Surprising Carolina Panthers secondary moves continue
Carolina Panthers welcome back Tre Boston, release Eric Reid.
The Carolina Panthers offseason continues as the new league year begins Wednesday afternoon (4:00pm ET). At that point all previously announced moves become official once players put ink to paper as deals are signed. For the Panthers, a few free agent additions are already anticipated including bringing a few familiar faces back into the mix.
As with any offseason, the roster is in flux and adding a completely new coaching staff also comes with its own share of uncertainty. To this point, Carolina has seen an untimely retirement of linebacker Luke Kuechly, veteran tight end Greg Olsen take his talents to the pacific northwest and quarterback Cam Newton seek a trade.
Owner David Tepper, new coach Matt Rhule and general manager Marty Hurney’s initial attempts to reconstruct the roster began through free agency with a focus on defense. Safety Juston Burris was added after Colin Jones asked for a release, in addition to the departure of starting cornerback James Bradberry.
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Secondary shuffling continues as safety Tre Boston returns on a 3-year, $18 million deal while Eric Reid was released. Initially it appeared Boston may be looking for work elsewhere but with the departure of Reid, a potential combination of Burris and Boston may be the duo decided upon by new defensive coordinator Phil Snow.
Boston and Reid started all 16 games for the Panthers last season and while the secondary did show some improvement from recent seasons, inconsistencies remained. Now focus can turn to the cornerback position, where Ohio State product Jeff Okudah is a potential first-round selection.
Depending on how the NFL Draft plays out early on day one, the Panthers could have some difficult decisions to make once on the clock. With deficiencies across the board on both sides of the football there are a number of positions which Hurney could target early.
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See who the Panthers select when the NFL Draft takes place April 23-25.