Carolina Panthers News & Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/6/24

Friday’s minor moves as we continue with Week 1 of the 2024 NFL season:

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Los Angeles Rams

Philadelphia Eagles

Washington Commanders

The Packers and Eagles both elect to utilize their two gameday practice squad elevations on the offensive side of the ball as they get their seasons started in São Paulo. With rookie third-round rusher MarShawn Lloyd out to start the season, Merriweather will add some depth at running back for Green Bay.

Philadelphia will use their callups to supplement an offensive line that has two players listed as out tonight and one on injured reserve. A normally deep tight ends group for the Birds sees Albert Okwuegbunam on IR, as well. Jenkins will back up Dallas Goedert and Grant Calcaterra.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/5/24

Here are Thursday’s practice squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

  • Signed: DL Tyler Manoa

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: RB Dillon Johnson

New York Giants

  • Signed: LB Carter Coughlin

Coughlin also appeared in today’s Minor NFL Transactions installment, but as a vested veteran, he does not need to clear waivers in order to join a team’s practice squad. Coughlin, who has been a core Giants special-teamer since 2020, re-signed with the team in March.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/5/24

As the 2024 season kicks off, here are the day’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: LB Cam Gill

Chicago Bears

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: OL Ryan Hayes

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed off Cardinals’ practice squad: DL Ben Stille
  • Placed on IR: DL Earnest Brown
  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: LB Shaun Peterson, DL Lwal Uguak

Tennessee Titans

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: LB JoJo Domann

Washington Commanders

The Ravens drafted Ali in this year’s fifth round. He entered the week joining Derrick Henry and Justice Hill as running backs on Baltimore’s 53-man roster. Kelly has since replaced him as Baltimore’s RB3. He will now join Keaton Mitchell as being on an injured list; the latter remains on the Ravens’ reserve/PUP list, sidelining him for at least four games. This designation shelves Ali for that period as well. The Ravens could use one of their injury activations to bring Ali back to the roster at that point.

2024 Offseason In Review Series

Contract Details: Ravens, 49ers, Sutton, Bates

The Ravens reworked a handful of contracts this week. Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the team restructured linebacker Roquan Smith‘s contract. ESPN’s Field Yates adds that defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and kicker Justin Tucker also reworked their pacts.

Smith’s restructuring helped create $4.875MM in cap space, per Rapoport. Smith is playing on the second year of a five-year, $100MM extension he signed with the Ravens in 2023. In total, the three recent contract restructurings will total $9.3MM in savings, per Yates.

GM Eric DeCosta recently hinted that the team may be over the cap after adding a long list of practice squad players (via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic). The executive was confident the organization would quickly get cap compliant, and it sounds like the front office also managed to squeeze out some extra financial wiggle room heading into the regular season.

More cap restructurings from around the NFL…

  • Deebo Samuel provided the 49ers with some cap space the other day, with the wideout’s restructuring providing the team with a whopping $16.4MM in cap space (via Yates). Samuel is still playing on the three-year, $73.5MM extension he inked with San Francisco in 2022. Defensive tackle Maliek Collins also recently reworked his contract, saving the 49ers $5.43MM against the cap, per Yates. The team specifically converted $6.79MM of Collins’ upcoming salary into a signing bonus, adding three void years in the process (per Michael Ginnitti of Spotrac).
  • The Broncos continue to commit to wideout Courtland Sutton, at least for the entirety of the 2024 campaign. The team restructured the receiver’s contract, helping open $9.5MM in cap space, per Yates. Specifically, the team converted $11.875MM of Sutton’s $13MM salary into a bonus, per Mike Klis of 9News in Denver. The reduced financial flexibility reduces the chances of a Sutton trade during the upcoming season.
  • The Falcons opened up about $7.5MM in cap space by reworking Jessie Bates‘ contract, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. The team converted $11.25MM of his 2024 base salary into a signing bonus, increasing his 2025 ($22.25MM) and 2026 ($22.27MM) cap hits in the process.
  • The Panthers reworked a pair of contracts, according to Yates. Both offensive tackle Taylor Moton and defensive tackle Shy Tuttle helped provide the Panthers with some breathing room, as the duo’s restructurings created $10.7MM in cap room.
  • The Saints opened $3.5MM in cap space by reworking Juwan Johnson‘s deal, per Yates. The tight end inked a two-year extension with the team ahead of the 2023 campaign, with $11.5MM of his $12MM earnings guaranteed.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/3/24

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves:

Buffalo Bills 

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: DE Viliami Fehoko

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Seattle Seahawks

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: DL Buddha Jones

Tennessee Titans

  • Waived: LB Luke Gifford
  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: WR Tre’Shaun Harrison

The Eagles waived Tuipulotu to make room for waiver claim Byron Young. Tuipulotu had worked as an Eagles rotational DT, playing 232 snaps in 2022 and 162 last season. A 2021 sixth-round pick, Tuipulotu notched two sacks and three tackles for loss last season.

Early September is a bit earlier than most teams poach a player of another club’s P-squad. The Panthers doing so means they must carry Swinson, a rookie UDFA out of Arizona State, on their 53-man roster for at least three weeks. Panthers tight ends Tommy Tremble and Ian Thomas are battling injuries. Swinson joins those two, veteran Jordan Matthews and rookie fourth-rounder Ja’Tavian Sanders on a rare five-TE depth chart.

Panthers Release OLB K’Lavon Chaisson

K’Lavon Chaisson‘s time with the Panthers is set to come to an end without any regular season game time. The former first-round edge rusher was released on Tuesday, per a team announcement.

Chaisson played out his rookie contract with the Jaguars, unsuccessfully attempting to carve out a regular role on defense. The 25-year-old logged 11 starts across his first two seasons in Jacksonville, but his playing time notably dropped after that point. With only five sacks to his name, Chaisson understandably did not have a strong free agent market in the spring.

Carolina added him on a one-year deal including $500K guaranteed. The team will see that amount become a dead money charge as a result of this move, but it will generate $2MM in savings. The Panthers are thin along the edge as things stand, with D.J. Wonnum and Amare Barno being placed on the reserve/PUP list last week. They will miss at least the first four weeks of the season.

The Panthers were tight against the cap heading into Tuesday, and this move will help in that regard. Carolina was already known to be on the lookout for an edge rush addition before cutting Chaisson, so a move for a healthy contributor should be expected in the coming days. At the moment, the team has Jadeveon Clowney, DJ Johnson, Eku Leota and Jamie Sheriff in place.

Chaisson could remain in the Panthers’ organization via a practice squad deal. Otherwise, he will seek out a new team in advance of Week 1 as he looks to find the opportunity for a long-term NFL gig. Given the LSU product’s rotational usage on special teams, he could land an end-of-the-roster role somewhere in relatively short order.

Panthers Will Not Sign QB John Wolford

John Wolford had a deal in place to join the Panthers’ practice squad, but that will no longer be the case. The seventh-year quarterback is not heading to Carolina at this time, Joe Person of The Athletic reports.

Wolford spent the 2023 season with the Buccaneers, spending time under Dave Canales. Tampa Bay’s offensive coordinator for that campaign, Canales took the Panthers’ head coaching gig during the 2024 hiring cycle, so it came as no surprise Wolford showed interest in following him to Carolina. Person adds the Panthers will use that practice squad spot on a different position for the time being, though.

An agreement with Wolford could still be in the cards for Carolina later on, Person notes. The 28-year-old entered the league as a UDFA in 2018, making his regular season debut two years later with the Rams. Wolford made a total of eight appearances and five starts during his Los Angeles tenure, including a wild-card win in 2020 during which he was injured early.

The Buccaneers had Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask on the depth chart last season, and that remains the case in 2024. Wolford is free to sign with any team, but a spot on a practice squad (rather than an active roster) should be expected unless the early portion of the season leaves potential suitors in need of healthy passers in short order. Attention in Carolina will remain focused on Canales’ ability to develop Bryce Young, a central part of why he was hired as the team’s new coach.

The Panthers have Young and veteran Andy Dalton on the active roster as things stand. The team also has Jake Plummer on the taxi squad as a developmental option. Changes to that depth chart could take place if Wolford finds himself in Carolina, but at least for now that will not take place.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/2/24

Here are Monday’s practice squad additions and subtractions:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: WR Praise Olatoke

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

  • Signed: OL Blake Larson

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: DB Ayo Oyelola

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

  • Signed: S Kendell Brooks

Weaver has dropped from the player who logged 640 defensive snaps in 2022, when Harold Landry was sidelined for the year, to the practice squad level. The Titans waived Weaver after setting their initial 53-man roster. He will follow ex-teammate Teair Tart by joining the Texans’ D-line upon being a Titans cut. Though, Tart landed in Houston via waiver claim and never dropped to the P-squad. Weaver registered 5.5 sacks in 2022 but did not record any in 15 games last season.

The Giants waived Long last week. He will join a Colts team that has made multiple moves at corner since setting its initial roster. Indianapolis, which took some heat for not augmenting its outside CB situation this offseason, claimed Samuel Womack off waivers from San Francisco and waived Darrell Baker. Long, a former Rams third-round pick, played for three teams (Raiders, Panthers, Packers in 2023.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/2/24

Here are Labor Day’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Buffalo Bills

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: CB Dee Delaney

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: WR David Durden

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: TE Trey Knox

New Orleans Saints

  • Removed from IR via injury settlement: TE Kevin Rader

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Commanders

Stromberg sustained a knee injury that will require surgery. The 2023 third-round pick, one of five 2023 draftees that did not make Washington’s 53-man roster last week, will only need an arthroscopic procedure, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. Stromberg is aiming to catch on somewhere else around the midseason point. He only played 26 rookie-year snaps on offense. The Arkansas product would technically have a chance to land back with the Commanders, depending on the terms of the settlement, but the team moving on so early may well point to the Adam Peters regime deeming the Ron Rivera– and Martin Mayhew-overseen move a mistake.

Davis figures to land elsewhere and play this season. The 28-year-old linebacker sustained a foot sprain and will be out for a few weeks, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero. Davis played in 16 games, split evenly between the Saints and Panthers, last season.