The Carolina Panthers have more than just one visitor on Tuesday.
In addition to defensive tackle Khalil Davis, the team will also be working out quarterback J’Mar Smith. Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston was first with the news early this afternoon.
Smith, 26, already has quite the résumé behind him. Before becoming the 2019 C-USA Football Offensive Player of the Year at Louisiana Tech University, the Meridian, Miss. native was a 24th-round draft pick of Major League Baseball’s San Diego Padres in 2015.
A multi-sport standout, Smith played catcher for the Meridian Wildcats. He did, however, decline to sign on with the Padres out of high school.
The 6-foot-1, 218-pound quarterback then wound up at Louisiana Tech, where he played four seasons for the Bulldogs. He recorded 9,523 passing yards, 51 touchdowns and 21 interceptions over 43 games.
Following stops with the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and with the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 2021, Smith stuck on with the United States Football League’s Birmingham Stallions for a pair of seasons. Before missing the 2023 campaign due to injury, he started seven games for the eventual two-time champs in 2022.
