Carolina Panthers Addition Reveals Why He Signed With Team

The past few days have been hectic in the NFL. After the preseason wrapped up, teams had to cut down their roster to 53 players. From there, practice squad moves were made as the rosters started to be finalized.

For the Carolina Panthers, they were able to cut down their roster to 53, but they also made a move in the process. They officially signed linebacker Bobby Okereke to fill a big need on their defense.

With Devin Lloyd being one starter, the Panthers are hoping Okereke can come in and start alongside him. As Week 1 is just under two weeks away, the Panthers are getting a feel for what their roster will look like come gameday. 

For Okereke, he's been a free agent for most of the offseason before he waited until this week to sign with a team. But his reasoning was understandable as he wanted to find the right fit for him.

"Just being an eight-year vet at this point, I wanted to make sure I was going to a really good fit—position-wise, opportunity-wise," Okereke replied when asked why he signed with the Panthers. "And, yeah, we've been having these conversations with multiple teams since basically March, April.

"But just kinda knowing the belief and trust I have in myself, to prepare myself for a season, just wanted to make sure I was going to a right opportunity and it felt great—and obviously, it did here."

The 30-year-old inside linebacker is going into his eighth NFL season and is coming off a 2025 season in which he had 143 total tackles, two interceptions and a sack. He's reached 130 total tackles in four of his seasons so far.

The fit for Carolina is good too. By bringing in Lloyd this offseason, they wanted to revamp the linebacker room with a veteran. Now, they add another one to the mix which gives them some stability there. They may not be both long term solutions but for the 2026 season, Carolina's linebacker core has improved.

That should mean good things for their defense and what they can do this season.