| No. 53 – Carolina Panthers | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker | ||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||
| Personal information | |||||||
| Born | (1999-02-09) February 9, 1999 Golden Gate, Florida, U.S. | ||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||
| Listed weight | 230 lb (104 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school | Golden Gate | ||||||
| College | UMass (2017–2019) Alcorn State (2020–2022) | ||||||
| NFL draft | 2023: undrafted | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| |||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of 2025 | |||||||
| |||||||
Claudin Cherelus (born February 9, 1999) is an American professional football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UMass Minutemen and Alcorn State Braves and has also been a member of the New York Jets.
Early life
Cherelus was born on February 9, 1999, and is of Haitian descent.[1][2] He started playing football in eighth grade and then played three varsity seasons at Golden Gate High School, near Naples, Florida.[2][3] Cherelus played linebacker and safety and twice earned all-conference honors at Golden Gate while also being a team captain.[2][3][4] He initially committed to play college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but instead ended up joining the UMass Minutemen after Minnesota retracted their scholarship offer.[3][5]
College career
Cherelus redshirted his true freshman year at UMass, 2017.[3] The following year, he played in all 12 games and posted 14 tackles.[4] In 2019, Cherelus appeared in 11 games as a reserve and totaled 39 tackles along with a sack.[4] He opted to transfer to play for the Alcorn State Braves in 2020, although they did not play that year due to COVID-19.[6][7] Cherelus became a starter for Alcorn State in 2021 and recorded 76 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss and two sacks.[8] In his final season, he played nine games and tallied 73 tackles, 14.5 tackles-for-loss, six sacks and an interception on his way to being named second-team all-conference.[3][9] He was invited after the season to the HBCU Legacy Bowl, an all-star game for players from historically black schools.[3]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Wingspan | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0+7⁄8 in (1.85 m) | 224 lb (102 kg) | 32+7⁄8 in (0.84 m) | 9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) | 6 ft 3+7⁄8 in (1.93 m) | 4.54 s | 1.69 s | 2.58 s | 4.47 s | 7.56 s | 38.0 in (0.97 m) | 10 ft 5 in (3.18 m) | 18 reps |
| All values from Pro Day[10] | ||||||||||||
New York Jets
Cherelus declined chances to play in the Canadian Football League (CFL) to try to make it in the NFL.[3] He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent, but was released as part of the final roster cuts on August 29.[11][12]
Carolina Panthers
After being released by the Jets, Cherelus was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers.[13] He was placed on injured reserve on November 3, 2023.[14]
Cherelus was again placed on injured reserve on December 17, 2024, suffering from a season-ending toe injury that required surgery.
On March 13, 2026, Cherelus re-signed with the Panthers on a one-year contract.[15]
NFL career statistics
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular season
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | FF | Fum | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2023 | CAR | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | CAR | 13 | 2 | 28 | 13 | 15 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | CAR | 14 | 4 | 32 | 14 | 18 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 33 | 6 | 60 | 27 | 33 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Postseason
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | TFL | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | FF | Fum | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2025 | CAR | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 1 | 1 | 9 | 4 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
References
- "Claudin Cherelus". ESPN.
- Mull, Cory (July 5, 2016). "Power And Speed Needed For Safety". The News-Press. p. C1, C2 – via Newspapers.com.
- DeLuca, Dan (May 9, 2023). "Golden Gate's Claudin Cherelus signs with NY Jets". The Naples Daily News. p. A6 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Claudin Cherelus". UMass Minutemen.
- Fisher, Adam (February 1, 2017). "National Signing Day 2017: Golden Gate's Claudin Cherelus signs with UMass". The Naples Daily News.
- Cook, Joe (February 5, 2020). "Alcorn State gets 28 signees on national signing day". WAPT.
- "Claudin Cherelus". Alcorn State Braves.
- "Scouting Jets UDFA linebacker Claudin Cherelus". SB Nation. June 20, 2023.
- Ventre, Ralph (July 12, 2023). "2023 Jets Country Player Profile: LB Claudin Cherelus (41)". Sports Illustrated.
- "2023 NFL Draft Scout Claudin Cherelus College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
- Greenberg, Ethan; Bell, Jack (May 5, 2023). "Jets Sign 13 Undrafted Free Agents". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- Lange, Randy; Greenberg, Ethan (August 30, 2023). "Final Cuts: Jets Move 31 More to Get Their Roster to 53 Players". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- Gantt, Darin (August 30, 2023). "Panthers add three players on waiver claims". Panthers.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
- Gantt, Darin (November 3, 2023). "Panthers place Claudin Cherelus on injured reserve". Panthers.com. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
- Gantt, Darin (March 13, 2026). "Panthers re-sign linebacker Claudin Cherelus". Panthers.com. Retrieved March 14, 2026.