Carolina Panthers: 4 options if Tre Boston opts-out in 2020

Carolina Panthers Option No. 2: Bring back Eric Reid

Another option that the Carolina Panthers could go with if Tre Boston decides to opt-out next season is bringing back Eric Reid into the fold. The safety was released earlier this offseason just one year after signing a $22 million deal. And he remains on the free-agent scrapheap.

Reid wasn’t the worst performer on the Panthers’ dismal defense in 2019 by any stretch of the imagination. He recorded 130 combined tackles, 97 solo tackles, six pass deflections, one forced fumble, seven tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, and four sacks.

This was not enough to keep him around with the new regime. But seen as the team is paying him anyway, it might be an option worth considering if Boston decides not to take part due to the current climate.

Bringing Reid back would take some of the pressure off Jeremy Chinn and Kenny Robinson early on. This experience is something that the defense just doesn’t have thanks to a wealth of departures in free agency. And losing Boston would be another hammer blow for the organization.

Whether the former LSU standout would swallow his pride and come back to a place that deemed him surplus to requirements is another matter entirely. Reid should rightfully feel slighted by the team’s decision to move him on. And his character might determine that this is something he is simply not willing to do.