Among tight ends, Hayden Hurst received the most guaranteed money this offseason. The former first-round pick signed with the Panthers on a three-year, $21.75MM deal that came with $13MM fully guaranteed. A midseason concussion has stalled Hurst in Carolina.
Concerningly, Hurst’s father shared that an independent neurologist diagnosed the veteran tight end with post-traumatic amnesia. The 30-year-old pass catcher has not played since entering concussion protocol after a Nov. 9 game against the Bears. Interim Carolina HC Chris Tabor said Hurst is progressing, and the former minor league baseball player said he is not planning to retire as a result of this injury.
“I’m doing better each day,” Hurst said, via ESPN.com’s David Newton. “It’s not going to end my career, just being cautious as I come back. Should be another week or two.”
While Hurst confirmed the diagnosis (via Newton), he said the post-traumatic amnesia assessment “sounds way worse.” The Cleveland Clinic defines post-traumatic amnesia as developing after an injury. The condition can bring confusion due to the afflicted person’s “difficulty remembering where they are, how they got there or any new information since the injury.” Hurst tweeted that he does not remember “up to 4 hours after the game (against the Bears).” The South Carolina alum was allowed to remain in the game following the hit, being placed in the protocol after the contest.
Early retirements as a result of concussions have become more commonplace in the NFL. The best defender in Panthers history, Luke Kuechly, is the most notable example. The perennial All-Pro made a surprising call to retire after the 2019 season. Kuechly, who retired at 28, suffered three confirmed concussions during his decorated career.
Hurst is midway through his sixth NFL season. The Ravens drafted him 25th overall in 2018, bringing him in two rounds before adding Mark Andrews. With Andrews becoming Baltimore’s clear-cut top option in the passing game, the team traded Hurst to Atlanta in 2020. After two seasons with the Falcons, Hurst signed a one-year, $3.5MM Bengals deal. Last season, Hurst caught 52 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. Despite Dalton Schultz and Mike Gesicki being franchise tag recipients last year, Hurst commanded a better contract than both this offseason.
Hurst’s $5.75MM base salary next season is guaranteed. On a Panthers team that has become the NFL’s worst, Hurst was off to a slow start before the concussion; in nine games, he caught 18 passes for 184 yards. While the ex-Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand expects to be back in action before season’s end, he did well to score the guarantee he did during his second free agency stay.
Hurst actually looked like he could be a decent, if unspectacular, security blanket early in the year. The Panthers offense as a whole was and is pretty anemic, but he made a few catches for Young that looked like those types of “find my outlet” throws. The Panthers don’t really have another player at that spot right now to fill that role with consistency. Obviously Reich was counting on having a reliable tight end in his system, hence the guaranteed money given to Hurst. Also obvious is the lethargy of the Panthers offense. Hurst might not have been a star, but he was supposed to be a consistent security option for Young underneath. If he’s able to return, and is 100%, it would be good for Carolina. They need whatever they can get. There are so many areas that need improvement that they may not get the TE spot addressed in the offseason, so they’re probably counting on Hurst to at least offer them something.
Always a great report. Pushing aside the injury, basically the Panthers overpaid for an average TE, while letting their premier DE not get signed? Add in the Burns trade would have paid for the move up for Young….Not sure if it’s just the owner, or GM, or combo of the two, but that’s a poorly run franchise top to bottom.
Pretty much. Hurst had a good year in Cincy, so perhaps they were inspired by that. There wasn’t much on the market as is, so I think that their deal was also meant to be incentive and/or inspiration for him to be a team leader and safety net for Young. Hurst’s issue has always been injuries, though. He’s decent as a receiver or a blocker, but he’ll never give you a full season. That’s how he lost his job initially to Andrews, and why he’s bounced around the league for TE needy teams. He’s not a bad player, but he’s not a star, either. Availability will always be an issue, though, so it’s impactful on his value.
The Burns situation is just silly, in my opinion. I think that the Panthers really forced that trade, but if they insisted on doing it, they should have used him in that trade for the first overall pick instead of Moore. Or, better yet, taken the Rams’ offer. Let L.A. send you their best picks and deal with that contract. Even keeping Burns wasn’t bad as far decisions go, but if you keep him, you need to sign him. And you definitely need to anticipate his asking price skyrocketing after news of that rejected megatrade, plus the years of losing, poor environment, and coaching changes. After gaining all the leverage and having terrible experiences in Carolina, what do they expect him to do? Of course Burns is going to push the envelope. Now, Carolina has to tag him and hope that better results under a new coach next year will make Burns more amenable to taking a better deal.
The Rams offered two 1st’s and a 2nd if I recall. That should have netted them the overall pick. That was my thinking. That’s plenty of draft capital to move up.
And I agree with you, Burns should have been traded; not the WR. QB’s, especially young QB’s(!!) need good receivers, duh.
Boneheaded plays by the front office. If I were a good FA, I would only use a Panthers contract as leverage for a deal from another team. Why waste years playing on that franchise?
I do hope Hurst recovers. I always hate reading about head injuries. They’re no joke.
I respect a player being honest with their symptoms instead of lying to make the field sooner. There are a lot more concussions that involve memory loss than players will admit to, even if its only a few minutes/ hours after the event.