Luiji Vilain has been pretty busy over the last 24 hours.
According to Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz, the Carolina Panthers are signing the second-year linebacker off the Minnesota Vikings practice squad. Vilain, who would be joining Carolina’s active roster, was elevated for last night’s victory over the San Francisco 49ers—where he made his season debut on 14 special teams snaps.
The 6-foot-4, 252-pound defender attended the University of Michigan from 2017 to 2020. He’d only see game action in his final two years there, amassing 11 total tackles, 1.0 sack and a forced fumble over 12 outings.
Following his transfer to Wake Forest University in 2021, Vilain would get his first taste of professional football as a third-round draft pick of the Canadian Football League’s Toronto Argonauts that spring. The Ottawa, Ontario native, however, opted to remain in Winston-Salem, N.C.—where he’d go on to lead the Demon Deacons in sacks (9.0) that season.
Vilain then broke into the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Vikings the following year. Before Monday’s 2023 debut, he appeared in three games during his rookie campaign in 2022.
