Carolina Panthers working to address issues in the secondary

The Panthers worked out and signed a cornerback on Tuesday.

It appears that the Carolina Panthers may have finally realized that there secondary is not up to par. Tuesday was a busy day for them in terms of roster moves, especially at the cornerback position. This is worth noting because it is a position where they could desperately use some help.

For starters, they worked out cornerback Dexter McDougle. He was selected by the New York Jets in the third round of the 2014 NFL Draft. Most recently a member of the Philadelphia Eagles, he was released by the team in early November.

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In addition, they also announced the signing of cornerback Josh Thornton to the practice squad. Thornton has had a relatively quiet professional career to this point. He came to the league via Southern Utah after being an undrafted free agent. He did gain a little experience last season being on both the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans practice squads. Ultimately, he was waived by the Texans prior to the beginning of the season.

These are not names that are going to create headlines. What is important about these moves is that the team has noticed that they could use help at the position. If the Panthers can sign McDougle, that would certainly be a good place to start. He at least has tangible experience in the National Football League. His best season came in 2014. That year, he played in 14 games recording a pass deflection and three tackles. It is also worth noting that he started one game for the Eagles this season, appearing in two games overall.

To me, this seems like a series of desperation moves on the part of the Panthers. In this case, these moves mean desperation in the sense that they know things need to be fixed or their playoff hopes will come to an abrupt halt. I would like to see them bring in another cornerback. As Sunday showed, they need depth. After Donte Jackson, they don’t have many players that they can trust to come up in big moments. Corn Elder and Captain Munnerlyn both had their shots, and they failed miserably. Adding depth to the position certainly couldn’t hurt.

It will be interesting to see if Thornton makes the roster at some point, or if he is just a practice body. Judging by the way the Panthers secondary has been playing as of late, I do think that there is a chance he could see the field. The Panthers need as much help as they can get. Judging by their focus on the cornerback position Tuesday, I think they are beginning to realize that. Whether these guys are the answer or not remains to be seen. At the very least, the Panthers have identified and are trying to fix their problems.

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These next couple of games are going to be tough for Carolina. They could quite literally determine their playoff fate by how they perform in these games. It’s either do or die.

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