Carolina Panthers sign two tight ends

The Carolina Panthers added two tight ends on Thursday night, signing Ryan Izzo and Nate Becker. Izzo was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The former Florida State product spent time with the Texans, Giants, Seahawks, and Titans, before joining the Panthers. Izzo has hauled in 19 catches in his NFL career for 313 receiving yards and a touchdown.

Becker spent pieces of the last three seasons and offseasons with the Buffalo Bills. He’s only made an appearance in one regular season game. He played his college football with the Miami Redhawks. The Panthers made the additions because their tight end depth chart is severely lacking and that’s an understatement. Starter Ian Thomas has to miss a week or two with a rib injury he suffered. Colin Thompson has to miss time with a calf injury. Josh Babicz suffered an injury in Wednesday’s practice. And then to top it all off, Stephen Sullivan has had to miss time recently while dealing with a personal issue.

So, yes, reinforcements were clearly needed at the tight end position and that’s what Izzo and Becker will bring, at least until the Panthers’ tight end room gets healthy again. In order to make room for their two new tight ends, the Panthers had to place defensive end Jacob Tuioti-Mariner on injured reserve, and rookie corner Devin Jones was waived.

As a high school prospect, Ryan Izzo was rated as a three-star recruit in the 2014 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings. During his four years with the Florida State Seminoles, he hauled in 54 total catches for 761 receiving yards and six touchdowns. Prior to the 2017 season, he was named to the John Mackey Award watch list, given to the nation’s best tight end.

The Carolina Panthers first preseason game is against the Washington Commanders. That one will be played on Saturday, Aug. 13. Kickoff is slated for 1:00 PM EST.