For the first time since 2018, former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Martavis Bryant found himself with another NFL opportunity with the Dallas Cowboys last November. He was on their practice squad, and subsequently signed a future contract in Dallas in January. He was released following the 2024 NFL Draft, and has been looking for his next opportunity ever since.
He talked to Charlotte Sports Live via the Queen City News YouTube channel on Wednesday and detailed why he may have a chance to get in with the Carolina Panthers at training camp.
“It was honestly an introduction through one of my great friends. I came down to the Carolinas for the golfing event Monday and a lot of people reached out to me,” Bryant said. “I got a chance to talk to Coach [Jim] Caldwell and just to catch up a little bit. I was familiar with him, he was familiar with me, so it was a great conversation to get to catch up to him and talk to him.”
When asked if there were any possible talks about bringing him to the Panthers’ training camp, Bryant responded, “Potentially, I know rosters are set right now. I’m never gonna say it’s never too late. So there’s some things that gotta be worked out, and hopefully coming into a training camp.”
Bryant fizzled out of the NFL after multiple substance abuse policy violations, and worked his way through the ranks of alternate football leagues. He played in the Canadian Football League, National Arena League, and XFL from 2021 to 2023.
He originally broke onto the NFL scene in 2014 as a rookie with the Steelers after being a fourth-round pick that year. He had 1,314 receiving yards and 15 total touchdowns over his first two seasons before the suspensions started rolling in. He had a very bright future, but ended up being traded to the (then) Oakland Raiders before falling out of the league altogether.
During his hiatus from football, Bryant says he put in a lot of work to overcome some of his personal struggles that led to his exit from the NFL.
Bryant says he has been training every day and waiting for his next opportunity. If that ends up being in Carolina, he will join another former Steeler in WR Diontae Johnson, though the two never shared a locker room in Pittsburgh. His opportunities will be limited at 32 years old, not having played a snap in the NFL since 2018. The Washington Commanders reportedly tried him out shortly after his release back in May, but nothing seems to have come from that.
