football last March. At the time, it was also reported that Olsen could be in the mix for FOX’s Thursday Night Football.
Instead, Olsen signed a two-year extension with the Panthers that keeps him under club control through the 2020 campaign. However, his 2018 season was derailed by a foot injury for the second year in a row, and both ESPN and FOX are once again attempting to bring him on board.
Per Andrew Marchand of the New York Post, both networks have extended multi-million dollar offers to Olsen. Neither offer would match the $3.4MM that Olsen could earn from the Panthers this year if he continues playing, and Marchand suggests that the soon-to-be 34-year-old is presently leaning towards putting retirement on hold. But that could change if the networks increase their offers a bit or if they present him with a clear path to even more opportunities. For instance, Marchand reports that FOX is prepared to put Olsen in the booth as a color commentator, but it would probably need to put him on the No. 2 or No. 3 broadcast team to convince him to sign on.
Olsen’s prospective role with ESPN is less clear, though the worldwide leader did recently drop Charles Woodson from its “Sunday NFL Countdown” program and could be looking at Olsen as a replacement. Marchand also says that CBS met with Olsen but is not pursuing him at this time.
Olsen suited up for only nine games last year after playing in just seven in 2017, and the injuries are doubtlessly taking a toll on him. But he appeared in all 16 regular season games for the Bears and Panthers from 2008-16, and he can still be a productive player when healthy. The three-time Pro Bowler has been one of the best tight ends in the league since joining Carolina via trade in 2011, and he topped 100 targets every year from 2012-16.
He finished the 2018 season with 27 catches for 291 yards and four touchdowns.
Panthers To Release CB Captain Munnerlyn
The Panthers are releasing nickel cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Munnerlyn, 31 in April, should have suitors given that this is an uncharacteristically soft crop for free agent slot corners. 
Munnerlyn spent the first five seasons of his career with the Panthers before hooking on with the Vikings as a free agent in 2014. After the expiration of his three-year, $14.25MM deal, he returned to Carolina on a four-year, $21MM deal in 2017. By releasing him midway through the deal, the Panthers will save $2MM against the cap while carrying $3MM in dead money.
Last year, Munnerlyn appeared in all 16 games for Carolina, including five starts. He recorded 47 total stops, two sacks, an interception, and nine passes defensed in 2018. The advanced metrics weren’t wild about him, however, as he placed as the No. 83 cornerback in the NFL out of 112 qualified players, per Pro Football Focus.
The Panthers also decided to move on from safety Mike Adams, so the Panthers are clearly looking to overhaul their secondary in 2019. Last year, the Panthers’ secondary allowed an average of 240 passing yards per game, putting them roughly in the middle of the pack, so there’s room for improvement.
Panthers Won’t Re-Sign Mike Adams
On Monday morning, Panthers safety Mike Adams took to Instagram to tell fans that he won’t be returning to the team. However, the veteran hopes to continue playing in the 2019 season. 
“This great city and organization showed me nothing but love while I was here!” Adams wrote. “I have a lot more ball left so I plan on playing this year! I just hope the young boys have learned as much from me as I did from them!”
Adams, who turns 38 in March, has been a starter for the majority of his career. He’s been first-string for every Panthers game over the last two years and finished out the 2018 season with 75 tackles, six passes defensed, and three interceptions.
However, the Panthers are looking to get younger in the secondary and the advanced metrics indicate that Adams may have lost a step in 2018. Last year, he earned a 51.4 overall score from Pro Football Focus – his lowest since his rookie season in 2006 – and graded out as just the No. 86 overall safety in the NFL out of 93 qualified players.
Adams, and the league’s other free agents, can officially sign with clubs beginning on March 13.
Panthers Re-Sign RB Elijah Hood
The Panthers have re-signed running back Elijah Hood to a one-year deal, the club announced today. Wood had been scheduled to become an exclusive rights free agent this offseason, so he wouldn’t have had the option to leave Carolina unless the team opted to non-tender him.
Hood, 22, entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2017. While he didn’t make Oakland’s 53-man roster at the outset of his rookie campaign, Hood signed with the Raiders’ practice squad and was eventually promoted in for one week that October. After being waived the following May, Hood was claimed off waivers by the Panthers. However, he spent the entire 2018 season on injured reserve after tearing his ACL on a preseason kickoff return.
Carolina’s backfield was dominated by Christian McCaffrey — who played more than 90% of the club’s offensive snaps — last season, but Hood could compete for backup duty. Travaris Cadet, Kenjon Barner, Cameron Artis-Payne, and Fozzy Whittaker are all unrestricted free agents, leaving 2018 undrafted free agent Reggie Bonnafon as the only other Panthers back under contract alongside McCaffrey and Hood.
NFL Awards Compensatory Draft Picks
The NFL has awarded compensatory draft picks to several teams, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The full rundown, which is below, includes two third-round picks for both the Rams and Patriots.
The NFL awards compensatory draft picks to teams, as directed by the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The compensatory pick system provides additional picks to teams who lose more/better qualifying free agents in the previous year than gained. As the NFL explains:
“Compensatory free agents are determined by a formula based on salary, playing time and postseason honors. The formula was developed by the NFL Management Council. Not every free agent lost or signed by a club is covered by this formula. No club may receive more than four compensatory picks in any one year. If a club qualifies for more than four compensatory picks after offsetting each CFA lost by each CFA gained of an equal or higher value, the four highest remaining selections will be awarded to the club.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement limits the number of compensatory selections to the number of clubs then in the League (32). This year, six clubs: the Ravens, Bengals, Colts, Rams, Giants, and 49ers qualified for compensatory selections under the net loss formula but will not receive those picks because the final numerical values of the CFAs who were lost by those clubs ranked 33rd through 39thamong the final numerical values of all compensatory selections. Each of those six clubs will receive compensatory selections for other CFAs lost whose final numerical values ranked within the top 32. “
Third Round
- (No. 33 in third round-No. 96 overall) Redskins
- 34-97 Patriots
- 35-98 Rams
- 36-99 Rams
- 37-100 Panthers
- 38-101 Patriots
- 39-102 Ravens
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/21/19
Today’s minor moves:
Carolina Panthers
- Re-signed to one-year deal: S Damian Parms (had been scheduled to become exclusive rights free agent)
Philadelphia Eagles
- Waived: CB Elie Bouka
Panthers Notes: Peetz, Mayo
The Panthers have hired former Alabama assistant Jake Peetz as their new running backs coach, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). Carolina announced that Peetz’s predecessor, Jim Skipper, will retire after spending six seasons with the club. Peetz, 35, worked for the Raiders from 2015-17, serving as quarterbacks coach during his final campaign in Oakland. He was briefly rumored to be an offensive coordinator candidate in Indianapolis under presumptive head coach Josh McDaniels in 2018, but that never occurred after McDaniels spurned the Colts. Peetz will lead a Panthers backfield that was dominated by Christian McCaffrey — who played 91% of the team’s offensive snaps — last year.
- Panthers free agent linebacker David Mayo recently underwent sports hernia surgery, but is expected to make a full recovery, reports Joe Person of The Athletic (Twitter link). As of yet, there’s been no timeline reported for Mayo’s return to full health. A fifth-round pick in 2015, Mayo hasn’t been much of a factor on Carolina’s impressive linebacker unit, playing only 307 defensive snaps over four years. But he’s been extremely reliable on special teams. Mayo has played on at least 60% of the Panthers’ ST snaps in all of his NFL seasons, and has ranked either first or second in Panthers’ special teams snaps in each of the past three years.
Latest On Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid
Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid reached a settlement with the NFL in their collusion case last week, leading to speculation of big numbers. However, speculation that the settlement amount landed in the range of $60-$80M is incorrect, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke with Mike Florio of PFT. 
[RELATED: Kaepernick Lawyer Predicts A Team Will Sign QB Soon]
There are other indications that Kaep and Reid did not land a colossal settlement. For example, the payments by the league to the duo did not require the approval of team owners. Instead, the NFL’s Management Council Executive Committee approved the settlement, without a vote of the member clubs, which suggests that it was not a monumental figure.
Also, multiple people connected to the league have downplayed the settlement as an amount that will cover anticipated legal expenses, which suggests a number in the seven figures, rather than eight figures. It also appears the settlement did not “buy out” Kaepernick professional football employment – that settlement amount would have been astronomical, but it’s likely a smaller sum since Kaepernick will still have the opportunity to earn an NFL paycheck, should he be given the opportunity.
The AAF expressed interest in Kaepernick (and Tim Tebow), but negotiations came to a halt when the QB reportedly asked for a $20MM salary. Reid, meanwhile, is set thanks to his recent three-year, $22MM+ extension with the Panthers.
Kaepernick Lawyer Predicts A Team Will Sign QB Soon
After reaching a settlement with the NFL on his collusion case earlier this week, Colin Kaepernick could be nearing a return to the league, his lawyer Mark Geragos said in an interview on CNN, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Reports tweets. 
“I think you’re going to see within the next two weeks someone is going to step up.”
In addition to making that statement, he mentioned that three teams could have interest, namely the Panthers. Whether he is speaking from knowledge of the situation, which he obviously has, or just making the claim, is unknown at this moment.
The Panthers are a natural landing spot for the former 49ers quarterback, who possesses a similar skill set to Cam Newton and would be playing for a team that just gave Eric Reid a three-year contract. Reid, of course, was a part of the same collusion case against the NFL.
In the past, Geragos has also mentioned the Patriots as a potential landing spot. Of course, any team that does sign the polarizing figure could withstand a backlash from a section of fans who do not agree with Kaepernick’s protest. If any team could do it, it would be the Patriots.
Again, as far as fits go, the Panthers would make the most sense. The offense wouldn’t have to change if Newton, who has been dealing with nagging injuries over the last year, has to leave the game. The mobile Kaepernick obviously boasts a different skill set than the statuesque Tom Brady. Also, in recent years New England has opted for a traditional pocket passer as its backup like Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett and Brian Hoyer rather than a dual-threat.
Recently, it was reported the quarterback was contacted by the upstart AAF about a potential gig but he decided not to sign with the league.
We will see in the coming days if there is anything to Geragos’ comments or if it is just conjecture.