The Carolina Panthers are signing former Steelers wide receiver Jalen Camp to a future contract, the team announced on Monday.
Camp spent time with the Steelers back in September during the lead up to their game against the Houston Texans. Shortly after that, the team moved on from Camp to the receivers they now have on the practice squad, Denzel Mims, Dez Fitzpatrick, and Deuce Watts.
Camp, 25, is a third-year pro out of Georgia Tech and was a sixth-round draft pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021. Camp was released by the Jaguars before the start of the regular season his rookie year and ended up on the Texans practice squad.
He stayed with Houston until he was placed on waivers at the end of the preseason this year. Camp played in five games with the Texans over two years, making one catch for seven yards. He was not a significant contributor on special teams.
A 6-foot-2, 220-pound receiver, Camp was recruited to Georgia Tech under the option scheme of former head coach Paul Johnson and is big and physical for the position. In his pre-draft process, he put up 30 bench press reps, the highest for a wide receiver in 2021, and also posted strong numbers in explosiveness with a 10-foot-5 broad jump and a 39.5-inch vertical. In total, he earned a 9.75 out of 10 Relative Athletic Score.
The Panthers lost Laviska Shenault to injury, and Camp can be a physical receiver to help fill that void. Pittsburgh sought help from those bigger receivers throughout the season before finding Mims, who was cast off from the Lions and Jets this offseason. While he has yet to play in a game, there is plenty of intrigue there if they ever needed help.