The Carolina Panthers announced Tuesday that they have placed RB Mike Tolbert on injured reserve with the designation to return and signed LB D.J. Smith to a contract.
The #Panthers have placed FB Mike Tolbert on IR/designated to return. LB D.J. Smith has been signed to the active roster.
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) September 23, 2014
Tolbert, 28, unfortunately suffered a hairline fracture in his left leg during Sunday night’s loss to the Steelers. Despite the running back depth on the Panthers’ roster, Tolbert has been able to carve out a decent role in their offense.
He’s entering the third year of his four-year, $8.4 million contract that included $2.7 million guaranteed. Tolbert will make a base salary of $2.3 million for the 2014 season.
Smith, 25, is a former sixth-round pick of the Packers. He has bounced around quite a bit since he was waived by Green Bay in April of last year. Carolina signed him to a future/reserve contract in January, but he was unfortunately among their final roster cuts a month ago.
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