For the second time in his career, the Carolina Panthers have released free safety Tre Boston. He was one of three players who we learned are getting cut by the team today. The others were defensive end Stephen Weatherly and punter Michael Palardy. Carolina is well set up at those two positions, but with Boston leaving they now have a rather significant hole to fill at free safety, which has become a common theme for this franchise regardless of who’s in charge.
While it’s true Boston didn’t have a great 2020 season, we’re not huge fans of cutting him at this point. For one thing, it didn’t save a whole lot of salary cap room for 2021 – only $3.55 million according to Over the Cap. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Panthers made a similar decision last March when they cut Eric Reid despite little cap savings and a sizable dead money penalty.
Clearly the safeties that the Panthers are signing are not meeting their standards, which makes picking up another veteran to replace Boston a wary proposition.
However, there are some excellent pending free agents at the position who deserve some serious consideration. Justin Simmons of the Broncos is just 27 and poised to cash in next month. Anthony Harris of the Vikings is two years older but in a similar situation.
The gem of course is Earl Thomas, formerly of the Seahawks and the Ravens. He’s still an otherworldly defensive talent based on what we saw from him in 2019. Thomas’ ugly exits from both Seattle and Baltimore are a concern, though. While his behavior might drive his price down, it’s also a big yellow flag. That said, if general manger Scott Fitterer believes Thomas wouldn’t be an issue off the field, then he has to at least kick the tires.
Internally, the DBs on the roster are all not ideal as far moving them to Boston’s former spot. Jeremy Chinn was going to be playing more safety anyway but he’s not the kind of defender you want playing the center field role, at least not until he improves dramatically in coverage. Juston Burris is a quality backup but also not someone you’d want starting at that spot.
Unless the Panthers are convinced somebody like Sam Franklin or Myles Hartsfield can make a dramatic second-year leap and take over for Boston, odds are they’ll have to acquire a new safety to meet this need.
Not every position can be filled via the NFL draft. This is one that likely should be added to an already-long list, though.
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