Panthers
- Panthers GM Dan Morgan was at Texas’ pro day, reportedly with a specific eye on Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. (Tony Pauline)
- Michigan LB Jimmy Rolder had a formal Combine interview with the Panthers. (Justin Melo)
- Texas A&M OL Chase Bisontis has over a dozen 30 visits scheduled, including with the Panthers. (Mike Garafolo)
- Cincinnati LB Jake Golday had a formal Combine interview with the Panthers. (Justin Melo)
Panthers
Panthers TE Feleipe Franks said he was excited to re-sign with Carolina and mentioned the culture as a key reason for his return.
“Coming to Carolina was a great opportunity for me, and then going back and forth, I was just telling the guys that it’s been a real breath of fresh air, and I’ve never been more excited to get back to Carolina,” Franks said, via the team’s website. “Just because the vibe, man. The people, the culture, you gravitate towards those things, especially me, so I gravitated towards it. I loved it here, and I was excited to come back here.”
Panthers DB Nick Scott added that Franks is a tone-setter on special teams, and he’s excited that he isn’t playing for a divisional rival.
“When he’s your teammate, you love him; when he’s your opponent, he’s a nuisance,” Scott said. “But the energy that he brings to our locker room that he brought in 2024, and just what we’re expecting from him this year. It’s like it’s going to be a huge boost not only to a special teams unit that was already pretty damn good, he’s just going to add his brand and his feel to it, which is high energy, high competition, a whole lot of passion and excitement. So we’re fired up that he’s back. We’re expecting great things out of him.”
Franks said he loved competing with Scott and LB Thomas Incoom, amongst others, and said that returning to Carolina won’t be much of a transition for him.
“It was fun; I wouldn’t even call it an adjustment,” Franks said. “Because you built the relationship with these guys obviously throughout the whole year when I was here in Carolina, and so it’s just healthy competition. I mess with Incoom all the time, like me and him are going back and forth at it, but we competed like that when I was here in Carolina, and we always wanted what was best, so it was actually really fun to like compete with him and against him, and so we did that and it’s cool to be back with him. It’s awesome, man. TI, he’s one of my favorite dudes, but it’s cool when you get around people who want to be successful so bad. Overachievers don’t like being in a room with underachievers. You always want to be around people who are pushing you to be the best you can be. And Incoom is one of those dudes. A lot of the people around here are those people. And that’s awesome because he’s always pushing me to be better and better.”
Franks added that he jumped at the opportunity to return to Carolina because of the culture that HC Dave Canales has built.
“First, you can tell what coach Dave is building, and I talk about culture, it’s just like the culture he’s built here,” Franks said. “And you can see that, you can see it, I was talking to some of the guys in the training room. You can see how many guys are here working out in the offseason. You can see it, and how people are talking and walking in the building. You see it, especially firsthand, that’s the difference. That’s the difference; I gravitate towards culture, and a good culture is always a good recipe for success. So Dave and Dan gave me an opportunity to come back, and I couldn’t pass it up. I was like, I’ll be there in a heartbeat.”
Saints
- Miami CB Keionte Scott listed the Saints as one of his formal Combine interviews. (Justin Melo)
- Notre Dame OT Aamil Wagner, CB DeVonta Smith, and S Jalen Stroman met with the Saints at their pro day. (Tony Pauline)
- UCF DE Njalik Kelly got dinner with the Saints after his pro day. (Tony Pauline)
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