We’re counting down the days until the Panthers open up the 2025 season!
In this series, we’ll be counting down until opening kickoff by running through the Panthers roster by jersey number. Today’s piece looks at the current and historical players to have ever donned No. 74 for the Carolina Panthers.
Current Player: Sam Roberts
Roberts (6’5”, 295) is a defensive tackle out of NW Missouri State. He was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots. After a couple years with the Patriots where he saw very limited action, he was released in August of 2024 by the team. The next month, Roberts signed with the Chicago Bears to be on their practice squad. Just a couple weeks later, though, the Bears released him with an injury designation. Around mid-November, the Panthers decided to sign Roberts to their own practice squad. Near the end of the season, the team decided to put him on the active roster due to the litany of injuries on the defensive line. He only played in three games and managed a meager 24 defensive snaps and seven special teams snaps. He registered one assisted tackle in that time.
Roberts was mostly a warm body at the end of an atrocious year for the Panthers defense. With the free agent signings and draft picks mostly bolstering the defensive line, Roberts will likely have to continue his journeyman career. I just don’t see room for him on the final roster at this time. He may be a good practice squad option, though.
Notable Previous Players to Wear Number 74: Greg Little, Mike Remmers, Geoff Schwartz, Stanley McClover, Derrick Graham
Little was a second round pick by the Panthers in 2019. Despite high hopes, he quickly flamed out and was gone after just two seasons in Carolina. Mike Remmers was another tackle to don the 74, and he fared much better than Little. Remmers was a serviceable right tackle during the 2015 Super Bowl run until Mike Shula decided he could totally block Von Miller one on one. Geoff Schwartz was another offensive lineman to see relative success in the 74, though he was only with the team for a couple of seasons. Stanley McClover was a minor footnote in Panthers lore until the team drafted his younger brother Brian Burns in 2019. After that, McClover became part of a feel good story before Burns was traded to the New York Giants in 2024. The first player to wear 74 for the Panthers was Derrick Graham in their inaugural season of 1995. The former App State Mountaineer started his career with the Kansas City Chiefs before playing right tackle for the Panthers in 95.