Keith Kirkwood

American football player (born 1994)

American football player
Keith Kirkwood
Personal information
Born: (1994-12-26) December 26, 1994 (age 29)
Neptune Township, New Jersey, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school:Neptune
College:Hawaii (2013)
Temple (2014–2017)
Position:Wide receiver
Undrafted:2018
Career history
  • New Orleans Saints (2018–2019)
  • Carolina Panthers (2020–2021)
  • New Orleans Saints (2022–2023)
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Receptions:24
Receiving yards:294
Receiving touchdowns:3
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Keith Elliot Kirkwood (born December 26, 1994) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Hawaii and Temple.

Early years

Kirkwood was born and raised in Neptune Township, New Jersey.[1] Kirkwood played both basketball and football at Neptune High School.[2]

College career

Kirkwood attended and played for Temple University after transferring from the University of Hawaii.[3]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 2+1⁄2 in
(1.89 m) 		221 lb
(100 kg) 		33+3⁄4 in
(0.86 m) 		9+1⁄2 in
(0.24 m)		 4.45 s 1.63 s 2.66 s 4.43 s 6.94 s 35 in
(0.89 m)		 10 ft 5 in
(3.18 m)
All values from Temple’s Pro Day[4]

New Orleans Saints

On May 1, 2018, the New Orleans Saints signed Kirkwood as an undrafted free agent to a three-year, $1.72 million contract that includes $42,000 guaranteed and a signing bonus of $17,000.[5]

Throughout training camp, Kirkwood competed for a roster spot as a backup wide receiver against Austin Carr, Tommylee Lewis, Brandon Coleman, Josh Huff, Travin Dural, and Eldridge Massington.[6] On September 1, 2018, the Saints waived Kirkwood as part of their final roster cuts, but signed him to their practice squad the following day after clearing waivers.[7][8]

On November 10, 2018, the Saints promoted Kirkwood from their practice squad to their active roster after newly acquired free agent Dez Bryant tore his Achilles tendon during practice.[9] The Saints placed multiple wide receivers on injured reserve after sustaining injuries, including Ted Ginn Jr., Tommylee Lewis, Travin Dural, and Cameron Meredith.[10] Kirkwood became the fourth wide receiver on the depth chart upon joining the active roster, behind Michael Thomas, Tre'Quan Smith, and Austin Carr.[11]

On November 11, 2018, Kirkwood made his professional regular season debut and caught two passes for 45 yards and made one tackle on special teams during a 51–14 victory at the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 10.[12]

On September 17, 2019, Kirkwood was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.[13] He was designated for return from injured reserve on November 13, 2019, and began practicing with the team again.[14] However, he was not activated by the end of the three-week practice window on December 4, 2019, and remained on injured reserve for the rest of the season.[15]

Carolina Panthers

On April 1, 2020, Kirkwood signed with the Carolina Panthers reuniting him with former Temple head coach Matt Rhule and former college teammates Robby Anderson, P. J. Walker, and Colin Thompson.[16] Kirkwood was placed on injured reserve on September 7, due to a shoulder injury.[17] He was designated for return from injured reserve on September 30, 2020, and began practicing with the team again.[18] He was activated on October 17, but re-injured his left clavicle in the next game and was placed back on injured reserve on October 20.[19][20]

On February 22, 2021, Kirkwood signed a one-year contract extension with the Panthers.[21] He was waived on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[22][23] Ahead of the Week 8 game against the Atlanta Falcons, Kirkwood was promoted to the active roster.[24]

On June 6, 2022, Kirkwood re-signed with the Panthers.[25] He was released on August 30, 2022.[26]

New Orleans Saints (second stint)

On September 28, 2022, Kirkwood was signed to the Saints' practice squad.[27] On October 15, 2022, Kirkwood was promoted to the active roster.[28] He was released on October 29 and re-signed to the practice squad. He was promoted on January 4, 2023.

Kirkwood re-signed with the Saints on February 17, 2023.[29]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Bold Career best

Regular season

Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2018 NO 8 1 13 209 16.1 42 2 0 0
2019 NO 1 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0
2020 CAR 1 0 1 13 13.0 13 0 0 0
2021 CAR 3 0 3 17 5.7 7 0 0 0
2022 NO 5 1 2 18 9.0 14 0 0 0
2023 NO 13 4 5 37 7.4 13 1 0 0
Career 31 6 24 294 12.3 42 3 0 0

Postseason

Year Team Games Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2018 NO 1 1 2 8 4.0 6 1 0 0
Career 1 1 2 8 4.0 6 1 0 0

References

  1. ^ "Home Field Advantage: Saints and their hometowns with Keith Kirkwood". NewOrleansSaints.com. January 10, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Underhill, Nick (November 26, 2018). "How Saints WR Keith Kirkwood went from basketball star to NFL rookie". NOLA.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  3. ^ "Keith Kirkwood - Football". Temple. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  4. ^ "Keith Kirkwood, Temple, WR, 2018 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". DraftScout.com. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  5. ^ "Spotrac.com: Keith Kirkwood contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  6. ^ Saunders, Dylan (July 18, 2018). "New Orleans Saints Wide Receiver Competition". AllSaintsConsidered.com. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  7. ^ Hendrix, John J. (August 31, 2018). "Saints cuts tracker: Tracking New Orleans roster moves, trades, rumors, updates, and more". Canal Street Chronicles. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  8. ^ Parks, James (September 3, 2018). "The Saints 2018 practice squad". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  9. ^ Katzenstein, Josh (November 10, 2018). "Saints promoting wide receiver Keith Kirkwood to active roster". NOLA.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  10. ^ "Saints lose wide receiver Cameron Meredith to knee surgery". ESPN.com. November 8, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  11. ^ "Ourlads.com: New Orleans Saints Depth Chart (11/10/2018)". Ourlads.com. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  12. ^ "NFL Player stats: Keith Kirkwood (2018)". NFL.com. Retrieved November 12, 2018.
  13. ^ Sigler, John (September 17, 2019). "Saints make multiple roster moves, send Keith Kirkwood to I.R." Saints Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  14. ^ Fazende, Sean (November 13, 2019). "Saints designate WR Keith Kirkwood for return from injured reserve". KSLA.com. Retrieved November 13, 2019.
  15. ^ Sigler, John (December 4, 2019). "Keith Kirkwood won't be activated off of Saints injured reserve". Saints Wire. USA Today. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  16. ^ "Panthers sign wide receiver Keith Kirkwood". Panthers.com. April 1, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  17. ^ "Panthers' Keith Kirkwood: Begins season on IR". CBS Sports. September 7, 2020. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  18. ^ "Panthers' Keith Kirkwood: Designated to return". CBSSports.com. September 30, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
  19. ^ Simmons, Myles (October 17, 2020). "Panthers add three to 53-man roster". Panthers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  20. ^ Simmons, Myles (October 20, 2020). "Panthers place Juston Burris, Keith Kirkwood on reserve/injured list". Panthers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  21. ^ Gantt, Darin (February 22, 2021). "Panthers bring back two wide receivers". Panthers.com. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  22. ^ Gantt, Darin (August 31, 2021). "Panthers reduce roster on Tuesday morning". Panthers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  23. ^ Gantt, Darin (September 1, 2021). "Panthers announce practice squad signings on Wednesday". Panthers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  24. ^ Gantt, Darin (October 31, 2021). "Inactives: Shaq Thompson active in Atlanta". Panthers.com. Carolina Panthers. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
  25. ^ Gantt, Darin (June 6, 2022). "Panthers bring back Keith Kirkwood". Panthers.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  26. ^ "Panthers make transactions to get to initial 53-man roster". Panthers.com. August 30, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  27. ^ "New Orleans Saints announce roster moves". NewOrleansSaints.com. September 28, 2022. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  28. ^ Grindley, Wyatt (October 15, 2022). "Saints Make Seven Roster Moves". NFLTradeRumors.co. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  29. ^ "Saints re-sign Keith Kirkwood to one-year extension". NewOrleansSaints.com. February 17, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2023.

External links

  • New Orleans Saints bio
  • Temple Owls bio