Marcus Simms is no longer a member of the Michigan Panthers roster.
On Monday, the Panthers broke the news that Simms would be heading to the Houston Roughnecks in exchange for offensive tackle Cam Carter. Head coach Mike Nolan said the decision to deal Simms was based on continuity.
“Accountability to be able to get a guy out on the field and be able to count on him to work on it in practice and things like that,” Nolan said. “Like I said, Marcus has been great, I think he’s an explosive player and I still think he’ll do great things in the league. But getting him on the field was just a problem in terms of continuity with the group.”
Simms appeared in nine games for the Panthers in 2024, including a postseason game. He had 23 receptions for 426 yards and three touchdowns in the regular season while recording three for 32 yards in the postseason. Through the first two games of 2025, Simms has recorded seven receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown.
“It wasn’t like we were trying to do anything with him but the opportunity came up where someone was very interested and approached us,” Nolan said. “So we decided to do something there.”
Nolan praised the Panthers’ receiving group, highlighting Malik Turner, Jaylon Moore and Siaosi Mariner.
“It’s the accountability from a game-to-game standpoint and the (ability) to get him in combined with the fact that we have a lot of confidence in the guys we added … those three guys in particular, we like our wide receiver group quite a bit so it was really a combination of that.”
The addition of Carter allows the Panthers to solidify their offensive line, with Nolan saying that he likes their group but explaining you can never have too many tackles. This is highlighted by them also signing Grant Miller on Monday.
“Training camp is so short here for us,” said Nolan. “So as much as you try to get a good look at players, it’s really hard when you have limited numbers. And so, for what it’s worth, we kind of have an extra guy at the position that we want to look at and see how he does. It’s hard to find a good offensive lineman in our league and this gives us a chance to evaluate another player and see how he fits in — see if he makes us better.”
