The Carolina Panthers made four roster moves ahead of their Week 3 contest.
And one will affect the team for several weeks.
The Panthers announced Saturday that they are moving reserve inside linebacker Claudin Cherelus to injured reserve. Cherelus, a special teams contributor and an understudy to starters Devin Lloyd and Bobby Okereke, was already labeled “out” on Friday ahead of Carolina’s game against the Cleveland Browns at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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This means Cherelus is out for a minimum of four games.
In a corresponding move, the Panthers signed inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta, who was previously on the practice squad. Njongmeta provides some depth for a linebacking corps that desperately needs it; Lloyd was ruled out with a calf injury for Sunday — newly promoted (and Dan Morgan discovery) Tyrel Dodson and Okereke will start for the Panthers this weekend.
Njongmeta, who played in 15 games for the Panthers in 2025, will presumably fill many of the roles that Cherelus did through the first two weeks of the season. Cherelus has only one defensive snap but 36 special teams snaps on the year, per Pro Football Reference — 59% of all special teams opportunities. Cherelus has notched one tackle so far this year.
In addition to the IR designation and the signing, the Panthers also made two moves that underscore the team’s injured status.
Carolina is electing elevate running back Anthony Tyus to the game day active roster from the practice squad. This will be his first of three standard elevations on the year; head coach Dave Canales confirmed he’d do this Wednesday given the dubious state of the team’s running back room as it is, with Jonathon Brooks on IR due to a core issue that required surgery.
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The Panthers also announced that they’d be elevating veteran wideout David Moore from the practice squad, his first standard elevation as well. Moore will not only help the depth of this receiving corps, but also be a reliable set of hands as a punt returner if called upon, which he has been occasionally the last three years in Carolina.
Moore’s elevation is also an interesting move considering the status of the team’s receivers at the moment. The Panthers have two starters who are officially listed as questionable for Sunday: Jalen Coker (ankle) and Xavier Legette (knee). Canales told reporters Friday that Coker is expected to go, while Legette’s decision will probably be “taken all the way up” to the game.
Legette injured his knee on his 55-yard reception against the Falcons last week. Said Canales on Friday on what he needs to see from Legette to have him on the Week 3 game-day roster: “We just gotta make sure we continue to see him progress.”
This story was originally published September 26, 2026 at 2:47 PM with the headline “Carolina Panthers make 4 roster moves before Browns game, including adding to IR.”
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