Carolina Panthers place running back on reserve/retired list, add WR to fill roster spot

The Carolina Panthers’ crowded running back room thinned out a bit Tuesday morning.

The team placed veteran running back Rashaad Penny on the reserve/retired list on Tuesday morning, meaning the 2018 first-round pick is no longer considered part of the 90-man roster.

The reserve/retired list typically means that a player has retired, but that if he decides to return to playing, the team retains his rights under the player’s contract. Penny signed to the Panthers in May in hopes for competing for a final roster spot — which would be determined at the end of the preseason.

The Panthers signed wide receiver Tayvion Robinson, a rookie out of Kentucky, to fill his roster spot.

Penny played five years for the Seahawks and spent last season with the Eagles, where injuries plagued any momentum there. In his five seasons in Seattle, he intersected with Carolina’s newly hired head coach Dave Canales and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik — and he made a name for himself running out of the backfield and as a returner.

In 2021 specifically, he led the NFL with 6.3 yards per carry, and in 10 games that season he rushed for 749 yards and six touchdowns. A similar yards-per-carry total followed in 2022 — but so did injury woes, when a broken leg sidelined him for the final 12 games.

Earlier this training camp, Penny said that he wanted to prove this summer that he could stay healthy. Penny has dealt with everything from a broken finger to a torn ACL to a broken fibula in his career.

“I’ve always believed in myself, knowing my capabilities,” he told The Charlotte Observer a week ago. “I think everybody else knows that when I’m healthy, I’m probably, like, a top running back in the league. I know my place. I know what I can do. So I just keep striving from there.”

Penny also discussed the adversity he’s faced the last couple of years when injuries hadn’t slowed him down.

“A great organization,” Penny said of the Philadelphia Eagles, where last season he was a healthy scratch in all but three games, posting just 38 yards on 12 touches. “Much respect. I enjoyed being there, I loved being there. To be honest, I really wish — I think the media knows more answers than I know. I know that for sure. I don’t know. I enjoyed my time. I had great teammates. Being uncomfortable has taught me to be the man I am today. And I had some moments in Seattle that were very uncomfortable. So I just learn from those.”

The Panthers’ running back room is still led by Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, who have taken the bulk of the reps with the first- and second-teams in training camp. Jonathon Brooks is still rehabbing from a torn ACL he entered training camp with and is on the active/non-football injury list; he still is at practice, though.

The wide receiver room just got a little tighter, with now a bunch of guys trying to separate themselves and compete for the 53-man roster, which will get cut at the end of the preseason. Among those guys fighting for the few remaining spots in the wide receiver room: undrafted free agent Jalen Coker, Terrace Marshall and newly signed Deven Thompkins.

Mike Kaye contributed to this report.