Who Should I Start? Ian Thomas or Donald Parham

Saturday, September 7, 1:42 PM

The Carolina Panthers placed tight end Ian Thomas (calf) on Injured Reserve on Saturday after already ruling him out for the Week 1 regular-season opener on Sunday against the division-rival New Orleans Saints. In addition to putting Thomas on IR, the team also waived cornerback Keenan Isaac and signed tight end Feleipe Franks and defensive tackle Jayden Peevy to the active 53-man roster from the practice squad. Thomas will now miss at least the first four weeks of the 2024 season after being sidelined since early in training camp with a calf injury. Tommy Tremble (back, hamstring) has already been ruled out for Week 1 as well, so Carolina is entering the regular season already thin at the TE position, meaning rookie Ja'Tavion Sanders will mostly likely be thrust into the top pass-catching role right away.

Friday, February 21, 9:45 PM

The Pittsburgh Steelers announced on Friday that they signed free-agent tight end Donald Parham Jr. to an undisclosed one-year deal. Parham will head to the AFC North after catching 67 of his 100 targets for 764 yards and 11 total touchdowns in 47 games (23 starts) over his four seasons with the Los Angeles Chargers after debuting in 2020. The 27-year-old tight end went undrafted out of Stetson College in 2019. His best season was in 2023 with the Bolts, when he caught 27 of his 41 targets for 285 yards and four touchdowns across 14 regular-season games (eight starts). L.A. released him last August and he latched on with the Denver Broncos' practice squad, but he didn't appear in an NFL game. At 6-foot-8, Parham was mostly a red-zone weapon for the Bolts. He'll attempt to win a roster spot with Pittsburgh out of training camp but can be ignored in most fantasy leagues.