Here are today’s practice squad adjustments:
Atlanta Falcons
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
New Orleans Saints
The Panthers have a few more days until they need to reduce their roster to 53 players, but the front office has already started the process. The team announced that they’ve waived the following 11 player:
While none of these cuts are particularly surprising, there are still some notable players in the bunch. As NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets, the Panthers may be starting the process early and trying to tempt another squad to make a waiver claim, which would improve Carolina’s spot in the rankings.
Considering his position, Luton is one of the bigger names on the list. The quarterback hasn’t seen the field for a regular season game since he was winless in three starts with the Jaguars in 2020, but he’s still had backup gigs over the past few years, with the QB having also spent time with the Seahawks, Dolphins, and Saints. The former sixth-round pick joined the Panthers back in July.
Wright will surely find himself in the kicker rolodex once teams get hit with injuries. He was the Jaguars’ (mostly) full-time kicker in 2021, connecting on 87.5 percent of his field goal attempts and 86.7 percent of his extra point tries. He split the 2022 campaign between the Chiefs and Steelers, converting 15 of his 18 FGAs and all 15 of his XPAs.
Earlier today, head coach Frank Reich told reporters that the organization was going to have some difficult decisions to make before Tuesday’s roster deadline. As of today, the Panthers still have to cut 26 players.
“Literally every position has battles in place, not just for the roster, but you know, play time, who’s starting, how we’re looking at things,” Reich said (via the team’s website). “But the good news is they’re hard decisions, right? Because we feel good about the guys we have on our roster.”
18 teams had their seasons come to an end yesterday, and their front offices have already turned the page to the 2023 NFL seaon. This started today, as a number of players were signed to reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (routinely) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. Here are today’s reserve/futures contracts:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Buffalo Bills
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Indianapolis Colts
Kansas City Chiefs
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Rams
New Orleans Saints
New York Jets
Washington Commanders
The Panthers trimmed their roster to 53 players today, meaning a long list of players earned their walking papers:
The most notable move was kicker Zane Gonzalez landing on injured reserve, making him ineligible to return for the 2022 campaign. Gonzalez injury himself on Friday night while warming up on the sideline. It was later revealed that he suffered a significant groin injury, and that injury ended up being season-ending. The Panthers worked out five potential replacements yesterday.
Juston Burris started 20 of his 23 games for the Panthers over the past two seasons. After collecting a career-high 53 tackles in 2020, the safety finished with only 23 tackles this past year, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 77th among 92 qualifying safeties. He was on the roster bubble following the offseason pickup of Xavier Woods. Brandon Zylstra has seen time in 37 games for the Panthers over the past three years, hauling in 29 receptions for 391 yards and one touchdown. Yesterday’s trade for Laviska Shenault Jr. only pushed him further down the depth chart, leading to his release.
A bunch of teams had their seasons come to an end yesterday, and these front offices are now starting to prepare for the offseason. Today, a number of players were inked to reserve/futures contracts, which allows organizations to retain (mostly) young, practice squad players throughout the offseason. We’ve compiled today’s reserve/futures contracts below:
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Cleveland Browns
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
Minnesota Vikings
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Seattle Seahawks
Washington Football Team
Here are Saturday’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
Atlanta Falcons
Baltimore Ravens
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Dallas Cowboys
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Jacksonville Jaguars
Las Vegas Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers
Los Angeles Rams
Minnesota Vikings
New England Patriots
New Orleans Saints
New York Giants
New York Jets
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
Washington Football Team
Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline Tuesday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters. In addition to waiver claims, teams can begin constructing their 16-man practice squads today. These moves for the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints are noted below.
Here are Wednesday’s NFC South transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day.
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
Release from IR:
Signed to practice squad:
Released:
Claimed:
Signed to practice squad:
Signed to practice squad:
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.
Tommy Stevens brief stint with the Panthers has come to an end. The team announced that they’ve waived the quarterback. The team signed rookie wideout C.J. Saunders to take the open roster spot.
Stevens was in and out of the lineup during his time at Penn State and Mississippi State, but he showed promise both with his arm and on the ground. Thanks to that potential, he was drafted by the Saints in the seventh round of the 2020 draft…but the team made the bold decision of switching him to tight end. He didn’t end up making New Orleans active roster, but he did stick around their practice squad for most of the campaign.
He later caught on with the Panthers (as a quarterback), and he ended up making his NFL debut in Carolina’s Week 17 loss to the Saints. Stevens got four carries in that game for 24 rushing yards.
With the move, the Panthers are now rostering three quarterbacks: Sam Darnold, P.J. Walker, and Will Grier.
Saunders was a former walk-on cornerback at Ohio State, but he ended up transforming into one of the team’s most reliable receivers. He had 27 receptions in two seasons at Ohio State, and he was named a captain in 2019 before succumbing to an injury. He spent rookie minicamp with the Falcons organization.