On Monday, the Carolina Panthers cut ties with head coach Matt Rhule, defensive coordinator Phil Snow and assistant special teams coach Ed Foley. Then, not too long after, a player would join the trio on the chopping block.
That player was Julian Stanford, who was released from injured reserve on Tuesday. The 32-year-old linebacker has spent the past three seasons with the organization.
Stanford first broke into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012. The Wagner College product played in all 16 games during his rookie campaign—including six starts—registering 23 tackles and a fumble recovery.
He’d then go on to pick up stops with the Detroit Lions, New York Jets and Buffalo Bills between 2013 and 2019. Stanford, over those next six seasons, totaled 70 tackles in 72 games.
After being released by Buffalo in March of 2020, Stanford eventually signed on with Carolina that summer. In his two seasons for the Panthers, primarily as a special teams piece, he chalked up 24 takedowns in 33 games.
