4 trade targets at safety for the Carolina Panthers
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers trade target No. 1: Anthony Harris – Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings made a big splash by trading for stud defensive end Yannick Ngakoue from the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has taken a substantial pay cut to join a team with a more likely chance of contending for a Super Bowl. But it has left their salary cap predicament on a knife-edge heading into the 2020 season.
One of the players they might be willing to move at the right price is Anthony Harris. The safety had a phenomenal 2019 that put him in the elite bracket for the first time. But his future with the Vikings is still up in the air long-term.
Harris has signed his franchise tag and will make a base salary of $11.41 million in 2020 after failing to come to terms on a multi-year deal. This has come with plenty of trade speculation. But despite Minnesota taking plenty of calls, their asking price was simply too steep.
This might be something the Carolina Panthers look into if they truly believe they need more help on the backend. Putting Harris alongside Tre Boston would give them one of the best safety tandems in the NFL. It would also allow Jeremy Chinn to get involved more at the second level which he is more than capable of doing.
Whether the Panthers would be willing to pay what Minnesota is asking this close to their season opener is up for debate. They did give up two draft picks to snag Ngakoue and trading Harris would get them well under the cap once again.