South Carolina Football: Former Gamecock defender gets new NFL contract

South Carolina football went through its greatest run of success during the Steve Spurrier era, and while the Gamecocks had plenty of talent on offense for the Head Ball Coach, the USC defense was often the team’s best unit.

One defender who arrived in Columbia toward the end of Spurrier’s tenure in garnet and black was defensive tackle Taylor Stallworth. Stallworth was a strong force in the middle of the Gamecock defensive line from 2014 to 2017.

Since signing with the New Orleans Saints after the 2018 NFL Draft, Stallworth has spent time with the Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Texans, Carolina Panthers, and Houston Texans again.

On Monday, Stallworth’s agent Brett Tessler announced that his client signed a new NFL contract. The Tennessee Titans signed Stallwroth to their practice squad after he was released by the Texans for the third time in his career.

The last six months have been busy for Stallworth as the big defensive tackle signed a deal with the Houston Texans in the spring before an injury settlement release. He was expected to sign back with Houston, but the Carolina Panthers snatched him up first. He became a roster casualty with Carolina, however, and Houston signed him again.

Houston didn’t have the roster room to hold onto Stallworth, so he was released again last week before the Titans picked him up this week.

In his NFL career, Stallworth has been a sought-after commodity as run-stopping defensive tackles are not easy to come by in the modern era of football. Unfortunately, injuries and roster logjams have limited his ability to get a ton of playing time.

Stalloworth is one of the best run-stopping defensive tackles to ever play for the South Carolina football program, and if healthy and utilzed correctly, he can help the Titans.

Stallworth was part of the Chiefs team that won the Super Bowl in 2022, but he was released prior to the end of the regular season and was on the Texans roster by the time postseason play began.