HEADLINES

Efe Obada

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/15/23

March 15th, 2023 at 7:46pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor transactions:

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

Washington Commanders

Smith got a two-year deal from Denver that can max out at $5.5MM, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver (via Twitter). Smith got a $1.4MM signing bonus to join the Broncos, per Troy Renck of Denver7 (via Twitter). After finishing last in kicker return average in 2022, the Broncos should get a bump from Smith, who averaged 23.9 yards on his 40 kickoff returns for Houston over the past two years.

Commanders Sign DE Efe Obada

March 23rd, 2022 at 2:49pm CST by Adam La Rose

Efe Obada has found his latest home in the NFL. The Commanders announced on Wednesday that they are signing the veteran defensive end. 

Obada, who will be 30 by the start of the 2022 season, has played four seasons in the league. The first three of those came with the Panthers, where he suited up for 42 games. The 2019 season saw him make a career-high 24 tackles, but it’s the only year in which he didn’t register a sack.

Obada’s ability to get to the quarterback was on display the following season, as he posted 5.5 sacks, to go along with a pair of forced fumbles. After signing back-to-back one-year deals to stay in Carolina, the former UDFA joined the Bills last offseason. He started one of ten games in Buffalo, registering 3.5 sacks.

Obada – who was born in Nigeria and raised in London – is best known for a unique distinction he holds. After starting his football career with the London Warriors of the British American Football Association, he entered the NFL via the International Player Pathway Program. When he successfully made the Panthers’ 53-man roster in 2018, he became the first player to do so who took that route.

Now, Obada will join a Commanders’ defensive front headed by edge rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat. Given his success as a rotational option, he should play a role in helping the unit improve on its disappointing performance in 2021.

Panthers Reworking Staff

January 12th, 2022 at 9:59am CST by Ely Allen

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has had some difficulties making the same immediate impact in Carolina that gained him notoriety in Waco. In two years at the helm, Rhule hasn’t succeeded in improving his team’s win total from the season before he was hired. In an attempt to make some needed improvements, the Panthers announced that they were letting go of offensive line coach Pat Meyer, defensive line coach Frank Okam, and special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.

The team struggled on both sides of the line this year and it looks like any attempts to improve will be made by new position coaches, while the special teams unit saw four different kickers and three punters throughout the year, including the preseason.

Meyer has been with Rhule since the move to Carolina. He’s been coaching in the NFL for 8 years with stops at the Chargers, Bills, and Bears. Meyer entered the NFL with Marc Trestman, moving with the coach from the CFL to Chicago.

Okam joined Rhule at Baylor and followed the notably loyal coach to the Panthers. Rhule had brought much of his staff from Temple with him to Baylor, so it was safe to assume some of the Baylor staff would end up in Carolina, as well. Despite coaching up young draft picks like Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Bravvion Roy and seeing career numbers from Brian Burns, Efe Obada, and Marquis Haynes, it seems Rhule is wanting a bit more from this position group.

Chase Blackburn was a longtime linebacker for the Giants before spending his final two years playing in Carolina. After about a year of retirement from playing, Blackburn became a special teams intern in Ron Rivera‘s staff. When Rhule came in to replace Rivera, Blackburn was one of two holdovers from the staff along with Jake Peetz, who is now the offensive coordinator at LSU.

It’s yet to be seen who will replace them, but Rhule continues to show hints of what made him successful at the college level by attempting to make the necessary changes to succeed. With young talent on both sides of the ball, Rhule may yet turn this team around.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/24/21

March 24th, 2021 at 10:21am CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/8/20

September 8th, 2020 at 5:23pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

New England Patriots

Seattle Seahawks

Panthers Sign Efe Obada To Extension

January 6th, 2020 at 8:53am CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have signed defensive end Efe Obada to a new one-year deal, per a club announcement. Obada was set to be an exclusive rights free agent, so he wouldn’t have been able to sign with another club anyway.

The Panthers are still searching for their next head coach, so it’s unlikely that the new pact includes significant guarantees. After all, their next HC might not be as high on Obada as current GM Marty Hurney.

Obada was born in Nigeria and did not play football at the collegiate level. In 2014, he hooked on with the London Warriors of the British American Football Association and wound up joining the Cowboys’ practice squad in 2015 as a part of the international pathway program. Finally, in 2018, he became the first international pathway program player to crack a 53-man roster when he was activated by the Panthers.

In 2019, Obada registered 24 total tackles and one pass defensed while appearing in all 16 games.

Panthers Notes: Newton, Hostler, Obada

January 24th, 2019 at 6:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Cam Newton underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on Thursday, the Panthers announced. While Carolina did say Newton will immediately begin his rehabilitation process, the team did not provide a timeline for his recovery. However, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link) hears the signal-caller’s procedure was not of the “major reconstructive” variety, while Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets the operation was relatively minor. Indeed, Newton is expected to resume throwing by the time organized team activities begin in May, per Breer.

Here’s more from Carolina:

  • The Panthers — who currently run a 4-3 defense — may implement more 3-4 looks in 2019, according to Joseph Person of The Athletic. While it doesn’t appear Carolina will make a full-fledged change to a 3-4 front, the club does plan on deploying multiple defensive schemes. Dontari Poe would become a natural nose tackle (a role he played in Kansas City), while Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson would handle middle linebacker. The real issue, however, would be finding edge rushers that could fit into a 3-4 scheme. The Panthers’ potential shift isn’t necessarily being driven by change in personnel or coaching, as defensive coordinator Eric Washington is remaining in place while head coach Ron Rivera will continue to call defensive plays.
  • Former Packers passing game coordinator Jim Hostler has been hired as the Panthers’ new wide receivers coach, the club recently announced. Hostler, 52, is a long-time NFL coach with experience dating back to 2000. He spent only one season in Green Bay working with the team’s offense, and wasn’t retained when the Packers hired new head coach Matt LaFleur. Hostler, who is replacing Lance Taylor on Carolina’s staff, will work with a wideout group that currently includes D.J. Moore, Torrey Smith, Curtis Samuel, and Jarius Wright (plus pending free agent Devin Funchess).
  • Defensive end Efe Obada‘s one year-deal with the Panthers is worth $570K, tweets David Newton of ESPN.com. The minimum salary for a player with one year of NFL experience (like Obada) will be $555K in 2019, so Carolina is giving the 27-year-old a slight pay bump. Obada was scheduled to become an exclusive rights free agent, meaning he wouldn’t have hit the open market unless the Panthers opted to non-tender him.

Panthers Re-Sign DE Efe Obada

January 23rd, 2019 at 12:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers re-signed Efe Obada to a one-year deal, the team announced. The defensive end was set to be an exclusive rights free agent this offseason, so he would not have hit the open market anyway unless the Panthers renounced his rights. 

Obada made history when he became the first player to move from the league’s International Pathway Program to an active roster. The defensive end, who has also had stints with the Chiefs, Falcons, and Cowboys, finished out the year with two sacks. He also earned NFC defensive player of the week honors for his September performance against the Bengals in which he recorded a sack and an interception. That game marked his NFL debut and it could not have gone better for him.

“I’m very grateful. It’s another opportunity to contribute to the team and obviously support myself and my family,” said the Nigeria-born player, who plans to spend most of his offseason in England.

In 2019, Obada says he’s eager to take another giant step forward.

“The main thing for me is being consistent and trusting my training,” Obada said. “I’m going to work on my weaknesses – knowledge of the game, just recognizing things a bit quicker in terms of my keys against the run and things like that. I definitely want to step into a more secure role, into a leadership role on this team. That’s what I’m working toward.”

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/9/18

January 9th, 2018 at 6:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2018 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

  • DL Collin Bevins

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

Oakland Raiders

  • DB Shaquille Richardson

Philadelphia Eagles

  • C Jon Toth

Washington Redskins

Sunday NFL Transactions: NFC South

September 3rd, 2017 at 4:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

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

Carolina Panthers

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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