The Carolina Panthers have agreed to a contract with former Super Bowl champion linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill in NFL Free Agency, the team announced on Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed in the release.
The 28-year-old is a top-end special teams player, per team reporter Darin Gantt, and adds depth on defense and special teams for the organization.
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A former sixth-round pick of the New England Patriots in the 2016 NFL Draft out of Eastern Illinois, Grugier-Hill has started in 37 games throughout his career, and appeared in 98.
He's bounced around quite a bit after beginning his career in Massachusetts. He won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2017 and spent four seasons in Philadelphia before going on injured reserve in late 2019.
Grugier-Hill signed a one-year deal with the Miami Dolphins in 2020, playing a single season with the franchise before joining the Texans afterwards.
He played for both the Texans and Arizona Cardinals last season; he made six starts with Houston to begin the year, but asked for a release after falling out of the lineup in October.
Grugier-Hill signed another one-year pact with the Cardinals and finished the season in Arizona, appearing in nine total games. He accumulated 48 tackles between the two teams in 2022-23.
Over his career, Grugier-Hill has a total of 282 tackles, five sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in 98 total games for the Eagles, Dolphins, Texans and Cardinals.
Grugier-Hill gives the Panthers “solid cover at the inside linebacker spots behind Shaq Thompson and Frankie Luvu,” wrote Gantt on Tuesday, “but he also gives them a proven special teams player, someone who can shore up that area in the wake of a number of free-agent departures.
The Panthers let a number of key contributors in that area hit free agency (though they retained Sam Franklin Jr.), so adding back someone with a resume there helps.”
Kamu Grugier-Hill and the Carolina Panthers begin their offseason program next week with new head coach Frank Reich.