HEADLINES

Carolina Panthers News & Rumors

Panthers To Place CB Jaycee Horn On IR

September 15th, 2023 at 3:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

SEPTEMBER 15: The Panthers will place Horn on IR, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. While Horn would be eligible to return by Week 6, Rapoport adds a comeback will likely not be in the cards until at least the season’s second-half. The injury is not, however, believed to be season-ending. This hiatus will push Horn’s games-missed number past 20 over the course of his young career.

SEPTEMBER 13: Injuries have dogged Jaycee Horn throughout his NFL career. Another one has cropped up, and Frank Reich confirmed Wednesday the former top-10 pick will miss a significant chunk of the season.

Horn suffered a hamstring injury against the Falcons in Week 1, and Reich indicated (via The Athletic’s Joe Person) surgery is in play. Carolina’s top cornerback is seeking a second opinion. As should be expected, Horn is a candidate to land on injured reserve. The Panthers already moved one starter — left guard Brady Christensen — to IR on Wednesday.

At the very least, Horn will miss multiple games, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. The South Carolina alum has already missed 18 contests as a pro. A broken foot derailed Horn’s rookie season, and he sustained multiple injuries — including a broken wrist — in 2022. Horn missed offseason time due to an ankle injury. The Panthers are planning to add a cornerback, Person tweets. Christensen’s IR move leaves their roster at 52 players.

The Panthers have seen flashes from Horn, and they protected him as trade interest emerged following Matt Rhule‘s October 2022 firing. But the team also passed on two future All-Pro defenders — Patrick Surtain, Micah Parsons — in that 2021 draft. The team chose Horn eighth overall, making him the first corner off the board that year. The Broncos chose Surtain, a 2022 first-team All-Pro, at No. 9. Parsons went 12th overall.

Horn, 24, made it through 20 defensive snaps before going down in Week 1. The 6-foot-1 cover man remains Carolina’s centerpiece corner, though the team has Donte Jackson signed to a three-year, $35.18MM deal. Carolina added slot defender Troy Hill late in the summer and acquired former Jaguars top-10 draftee C.J. Henderson shortly after losing Horn two years ago. Henderson, however, has not played particularly well since coming to Charlotte. The Panthers passed on his fifth-year option in May.

Horn’s rookie contract runs through 2024, though it can be extended through 2025 via the fifth-year option. The run of injuries Horn has encountered will complicate Carolina’s decision regarding his fifth-year option; that call is due in May 2024.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/14/23

September 14th, 2023 at 5:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor transactions:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed off Raiders practice squad: CB Sam Webb

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

  • Signed off Raiders practice squad: G McClendon Curtis
  • Signed off Buccaneers practice squad: OT Raiqwon O’Neal

With Jaycee Horn being placed on IR, the Panthers added some cornerback depth by snagging Sam Webb of the Raiders practice squad. The former UDFA got into all 17 games for Las Vegas in 2022, finishing with 36 tackles. He was cut by the Raiders at the end of the preseason before landing back on their practice squad.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/23

September 13th, 2023 at 9:10pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today’s taxi squad moves around the league:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons 

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed: WR Michael Strachan

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

New England Patriots

  • Signed: QB Ian Book, DB William Hooper

New Orleans Saints

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/23

September 13th, 2023 at 6:04pm CST by Adam La Rose

Wednesday’s minor moves:

Carolina Panthers

  • Signed (off Raiders’ practice squad): CB Sam Webb

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

Taylor was placed on IR by the Jaguars in July, guaranteeing that he would not see the field during the 2023 campaign. He has also been suspended for the first two games of next season, though, PHNX’s Howard Balzer notes. The 24-year-old has yet to see regular season NFL game action in his career.

Bennett has been dealing with a shoulder injury, but the NFI designation is used for injuries (or, in this case, illnesses) which arise separate from football-related activities. When asked for specifics about the fourth-round rookie’s circumstances, head coach Sean McVay said, via The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, “out of respect for him and the situation, I’m going to leave all of those specifics and particulars in-house” (subscription required). The Rams will move forward with Matthew Stafford as their starter under center, and Brett Rypien available as an option to be elevated from the practice squad.

Tarik Cohen Expected To Sign With Panthers Practice Squad

September 12th, 2023 at 9:12pm CST by Ben Levine

Tarik Cohen is on the comeback trail. The veteran running back intends to sign with the Panthers practice squad, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Jordan Schultz was first with the news. Joe Person of The Athletic notes that Cohen will sign assuming he passes his physical tomorrow.

Cohen hasn’t seen the field for an NFL game since the 2020 campaign, when he tore his ACL and MCL and fractured his tibial plateau during Week 3. He spent the subsequent 2021 season on PUP before hitting free agency in 2022. While training last May, Cohen ruptured his Achilles tendon, delaying his comeback another year. Last month, the RB indicated that he was ready to continue his NFL career, and the Panthers are the team to give him the shot.

It didn’t take long for the former fourth-round pick to emerge as a productive offensive weapon. Following a rookie season where he collected more than 700 yards from scrimmage, Cohen earned an All-Pro nod with the Bears in 2018 after finishing with 1,169 yards from scrimmage and eight touchdowns. Cohen was also a standout on special teams that season, leading the NFL with 411 punt return yards.

His yards-per-touch dropped to 4.7 during the 2019 campaign, but Cohen still managed to produce 669 yards from scrimmage. The Bears ended up rewarding him for his three productive years, signing the RB to a three-year, $17.25MM deal prior to the 2020 campaign. Cohen boosted that aforementioned yards-per-touch number to 5.8 in the first two-plus games of the 2020 campaign before suffering his career-altering injury.

In Carolina, he’ll be joining a backfield that’s still finding itself in a post-Christian McCaffrey era. The Panthers handed out one of free agency’s largest RB contracts when they inked Miles Sanders to a four-year, $25.4MM deal. The team also still has Chuba Hubbard as their top backup, but they lack experienced depth behind their top duo. Former UDFA Raheem Blackshear is on the active roster, while Spencer Brown and Jashaun Corbin are stashed on the practice squad.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/12/23

September 12th, 2023 at 8:44pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s practice squad transactions:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Signed: LB Ty Shelby
  • Released: OT Austen Pleasants

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

Seattle Seahawks

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/11/23

September 11th, 2023 at 7:27pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s minor moves following the first NFL Sunday of the season, including a gameday elevation for the first Monday Night Football game of the year:

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

New York Jets

Washington Commanders

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/11/23

September 11th, 2023 at 6:58pm CST by Ely Allen

Here are today’s practice squad transactions from around the league:

Carolina Panthers

Las Vegas Raiders

Seattle Seahawks

The veteran linebacker, Jones, lands back with the team he spent the preseason with after getting released in final roster cuts two weeks ago. The former Falcons defensive staple failed to really catch on last year after getting traded to the Browns, failing to amass over 100 tackles for only the second time in his NFL career, the first time being when he only played six games (and already had 53 tackles). While he failed to crack the 53-man roster in an impressive returning group of linebackers in Carolina, he’ll hope to work his way back onto the field from the practice squad.

2023 Offseason In Review Series

September 9th, 2023 at 10:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Quarterback acquisitions generated top headlines this offseason, while the slew of developments affecting the running back market moved that position’s value to a precarious point. On that note, our latest Offseason In Review series is in the books. Here are the PFR staff’s looks at how teams assembled their 2023 rosters:

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

No Brian Burns Extension Imminent; Panthers OLB Expected To Play In Week 1

September 9th, 2023 at 8:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

Brian Burns‘ hold-in efforts have not yielded an extension agreement in time for the start of the season. The Panthers edge rusher is not expected to sign a deal before Week 1, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

A Burns extension has been on Carolina’s radar for quite some time now, and it has become clear they intend to keep him in the fold for years to come on a few occasions. The Panthers turned down a Rams trade package for the 25-year-old which included a pair of first-round picks at the deadline, and they insisted he would not be involved in the swap with the Bears which allowed them to acquire the top selection in April’s draft.

That gave the Florida State alum plenty of leverage in extension talks, but little progress has been made with the team seeking to work out a new pact ahead of tomorrow’s season opener. Burns – who attended training camp – recently indicated he would not miss regular season time, a move which would have subjected him to $890K in weekly fines. Those comments contrasted notably with his decision to not participate in certain practices, however, and it remained in doubt whether or not he would suit up without a contract in hand.

On that point, Fowler adds that Burns resumed practicing in recent days, and he is expected to play against the Falcons on Sunday. It is unclear if extension talks will continue once the season kicks off, or if player and team will choose to wait until the spring to resume negotiations. In any case, Burns is now set to earn $16MM this season as a result of Carolina’s decision to pick up his fifth-year option. He is not signed beyond 2023.

Many expected the Burns camp to use Nick Bosa‘s extension with the 49ers as a measuring stick for his own value. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year secured the largest commitment ever made to a player on that side of the ball (five years, $170MM with $88MM guaranteed), likely boosting the edge market as a whole. Burns was reported to be seeking an AAV similar to Bosa’s, though that was before the latter’s $34MM figure in that regard was revealed through his deal being finalized. Carolina is aiming for a pact averaging closer to Maxx Crosby‘s annual compensation ($23.5MM).

The Panthers would be well suited to have Burns in place for Week 1 and throughout the early portion of the campaign since Marquis Haynes is on IR, ensuring a four-week absence. That will add to the former’s responsibilities as Carolina’s top edge rusher as he looks to secure a major payday in the future with contract talks now (at least seemingly) in the rearview.

Load More Posts