Panthers sign LB Josh Watson, waive TE Ryan Izzo
The Carolina Panthers made a couple of moves at the bottom of their depth chart following their second joint practice with the New England Patriots on Wednesday.
As announced by the team this evening, linebacker Josh Watson—who was in on a visit yesterday—has been signed. The 6-foot-2, 240-pounder spent time on Carolina’s practice squad in 2021.
Prior to his month-long stay with the Panthers, Watson floated between multiple NFL teams, including the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers. After being released by Carolina on Dec. 16, 2021, he’d appear in a pair of games for the Houston Texans to close out the campaign.
Through four years of college football at Colorado State University, Watson totaled 365 tackles, 25 tackles for a loss, 11 passes defended and 3.5 sacks. He was voted as a Second-team All-Mountain West member as a senior and finished his career tied for fourth in school history with 51 games played.
Watson will fight an uphill battle for a spot on the 53-man roster in a crowded linebacker room. Still, with Shaq Thompson yet to practice since his minor knee surgery and Isaiah Graham-Mobley missing the last few days, Watson will try to capitalize on his opportunity to impress coaches.
To make space for the young linebacker, Carolina waived tight end Ryan Izz—who was signed by the team just last week. Although the team still faces a shortage at his position, Izzo had slim chances of beating out Giovanni Ricci, Colin Thompson, Stephen Sullivan, Jared Scott and Josh Babicz for the third (and perhaps final) tight end spot on the roster.
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