Michigan Panthers Defensive End and UFL Defensive Player of the Year Breeland Speaks Signs with Jacksonville Jaguars

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Michigan Panthers Defensive End and UFL Defensive Player of the Year Breeland Speaks Signs with Jacksonville Jaguars

August 8, 2024 - United Football League (UFL)
Michigan Panthers News Release


ARLINGTON, Texas - The United Football League has announced that Michigan Panthers defensive end Breeland Speaks has signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. Speaks, who was named the 2024 UFL Defensive Player of the Year, is the ninth Panther to sign an NFL contract this offseason, joining kicker Jake Bates (Detroit), linebacker Javin White (Chicago), wide receiver Marcus Simms (Seattle), offensive lineman Chim Okorafor (Cleveland), cornerback Nate Brooks (Cincinnati), defensive end Levi Bell (Indianapolis), offensive lineman Jacob Burton (Detroit) and Samson Nacua (New Orleans). As with the other Panther signees, Michigan will retain Speaks' rights should he return to the UFL.

Speaks led the league in sacks in both of his seasons with the Panthers, leading the USFL in 2023 with 9, and leading the UFL with 9.5 in 2024. He also led the UFL in tackles-for-loss this season with 13.5, four more than the runner-up. He joins teammate Frank Ginda (2023) as Panthers to earn spring league Defensive Player of the Year honors. Speaks also made the 2023 All-USFL Team last season and was recently announced as part of the All-UFL Team in 2024.

The Jackson, Mississippi native was an integral part of the Michigan defense, which ranked atop the league in multiple defensive categories, starting all 10 games and recording sacks in six of those contests. The Panthers' defense finished first in tackles-for-loss (53) and finished second in sacks (30). The Panthers also boast the league's No. 2 rushing defense and rank third in scoring defense.

Speaks tallied two three-sack games this season: Week 5 at Memphis (finished game with 3 sacks, 4 TFLs and a fumble recovery) and Week 9 at Houston (finished game with 3 sacks and 4 TFLs). Speaks joins Josh Allen of the Jacksonville Jaguars, T.J. Watt of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rashan Gary of the Green Bay Packers, and Josh Uche of the New England Patriots as the only professional football players to accomplish the feat since 2021.

In college, Speaks put up 127 total tackles across three seasons for Ole Miss, including 15 TFLs and nine sacks. His most productive season came in 2017 where he tallied 67 tackles (27 solo), eight TFLs and seven sacks.

Speaks was a second-round draft pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018. As a rookie, he played in all 16 regular season games, recording 24 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries, and 1 forced fumble. After an injury sidelined him during the 2019 season, he was waived by the Chiefs in 2020 and spent time with the Las Vegas Raiders and Dallas Cowboys practice squads. In 2021, Speaks signed a reserve/future contract with the New York Giants but was waived before training camp. He re-signed with the Cowboys and spent most of the season on their practice squad before getting waived in December. The Buffalo Bills signed Speaks to their practice squad on December 22, 2021 but waived him five days later. In 2023, he spent part of the training camp with the San Francisco 49ers.

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