HEADLINES

Keith Kirkwood

Panthers Set Initial 53-Man Roster

August 31st, 2021 at 3:17pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Add the Panthers to the list of teams who have officially trimmed their roster down to the required 53 players. Remember this is only the initial roster, so not everybody who was spared Tuesday will make it through to the regular season after the waiver wire frenzy the next few days.

Here’s the list of players Carolina cut on Tuesday:

Released:

Waived:

Placed on season-ending IR

You’ll probably recognize at least a few names on this list, including Bynes, Grier, Kirkwood, and Bonnafon. Bynes is a veteran linebacker with 117 appearances and 63 starts under his belt since entering the league all the way back in 2011. He started all 16 games for the Bengals last year, but it took him until just a few weeks ago to get signed by Carolina.

Grier is the West Virginia product who had a fair amount of buzz coming out of college. Despite some initial talk that he could get drafted in the first or second-round, he ended up as a third-round pick in 2019. He ended up starting two games for the Panthers as a rookie, struggling mightily while tossing four interceptions and no touchdowns. Carolina is throwing in the towel after just two seasons, electing to roll with only P.J. Walker behind Sam Darnold. Grier should be able to at least end up on somebody’s practice squad.

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/22/21

February 22nd, 2021 at 4:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve got a few minor moves to pass along from today:

Carolina Panthers

Houston Texans

San Francisco 49ers

Hilliard, Zylstra, and Kirkwood were all set to be restricted free agents before getting these one-year extensions, and they now won’t need to be tendered offers. Cracraft was an exclusive rights free agent so there wasn’t much of a question about his future. Hilliard did pretty well for himself to get $1.25MM with $200K guaranteed, considering he only appeared in two games for Houston without receiving a carry or reception.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/20/20

October 20th, 2020 at 4:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves, with the list being updated throughout the day:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Waived: WR John Hurst

Tennessee Titans

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/17/20

October 17th, 2020 at 4:50pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Saturday’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Indianapolis Colts

Miami Dolphins

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Panthers Designate Eli Apple For Return

September 30th, 2020 at 2:38pm CST by Zachary Links

The Panthers have designated cornerback Eli Apple and wide receiver Keith Kirkwood to return from injured reserve, according to Joe Person of The Athletic (on Twitter). The club now has a three-week window to activate either player. If they are not activated in that span, they’ll be ineligible to return for the remainder of the year. 

[RELATED: Panthers Promote RB Reggie Bonnafon]

A former Giants first-round pick, Apple inked a one-year deal with the Panthers in May. At the time, he was thought to be on track for a starting role, especially since the Panthers waited until the fourth round before addressing their need at corner.

Without James Bradberry to lead the way, the Panthers weren’t left with much. Pro Football Focus graded none of Carolina’s incumbent corners higher than 89th at the position last season. Apple, meanwhile, was only 20 when he was drafted and he only just turned 25 over the summer, so there’s reason to believe that he can be a quality contributor when healthy.

 

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/19/20

March 19th, 2020 at 6:37pm CST by Zachary Links

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

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Re-signed: WR Bryant Mitchell

Washington Redskins

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/4/19

December 4th, 2019 at 8:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Wednesday’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Indianapolis Colts

  • Reverted to season-ending IR after 21-day activation window closed: WR Devin Funchess

New Orleans Saints

San Francisco 49ers

Saints Designate WR Keith Kirkwood To Return From IR

November 13th, 2019 at 9:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints have designated wide receiver Keith Kirkwood to return from injured reserve, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Kirkwood, 25, suffered a hamstring injury in mid-September that knocked him to the sideline. He’s now returned to practice, opening a 21-day window during which New Orleans must either activate Kirkwood to its 53-man roster or leave him on IR for the remainder of the year.

A 2018 undrafted free agent out of Temple, Kirkwood spent the first half of his rookie campaign on the Saints’ practice squad before being promoted. He went on to play 44% of New Orleans’ remaining offensive snaps, posting 13 receptions for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the process.

The Saints’ wide receiver corps has mostly been a one-man show thus far in 2019 — Michael Thomas leads the club with 86 receptions, while Ted Ginn is second among wideouts with just 20. Kirkwood should factor in as back-of-the-roster depth while also playing on special teams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/17/19

September 17th, 2019 at 9:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Los Angeles Chargers

New Orleans Saints

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Saints Place Dez Bryant On IR

November 10th, 2018 at 1:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

The bad news coming out of New Orleans on Friday turned out to be true. Dez Bryant did tear an Achilles’ tendon, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Bryant’s rehab timeline is tentatively set at eight months, per Schefter.

The Saints are placing their recently acquired wide receiver on IR, per Nick Underhill of The Advocate (on Twitter). They will end up promoting a wideout from their practice squad, with Underhill tweeting Keith Kirkwood will make the move up to the 53-man roster. This move was expected prior to Bryant’s injury, per Underhill (on Twitter).

New Orleans previously housed only three healthy wideouts — Michael Thomas, Tre’Quan Smith and Austin Carr. Bryant, who was a member of this healthy contingent for less than two days, joins Ted Ginn, Tommylee Lewis and Cameron Meredith on the Saints’ IR list. Although, Lewis has resumed practicing and could be activated soon.

This development, interestingly, shouldn’t affect the Saints too much, which is rare for a sequence featuring a high-profile player going down. They’ve won seven straight games and were betting Bryant could provide a boost of some sort. But the Saints have a top-10 offense that will take the field in Cincinnati featuring the same cast that spearheaded a 45-35 win over the Rams last week.

Bryant’s trajectory, obviously, has been significantly altered after going down on the final play of his second Saints practice.

Instead of going into free agency on the heels of being a cog in a Drew Brees-led passing attack, he’ll have a months-long rehab effort to complete before being ready to contribute again. He won’t be ready by the time the new league year begins and may have to wait deep into the 2019 offseason to sign.

Bryant’s most recent work sample, a 16-game season with the 2017 Cowboys, featured his fewest yards per game (52.4) since his rookie season. This injury certainly won’t have teams aggressively pursuing him. It’s a brutal blow for a player who spent months as an outspoken free agent and one who hoped to have a better shot at cashing in next year.

Kirkwood has yet to play an NFL down. He played at Hawaii and Temple from 2013-17, finishing his career with back-to-back 600-yard receiving seasons, totaling 11 aerial touchdowns in those years.

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