Kamu Grugier-Hill signs contract with Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers have signed linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill to a contract, the team announced Tuesday.

Grugier-Hill, 28, played six games with the Houston Texans and nine games with the Arizona Cardinals last season.

He was drafted out of Eastern Illinois by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Grugier-Hill was cut before the season started but was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles.

He played four seasons with the Eagles, playing in 54 games and making 16 starts while helping the team to Super Bowl LII.

For the 2020 season, Grugier-Hill played with the Miami Dolphins before signing with the Houston Texans. He started 20 games for the team before asking for his release this past October.

His best season was in 2021 for the Texas when he notched 108 total tackles.

More on the 2023 NFL offseason, free agency

The NFL 2023 calendar year is set to begin at 4 p.m. ET on March 15 when contracts running through 2022 will officially run out, making those players free agents. Prior to the beginning of free agency, teams will have a chance to designate one franchise or transition tag player, starting on Feb. 21 at 4 p.m. ET and ending on March 7. Beginning March 13 through March 15 teams will be allowed a legal negotiation with players who are set to become unrestricted free agents.

In addition to NFL free agency, the new year also marks the beginning of all trades being made official by the league office. April 21 marks the deadline to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets while April 26 marks the deadline for teams to match restricted free agent offers sheets. 722 players are slated to become free agents in 2023.

More on restricted, exclusive rights free agents

Players with only three years of accredited NFL experience become restricted free agents. Their original team will have the option to apply first-round, second-round, original-round, and right-of-fight-of-first-refusal tenders on players at escalating price tags. The higher the round, the more expensive the tender amount; however, if a separate team does offer a contract and the original team does not match that round pick will be conveyed from the new team to the original team. Right of first refusal only gives a team the option to match or not. If they don’t match, they get nothing in return. An original-round tender would send a draft pick from whatever round the player was drafted back to the original team if they chose not to match. The original team will have five days to match once a player signs an offer sheet from a new team.