Michael Jordan

Panthers Reduce Roster To 53

The Panthers cut down their roster to 53 players today, but in the process, they ruled out a key offensive lineman for at least a month:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on PUP:

Placed on IR:

Austin Corbett continues to rehab from a torn ACL and has been sitting on PUP throughout the preseason. The transaction means the starting guard can’t be activated to the active roster until Week 5, but he may need longer to get into form. NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe tweets that the team is hoping to have him back midway through the season. Rookie Chandler Zavala will likely slide into the starting lineup while Corbett is sidelined.

Eric Rowe has 100 games of experience in stints with the Eagles, Patriots, and Dolphins. He’s spent the past four seasons in Miami, starting 39 of his 63 appearances. This included a 2022 campaign where he got into 14 games (six starts), finishing with 56 tackles and a pair of sacks. The two-time Super Bowl champ joined the Panthers back in April.

Panthers To Re-Sign G Michael Jordan

Shortly after the Panthers agreed to bring back Cameron Erving, they will retain another member of their offensive line. Michael Jordan is re-signing with the team, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. It is a one-year deal, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 tweets.

While a notable prestige gap exists between this Michael Jordan and the other prominent guard with this name, the Panthers used the blocker in all 17 games last season. With Erving and Jordan under contract, the Panthers have all five of their 2022 O-line starters and two top backups in the fold.

The Panthers have employed Jordan for two seasons, claiming the interior blocker after the Bengals waived him just before the 2021 season. After Jordan worked as a 10-game starter for the 2021 Carolina edition, he shifted to a reserve role last season. The Panthers have Austin Corbett and Brady Christensen set to reprise their roles at guard, but both are coming off injuries. This opens the door for Jordan to re-enter the lineup.

Frank Reich has confirmed Corbett (torn ACL) will not be ready in time for Carolina’s regular-season opener. The Panthers now have Jordan as a potential stopgap option, though the team also used a fourth-round pick on NC State guard Chandler Zavala with Corbett’s situation in mind. Christensen is also coming off a major injury, having suffered a broken ankle during the Week 18 game in which Corbett tore the knee ligament.

A former fourth-round pick out of Ohio State, Jordan has 29 starts on his resume. Nineteen of those came for the Bengals from 2019-20. Cincinnati has dealt with O-line staffing issues for years and did not deem Jordan worth retaining in 2021, despite two years remaining on his rookie contract. The Panthers swooped in. Pro Football Focus has not graded Jordan as a top-50 guard yet in his career, but he stands to keep supplying the Panthers with depth. Considering Carolina’s current situation, that might mean a bit more in 2023.

Panthers Eyeing Brady Christensen At Guard

For the first time in over a decade, the Panthers have a young player positioned to be a long-term left tackle. The franchise will enter this season with a 10th primary left tackle option in the past 10 years, but Ikem Ekwonu appears poised to halt that streak.

Ekwonu’s arrival, however, is likely to move one of Carolina’s Day 2 picks from last year to a new role. The Panthers view Brady Christensen, a 2021 third-round choice, as a better guard option than he was at tackle, Joseph Person of The Athletic notes (subscription required). The BYU product has worked at guard and center during the Panthers’ offseason program thus far.

Christensen started six games at left tackle last season, allowing four sacks on 480 snaps. Carolina lost each of those six games, though the team had many other issues, and Matt Rhule said last year he viewed the rookie as an interior blocker. But the embattled head coach said earlier this offseason he saw some promise for Christensen at tackle, where he started the final three games of last season. Prior to the draft, offensive line coach James Campen also said Christensen would factor into the left tackle picture. Ekwonu going to his home-state team at No. 6 overall changed that plan.

The Panthers added new interior starters in guard Austin Corbett and center Bradley Bozeman. Taylor Moton remains entrenched at right tackle, leaving one open spot — left guard — on Carolina’s reconfigured O-line. Christensen stands to battle 2021 left guard starter Michael Jordan for the gig, per Person. A 2019 fourth-round Bengals draftee, Jordan has an extensive experience advantage. He has made 29 starts at guard for Cincinnati and Carolina in three seasons. One year remains on Jordan’s rookie contract.

Although Christensen was an All-American left tackle who generated Pro Football Focus’ highest single-season tackle grade in the site’s short history grading college players, it appears a best-five-blockers-type plan could produce a quintet featuring the 6-foot-6 lineman alongside Ekwonu next season.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/16/21

The Week 6 Saturday minor move blitz:

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Washington Football Team

Panthers Claim G Michael Jordan

The Panthers did not let Michael Jordan get past them on the waiver wire. They submitted a claim and landed the former Bengals guard Wednesday.

Jordan started 19 games with the Bengals over the past two years, doing so after Cincinnati selected him in the 2019 fourth round. The Panthers will give the interior blocker another shot. Two years remain on MJ’s contract.

Pro Football Focus has not been especially impressed with Jordan through two seasons, though he did not fare as poorly in 2020 as the advanced metrics site viewed him as a rookie. Jordan graded just inside the top 60 among the 80-plus full-time guards PFF assessed last season.

An Ohio State product, Jordan will join a Panthers team that houses Pat Elflein, John Miller and recent sixth-round picks Dennis Daley and Deonte Brown at guard.

Bengals Down To 53

The Bengals are in the books. With less than an hour before the deadline, the Bengals announced a series of roster cuts to take them down to 53. Here’s the full rundown:

Placed on Reserve/Non-Football Injury list:

Placed on Reserve/Injured list:

Released:

Waived:

For now, this leaves the Bengals with seven wide receivers on the roster: Ja’Marr ChaseTyler Boyd, Mike Thomas, Auden Tate, Stanley Morgan Jr., Tee Higgins, and Trenton Irwin. Meanwhile, they’re down a couple starters from last year in Michael Jordan and Mike Daniels.

Bengals Release Michael Jordan

Tuesday marked the Last Dance in Cincinnati. The Bengals have waived former fourth-round pick and starting guard Michael Jordan (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).

Jordan, 23, has appeared in 27 games for the Bengals over the last two years, including 19 starts. Of course, those weren’t great years for the Bengals’ front five.

This year, the Bengals invested a bit more in their O-Line, adding Riley Reiff at tackle while drafting Clemson’s Jackson Carman in Round 2.

The Bengals still have lots of cuts to make between now and 4pm ET/3pm CT. By that time, they’ll need to be at the league’s new 53-man roster maximum.

Titans Reach 53-Man Limit

The Titans reached the 53-man limit on Saturday, mostly via cuts. They did, however, free up one roster spot by trading Taywan Taylor to the Browns.

Among the more notable cuts – quarterback Logan Woodside, running back Jeremy McNichols, and offensive lineman Corey Levin.

Here’s the complete rundown of the Titans’ Saturday slashing:

Waived/released:

OL Hroniss Grasu
OL Austin Pasztor
TE Ryan Hewitt
DB Kenneth Durden
DB D’Andre Payne
DB JoJo Tillery
DB Michael Jordan
DB Kareem Orr
DB LaDarius Wiley
DL Chris Nelson
DL Braxton Hoyett
DL Frank Herron
DL Amani Bledsoe
LB Derick Roberson
LB Ukeme Eligwe
LB Quart’e Sapp
LB LaTroy Lewis
LB Eric Cotton
OL A.T. Hall
OL Aaron Stinnie
OL Corey Levin
OL Tyler Marz
P Austin Barnard
QB Logan Woodside
RB Akeem Hunt
RB Jeremy McNichols
RB Alex Barnes
TE Parker Hesse
WR DeAngelo Yancey
WR Anthony Ratliff-Williams
WR Papi White
WR Cody Hollister
WR Tanner McEvoy

Reserve/NFI:
DL Jeffery Simmons

Suspended:
LT Taylor Lewan

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/13/18

Here are Tuesday’s practice squad decisions:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

Denver Broncos

Indianapolis Colts

Oakland Raiders

Philadelphia Eagles

  • Signed: TE Will Tye
  • Cut: TE Billy Brown

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

NFL Workout Updates: 11/8/18

Today’s workout updates, all courtesy of veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer’s Twitter account:

Atlanta Falcons

San Francisco 49ers