Sports
PANTHERS SIGN DT SOLIAI
The Carolina Panthers have a new DT
Panthers Press release -
The Carolina Panthers have signed free agent defensive tackle Paul Soliai to a two-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.Will this work for the Carolina defense? Coach Rivera thinks so.Only time will tell.
Soliai, 6-4, 345 pounds, joins Carolina after spending the past two seasons with Atlanta. In the 2015 season he played in 14 games with 10 starts at nose tackle for the Falcons, recording 22 tackles (17 solo), five quarterback hits, three tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.Paul gives us a veteran presence and I think his experience most certainly will add to what we have already with Kawann and Star. I think he´ll be a good compliment to them both,“ Coach Rivera said. “He´s a solid run-defending big man, and at the same time he´s a guy that can push the pocket and apply middle pressure on the quarterback. I also think his space-eating ability will allow our linebackers to run.“
A fourth-round draft choice (108th overall) out of Utah in 2007 by the Miami Dolphins, Soliai spent his first seven seasons in Miami, earning a Pro Bowl appearance in 2011. In his nine NFL seasons, Soliai appeared in 128 career regular season games with 86 starts, tallying 213 tackles, 5.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.He came over from the Miami Dolphins and signed a five-year, $32 million deal in 2014 that included $14 million guaranteed, $7 million in a signing bonus. He was due to make a base salary of $5 million in 2016 with a cap number of $6,837,500, the third-highest on the team behind quarterback Matt Ryan ($23,750,000) and wide receiver Julio Jones ($15,900,000).
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