Curtis Samuel Has Irregular Heartbeat
- Curtis Samuel, the Panthers‘ second round pick in 2017, underwent a procedure to fix an irregular heartbeat according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It will likely keep him out for at least the first week of the season and possibly longer.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/4/18
Here are Tuesday’s practice squad moves.
Carolina Panthers
- Signed: CB Josh Hawkins
- Placed on injured list: DE Kiante Anderson
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: OL Brad Seaton
- Cut: OL Christian DiLauro
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: DB Treston Decoud, DT Aziz Shittu, G Cody Wichmann
- Cut: DE Charles Tapper
Houston Texans
- Signed: TE MyCole Pruitt
Indianapolis Colts
- Signed: CB Lenzy Pipkins
- Cut: CB D.J. White
Kansas City Chiefs
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: RB Justin Jackson
Los Angeles Rams
- Signed: OL Evan Boehm
New York Giants
- Signed: DL Josh Banks
Philadelphia Eagles
- Signed: LB Joe Walker
- Cut: LB Asantay Brown
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: DE Branden Jackson
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: WR Damore’ea Stringfellow
- Cut: WR Austin Proehl
Panthers Get Key OLs Back At Practice
An offensive line that already lost a first-team All-Pro this offseason became beleaguered by injuries in training camp. Andrew Norwell left the Panthers for the Jaguars, and Carolina then lost Daryl Williams, Amini Silatolu and Matt Kalil to injuries. However, Carolina’s receiving good news on this front entering Week 1. Williams returned to Panthers practice, per Bill Voth of Panthers.com, despite being barely a month removed from an MCL injury and a dislocated patella. The contract-year right tackle was believed to be an IR-return candidate in August, but the Panthers still have him on their active roster. He hasn’t been ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Cowboys, but the Panthers may be cautious with their right tackle starter.
Silatolu is also back on the field. The veteran blocker tore one of his menisci in mid-August but said he’s 100 percent, per Joe Person of The Athletic (on Twitter). Voth adds Silatolu may be available for the Panthers’ opener. Greg Van Roten took over as the team’s starting left guard after Silatolu went down.
Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South
Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four NFC South teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Falcons, Panthers, Saints, and Buccaneers are noted below.
Additionally, as of 12:00pm CT today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.
Here are Sunday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:
Atlanta Falcons
Practice squad:
- QB Kurt Benkert
- OT Daniel Brunskill
- DB Deante Burton
- TE Jaeden Graham
- TE Alex Gray
- WR Devin Gray
- C J.C. Hassenauer
- DB Ryan Neal
- LS Jeff Overbaugh
- DT Jacob Tuioti-Mariner
Carolina Panthers
Placed on injured reserve:
Signed:
- CB Lorenzo Doss
Practice squad:
- QB Kyle Allen
- RB Reggie Bonnafon
- WR Mose Frazier
- TE Jason Vander Laan
- G Taylor Hearn
- OL Dorian Johnson
- DE Kiante Anderson
- DT Kendrick Norton
- CB Cole Luke
- S Dezmen Southward
New Orleans Saints
Signed to practice squad:
- QB J.T. Barrett
- LB Vince Biegel
- TE Garrett Griffin
- DT Woodrow Hamilton
- DE Alex Jenkins
- WR Keith Kirkwood
- T Rick Leonard
- RB Dwayne Washington
- RB Jonathan Williams
- OL Nate Wozniak
- TE Deon Yelder
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Panthers Place Matt Kalil On Injured Reserve
The Panthers have placed left tackle Matt Kalil on injured reserve, the club announced today. Carolina has signed cornerback Lorenzo Doss in a corresponding move.
Kalil recently underwent a knee scope, and the issue is concerning enough that he’ll miss at least the first eight games of the season. However, the Panthers are hopeful Kalil can return later this year. Kalil, 29, has been durable for most of his NFL tenure: while he missed 14 games with a hip injury in 2016, he’s played in all 16 games in every other season of his career.
With Kalil sidelined, Carolina will turn to 2017 second-round pick Taylor Moton to handle left tackle.
Panthers Rework Luke Kuechly’s Contract
The Panthers have restructured star linebacker Luke Kuechly‘s contract by converting $6.8MM of his salary into a signing bonus, per ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter link). The move gives Kuechly, who is coming off his fourth First Team All-Pro nod, a nice influx of cash while also creating $5.1MM of cap space for Carolina this year.
Kuechly remains under club control through 2021, and while teams generally do not like to convert salary into signing bonus, as it makes it more difficult to cut ties with a player before his contract expires, it seems unlikely that Carolina will want to move on from Kuechly anytime soon. Although the Boston College product has missed a number of games due to concussions, and although he has had surgery on both of his shoulders — indeed, he has not played a full 16-game season since 2014 — he remains the best inside linebacker in the game.
The 27-year-old will once again anchor the middle of the Panthers’ defense in 2018. Carolina made the playoffs last season and is hoping for a return trip this year, but the team’s offensive line is a major cause for concern at the moment. Indeed, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) that LT Matt Kalil is likely to miss at least the first three games of the regular season, and the Panthers have already placed RT Daryl Williams on injured reserve. Plus, left guard Amini Silatolu is dealing with a torn meniscus.
As such, Carolina could use some of its newfound cap space on an offensive lineman or two, and it could also look to upgrade its backup QB and safety situation. Theoretically, the Panthers could also look into an extension for wide receiver Devin Funchess.
Lions Announce Roster Cuts
In addition to trading offensive tackle Corey Robinson to the Panthers, the Lions have also reduced their roster to 53 players.
Released:
- LB Jonathan Freeny
- C Wesley Johnson
- TE Sean McGrath
- CB DeShawn Shead
Waived:
- DE Alex Barrett
- WR Jace Billingsley
- LB Freddie Bishop
- WR Dontez Ford
- CB Mike Ford
- CB Chris Jones
- WR Chris Lacy
- DT Jeremiah Ledbetter
- S Rolan Milligan
- QB Jake Rudock
- LB Darnell Sankey
- P Ryan Santoso
- T Dan Skipper
- RB Dwayne Washington
Placed on injured reserve:
- RB Zach Zenner
Placed on PUP:
- WR Andy Jones
Waived from injured reserve:
- DT Toby Johnson
With Rudock out of the picture, Matt Cassel will serve as the backup to quarterback Matthew Stafford. Freeny conceivably could have made the roster based on his familiarity with head coach Matt Patricia, but the Lions went in another direction.
Panthers Reduce Roster To 53
The Panthers have finalized their team, trimming their roster to 53 players. The team’s moves are below:
Waived:
- QB Kyle Allen
- DE Kiante Anderson
- RB Reggie Bonnafon
- CB Lorenzo Doss
- WR Austin Duke
- WR Mose Frazier
- C Kyle Friend
- QB Garrett Gilbert
- DE Daeshon Hall
- OG Taylor Hearn
- OG Dorian Johnson
- CB Cole Luke
- DT Kendrick Norton
- TE Jason Vander Laan
Waived/reserve:
- RB Elijah Hood
- CB Kevon Seymour
- OT Jeremiah Sirles
Waived/injured:
- WR Jamaal Jones
Terminated vested veteran:
The Panthers also acquired offensive lineman Corey Robinson from the Lions earlier today. The 26-year-old had spent his entire three-year career in Detroit, starting eighth of his 23 games. Carolina sent Detroit a conditional 2020 seventh-rounder in the deal.
Panthers Announce Roster Moves
The Panthers are the latest team to announced their initial wave of roster cuts. Carolina will need to make further transactions in order to comply with the 53-man roster maximum on Saturday.
The following players were cut by the Panthers today:
Released:
Waived:
- DT Tracy Sprinkle
- DE Sterling Bailey
- LB Richie Brown
- LB Chris Frey
- CB Ladarius Gunter
- S Demetrious Cox
- CB Alex Carter
- OT Blaine Clausell
- G Norman Price
- TE Cam Serigne
- WR Rasheed Bailey
- WR Bug Howard
- G Quinterrius Eatmon
- OT Adam Bisnowaty
- TE Evan Baylis
- TE Jason Reese
None of Carolina’s cuts should come as much of a surprise, although there was some thought Clausell might stick on the club’s roster given its injuries along the offensive line.
Panthers Name Tom Glick Team President
A key presence in David Tepper‘s Panthers plan became known Friday. The Panthers announced Tom Glick will serve as their new president and chief operating officer.
Glick spent the past six-plus years as COO for the English Premier League’s Manchester City club but has worked in a variety of sports during a career spanning more than 25 years.
“We are thrilled to have Tom join the Panthers family,” Tepper said. “He has tremendous experience in professional sports, successfully fostering fan engagement in major cities globally. I know that his record, expertise and drive will be major assets as we look to win on the field and in the community.”
Glick will succeed Tina Becker in running the Panthers’ day-to-day operations. Becker took over in that capacity earlier this year but stepped down recently after a 19-year run with the organization. Becker’s role did not include football operations. It remains to be seen if Glick will make an impact on that side of the franchise.
The new Carolina decision-maker previously served as the NBA’s vice president of marketing and business operations, was the then-New Jersey Nets’ chief marketing officer and spent 15 years running multiple minor league baseball teams.