Carolina Panthers plan to add running back, former Pro Bowler to practice squad
A running back and Pro Bowl returner who hasn’t played since the 2020 season is on his way to Carolina.
The Panthers plan to add former Chicago Bears running back and kick returner Tarik Cohen to the team’s practice squad, a league source confirmed to The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday evening.
The Panthers would need to make a corresponding move to open up space on the practice roster to make Cohen’s signing official.
Cohen — a native of Bunn, located 30 miles northeast of Raleigh — was drafted by the Chicago Bears as a fourth-round pick in 2017. The 5-foot-6, 192-pound speedster was a Pro Bowler in just his second season in the NFL, a reward for a year in which he flashed his versatility: 725 receiving yards, 444 rushing yards and 411 yards on punt returns.
Through three games in 2020, Cohen notched 74 yards on 14 carries and 41 yards on six receptions.
The 28-year-old North Carolina A&T alum — who won a Black college football national championship in 2015 — hasn’t played in the league since 2020 due to myriad leg injuries. One was a knee injury in 2020 that made him miss most of the 2020 season and the entirety of the 2021 season, and another was a torn Achilles in May 2022 that made him miss all of last season.
He played in 51 straight games, including every game in each of his first three seasons, before his Week 3 injury in 2020.
The move would add some explosiveness to an offensive roster that could use some. The Panthers have three running backs on their 53-man roster — Miles Sanders (a former Pro Bowler himself), Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear (also a kick returner) — and they also have Spencer Brown and Jashaun Corbin on the practice squad. Laviska Shenault also took handoffs out of the backfield in the team’s Week 1 loss to the Atlanta Falcons, too.
Cohen played for Panthers special teams coordinator Chris Tabor for three seasons in Chicago. Tabor also brought over Eddy Piñeiro from his days with the Bears, too.
He wasn’t the only addition to the practice squad Tuesday. The Panthers also added cornerback Lamar Jackson out of Nebraska.
This story was originally published September 12, 2023 at 9:48 PM.
