As the acquisitions of Haason Reddick, Robbie Anderson, Matt Ioannidis and others have shown, Matt Rhule has been quite eager to bring in his former college players. The former Temple and Baylor head coach appears to have one of his Waco charges on the radar now.
The Panthers have contacted the Jets on disgruntled wide receiver Denzel Mims, Joe Person of The Athletic tweets. Rhule has eyed Mims since last season, according to ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini.
This would seemingly be a nice landing spot for Mims, who at least knows Carolina’s third-year head coach well. Rhule was at Baylor during Mims’ final three seasons at the Big 12 program; the 6-foot-3 target eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards during the 2017 and ’19 seasons with the Bears. His NFL stay has not produced anything close to this production.
Mims has just 31 catches for 490 yards in two seasons; he has yet to score an NFL touchdown. Long a release candidate, Mims is now on a team that used a top-10 pick on a wideout (Garrett Wilson) and re-signed Braxton Berrios this offseason. Corey Davis and Elijah Moore‘s statuses do not appear to leave Mims much room for work. Then again, the Jets — perhaps as a trade-value booster — view Mims as a player they would like to have on their 53-man roster. Robert Saleh said as much Friday, via SNY’s Connor Hughes (on Twitter). They are open to moving him as well.
Carolina extended D.J. Moore this offseason and has Temple alum Anderson alongside him. Rhule signed Anderson after his four-year Jets tenure elapsed in 2020. The team also drafted Terrace Marshall in last year’s second round. Marshall has missed time due to a hamstring injury in camp, however. This came after a low-key rookie season, one in which Marshall caught just 17 passes for 138 yards. Shi Smith, chosen four rounds after Marshall last year, has played well during camp, per Person.
Joe Douglas and Scott Fitterer obviously have a recent history on the trade front, having negotiated a Sam Darnold swap that saw three picks — in multiple drafts — going from Carolina to New York. Two years remain on Mims’ second-round contract.
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