Boulder still claims Jimmy Horn Jr. even after the Carolina Panthers decided they no longer needed the former Colorado Buffaloes standout.
The Panthers announced they waived the former Colorado wide receiver on Tuesday, two days after he muffed a punt in a 59-37 season-opening loss to the Chicago Bears.
Carolina signed veteran linebacker Tyrel Dodson off the practice squad in the corresponding move.
Horn, a 2025 sixth-round pick (No. 208 overall), had been the team’s primary returner in Week 1 and did not record a catch.
For Buffs fans, the cut lands differently than a typical mid-roster shuffle. Horn spent 2023 and 2024 in Deion Sanders’ program after transferring from South Florida.
Over those two seasons, he caught 95 passes for 1,008 yards and seven touchdowns, added return value, and became part of the circle around Shedeur Sanders.
At the 2025 NFL Combine, he called Shedeur “a great teammate in the huddle” who would break down film and help off the field. The two later reunited in joint practices and preseason, even matching Coach Prime–inspired cleats.
Horn has also described Deion Sanders as a father figure who kept his word after recruiting him out of high school.
That Colorado chapter is why the waiver stings in Boulder more than the box score. Horn was never going to be Carolina’s featured receiver. Listed at 5-foot-8 and 174 pounds, he was a slot and gadget piece who showed burst on designed runs as a rookie—11 catches for 108 yards plus 69 rushing yards in 2025.
He made the 53-man roster again this summer after a productive Hall of Fame Game and praise from head coach Dave Canales. One special-teams mistake, in a game the Panthers already lost badly on defense, was enough to open a roster spot for a run-stopping linebacker.
NFL life is that unforgiving. Horn is only 24. He can still be claimed or signed to a practice squad. Speed, return experience, and the toughness he showed in Boulder still travel.
Buffs Nation has watched Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders, and others take different NFL paths; Horn’s is the one that just hit a reset.
The friendship with Shedeur remains part of the story, not a footnote. Two late-round Colorado products who arrived together in 2025 are now on separate islands. One is still trying to stick in Cleveland. The other is suddenly available. For a program that sold itself as a launching pad, Horn’s next landing will say as much as the cut itself.
Around 400 words is the assignment. The Colorado angle is the friendship, Folsom Field production, and the reminder that Prime-era Buffs still get measured by what happens after the draft. Horn has already proven he can reinvent himself once. The league just gave him another chance to do it.
