Team news: Carolina Panthers | Page 13

The Miami Dolphins weren't the only team interested in acquiring Jonathan Taylor from the Indianapolis Colts. The Green Bay Packers were also in talks with the Colts and had legitimate interest in trading for the star running back. Indianapolis moved forward after its self-imposed deadline of Tuesday at 4 p.m. ET came and went without receiving what the team deemed an acceptable offer for Taylor, who requested a trade last month and was authorized by the Colts last week to seek out a trade partner.

Related Players: Aaron Jones, A.J. Dillon, Evan Hull, Zack Moss

This saga is far from over, as Taylor is still eligible to be traded despite remaining on the PUP list. The running back will miss at least the first four games of the regular season, regardless of who holds his contract. Taylor heading to Green Bay would be near-catastrophic for fantasy purposes, as we're already dealing with a split that chews into both Jones' and Dillon's fantasy value.

The Dolphins would be easier to stomach for those of us who have been draft best ball teams all Summer, as all of their RB options have been going deep in the double-digit rounds.

Russell Gage is down and surrounded by trainers, in obvious duress. A cart has been brought out to take him off the field.

Related Players: Trey Palmer, David Moore, Deven Thompkins

Very unfortunate news for Gage, who was likely to get quite a lot of run this season, even after the trade rumors surrounding Chris Godwin and Mike Evans came and went. Trey Palmer and Deven Thompkins are both projected as kick returners, so one of them may get extra snaps as a speedy slot option, depending on the severity of Gage's injury.

Sam LaPorta has been taking first-team reps since Day 1 and doesn't look out of place at all. He's still got a lot to learn, but all indications are that he's a quick study and his receiving skills are really advanced for a young tight end. He's going to play a big role in this offense starting Week 1.

Related Players: Brock Wright, James Mitchell

You love to see it. For a team that set a tight end TD record despite trading away T.J. Hockenson halfway through the season, fantasy managers are expectedly excited for the rookie's fantasy prospects. Detroit TEs went for 784 yards on 93 targets last year. La Porta is firmly on streaming radars right out of the gate.

Texans GM Nick Caserior says John Metchie "had a little bit of a setback in Spring" but is cleared for training camp. Metchie missed his rookie season with leukemia but is trending in the right direction.

Related Players: Robert Woods, Xavier Hutchinson, Tank Dell, Noah Brown

The current wide receiver room in Houston leaves a lot to be desired, so it would be nice to see Metchie at training camp for more than one reason. There's no reason to believe that Metchie doesn't have "leading the team in targets" in his range of outcomes but we really haven't seen him on an NFL field yet, so that optimism is best saved for the eye test.

Panthers free-agent acquisition Miles Sanders is back —he hopes— to being a three-down back. Sanders, now 26, is confident that reuniting with running backs coach Duce Staley, who was a Pederson assistant in Philly, will help him re-emerge as a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, Raheem Blackshear

Sanders bottomed out as a pass-catcher in 2022, with new career lows in receptions (20), yards (78), and receptions for first downs (two). He's really got nowhere to go but up after finishing the season, ranking 49th/49 qualifying backs with a 0.28 yards per route run mark. Leaving a team that has a quarterback that is prone to taking off with the ball on third downs should help, but his efficiency marks last year were stark. The good news is, he doesn't have a ton of competition for backfield touches with the way the depth chart is set up at the moment. Sanders is currently ranked as a mid-tier RB2.

The Lions will be patient with Sam LaPorta, but he’s already shown enough physical tools to warrant immediate snaps. If the mental side catches up, he could be the starting tight end in Week 1.

Related Players: Brock Wright, James Mitchell

Rookie tight ends notoriously take a long time to get up to speed, but if LaPorta is starting in Week 1, he finds himself in a great offensive environment. Lions tight ends set the receiving touchdown record last season, despite trading away TE1 T.J. Hockenson.

The Carolina Panthers have elevated rookie Bryce Young to the No. 1 quarterback spot, a move coach Frank Reich said Thursday is "the next step" in the top pick of this year's draft, becoming the Week 1 starter.

These are all semantics at this point. The only thing we were worried about was Young coming in and having a terrible camp, and it doesn't look like he is trending in that direction. He should be drafted as the Panthers' QB1, which puts him on the radar in 2QB and SuperFlex leagues.

Bears are signing former Panthers’ RB D’Onta Foreman to a 1-year, $3 million deal.

Related Players: Khalil Herbert, Chuba Hubbard

The writing was on the wall for Foreman after the Miles Sanders signing in Carolina, as they both operate in the same part of the running game. Foreman, in turn, will likely operate as a Diet David Montgomery in Chicago, but Khalil Herbert should still be getting a healthy share of the work.

Miles Sanders is headed to the Carolina Panthers on a four-year deal. The exact specifics of the contract have not been revealed yet.

(update: the deal is purportedly for $25M over four years, no word on guaranteed money yet.)

Related Players: Chuba Hubbard, D'Onta Foreman

Even with the very good year D'Onta Foreman, this likely closes the possibility of the team re-signing him. Foreman and Sanders would be redundant assets, so for now it looks like a two-headed backfield of Sanders and Chuba Hubbard with Sanders acting as the 1a. It's not a great spot for fantasy purposes but at the least, it offers a veteran presence for their soon-to-be No. 1 quarterback.

The Panthers are expected to sign former first-round pick Hayden Hurst to a three-year deal.

Related Players: Ian Thomas, Tommy Tremble

Hurst had a one-year "prove it" deal in Cincinnati and delivered, accruing 400+ yards on 50+ catches through 13 games. Carolina will be his fourth home in five seasons, but he provides an offensive crutch for the Pathers' future rookie.