Eight months after first signing him in an attempt to jumpstart his NFL comeback, the Carolina Panthers have released former All-Pro running back Tarik Cohen, as CBS Sports lead NFL insider Jonathan Jones reports.
Cohen, 28, originally joined the Panthers' practice squad last September, spending his entire 2023 season on the scout team. He inked a new contract with Carolina in January, hoping to compete for a spot on the club's 2024 roster, despite last taking an official NFL snap in the 2020 season.
Cohen's release marks the latest setback in a years-long series of them for the former Chicago Bears standout. Weeks after landing a three-year contract extension from Chicago in 2020, he suffered a torn ACL, MCL and leg fracture, costing him all but three games that year. Cohen then spent all of 2021 sidelined in recovery, and was released by the Bears in March 2022. Two months later, while working out as a free agent, he suffered a torn Achilles, which required him to miss the entire 2022 campaign.
A fourth-round draft pick out of North Carolina A&T in 2017, the running back initially overcame a smaller stature (5-foot-6, 191 pounds) to make an immediate impact as a pass catcher and return specialist in Chicago. He topped 70 catches and 300 punt return yards in back-to-back seasons from 2018-2019, earning both Pro Bowl and All-Pro nods.
The Panthers, meanwhile, recently added Jonathon Brooks via the draft, plus reserve Rashaad Penny in free agency, to bolster their running back group behind returning ball carriers Miles Sanders and Chuba Hubbard.
