Former Tennessee DB Rashaan Gaulden looking for new NFL team
By Keith Farner
Published:
Former Tennessee DB Rashaan Gaulden is looking for a new team after the Carolina Panthers released him after a rough performance against the New Orleans Saints, the team announced.
David Newton of ESPN reported that the move came less than 24 hours after he ran into punt returner DJ Moore and had the football bounce off his foot to set up New Orleans’ second touchdown in a 34-31 loss.
Gaulden was drafted in the third round in 2018 from the Vols where he led UT’s defense with a career-high 10 tackles each against South Carolina and Florida, including and interception of Feleipe Franks at the 40-yard line, to setup UT’s game-tying drive.
With the Panthers, played in 24 games with 13 total tackles on defense and seven on special teams, according to coaches’ stats. This season, Gaulden posted one tackle on defense and three stops on special teams.
Gaulden came out of Tennessee with intriguing versatility as a physical safety and big nickel prospect. But he struggled to earn a place in the defense and was primarily a special teams contributor, the Panthers site reported.
Gaulden’s final game with the Panthers against New Orleans saw him involved in two mix-ups. The fumble, and then he was at the center of offsetting unnecessary roughness penalties when pushing and shoving escalated things following a kick return.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
