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Unfortunately, the rest of the offensive line can be described as shaky at best.
The Carolina Panthers look better on paper than they did last year. That’s one of the reasons we’re projecting a 9-8 record for the 2021 season. Yesterday, we listed four reasons for optimism heading into training camp, including the return of the best running back in the NFL.
Today, we’ll focus more on realism and examine three reasons to be pessimistic about this coming season.
That move becomes official today (June 1), which will save the team roughly $3.5 million in salary cap space for 2021.
Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has had an impressive first offseason. He got high marks for both his work in free agency and during the 2021 NFL draft, and rightfully so. However, no executive is perfect and he has made a couple of questionable moves, as well.
The biggest to follow in the coming years will be whether or not it was the right call to pass on Justin Fields in the draft – regardless of how well Jaycee Horn plays corner. On a far smaller scale, Fitterer’s decision to cut free safety Tre Boston a couple months ago was also iffy.
That move becomes official today (June 1), which will save the team roughly $3.5 million in salary cap space for 2021.
While it’s nice to get that extra chunk of change, the price of forfeiting the best (and only) true free safety on the roster just wasn’t worth it.
Even with a gaping hole at this critical position, it’s gone pretty much entirely unaddressed this offseason until very recently. After ignoring a deep market of veterans, the Panthers completely passed on what was considered a strong class of safeties in the draft, leading to questions about who will replace Boston in the starting lineup.
At the moment, our best wild guess is that it will be Lano Hill, who signed a couple weeks ago after playing the first few years of his career in Seattle. The Seahawks picked him in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft but he never saw much playing time. Hill started just six of 42 games and saw his snap count shrink every year. Worse, injuries have cost him 18 games over the last two seasons. Hill should be considered unproven as far as potentially taking over Boston’s former role.
Other options on the roster include Juston Burris and Jeremy Chinn, neither of whom are particularly well-suited to play the centerfield spot in what’s been a heavy cover 3 scheme from defensive coordinator Phil Snow so far.
For what it’s worth, Earl Thomas is still out there.
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The Los Angeles Chargers could afford to add a veteran at the position.
Two months into the offseason and the Chargers have done a fine job of reconstructing a roster under first-year head coach Brandon Staley.
For the most part, each position group has quality starters followed by depth, but Los Angeles’ situation at safety still remains a bit shaky.
Prior to the draft, there were only three players at the position – Derwin James, Nasir Adderley and Alohi Gilman. The team added two more; Mark Webb, a seventh-round pick and Ben DeLuca, an undrafted free agent.
James will be returning from his second lengthy injury that he’s suffered with the Chargers since being drafted in 2018.
Even though can Staley unlock Adderley’s potential in 2021, he’s still coming off a rough sophomore season.
Gilman doesn’t offer much position flexibility.
Webb, the wide receiver convert, didn’t start playing on the defensive side of the ball until 2017.
It’s easy to think that L.A. will have a dynamic defense with James on the field, but considering he’s only played five games in total the past two seasons, the team can’t consider it a complete guarantee.
In addition, under Staley, this will be a defense that relies heavily on their defensive backs.
Bradley McDougald, Bobby McCain, Malik Hooker, Adrian Colbert, Andrew Sendejo, Tre Boston, Kenny Vaccaro and D.J. Swearinger are just to name a few free agent safeties that could be brought in on one-year deals.
The Chargers banking on what they have at the position isn’t surprising, knowing that Staley is capable of getting the most out of his defensive players.
However, for a team that has been hit with the injury bug for years now, they should know that having more might actually be better.
Now that the 2021 NFL draft is over, the Dallas Cowboys can find even more help if they signed any of these defensive veterans.
After months of preperation and projection, just like that, the 2021 NFL draft is over. The Dallas Cowboys, shockingly, made 11 picks and are poised to add an additional 13 undrafted free agents if things go according to plan. That’s quite a haul for a team looking to add talent after a disappointing season.
With the draft now over, the Cowboys shouldn’t stop their pursuit of getting better. There are veteran players still available who can help Dallas in their championship aspirations. The Cowboys didn’t fill all their holes in the draft and even if they did address their positions of need, there are more experienced options out there.
The Cowboys are one of the teams who prefers to wait on signing some veterans until after it doesn’t affect their compensatory pick formula, a period that ends on May 3. While money is tight without working some restructure triggers or release some fringe veterans, expect Dallas to take another look at a few free agents who haven’t yet been signed.
Here are some names that could make a difference with the Cowboys.
About a month ago, the Carolina Panthers did not have much salary cap room to work with for 2021.
About a month ago, the Carolina Panthers did not have much salary cap room to work with for 2021. Thanks to some slick money moves by general manager Scott Fitterer in his first few weeks on the job, they now rank among the league’s leaders in projected cap space for this year.
We weren’t crazy about the decision to release free safety Tre Boston, which opened up a big roster hole and only saved around $3.55 million for the year. The rest of Fitterer’s early moves have hit all the right notes, though. Cutting Kawann Short shaved off a significant $8.6 million cap hit. They also let Michael Palardy, Stephen Weatherly, Woodrow Hamilton and Natrell Jamerson go, adding to the pile.
The shrewdest move thus far was a restructured contract for starting center Matt Paradis. Carolina converted around $7 million of Paradis’ roughly $8 million in base salary for this year into a signing bonus, creating another $4.69 million in cap room.
Now the Panthers’ financial outlook for 2021 looks much better. According to Spotrac, they have just under $40 million available, or $39,983,683 to be exact. Some estimates have them closer to $35-$36 million. We assume the discrepancy is that Spotrac is including the rollover amount from 2020. For the Panthers, they’re getting an extra $4.27 million.
That $39.98M figure is the seventh-largest in the NFL at the moment. Only the Jaguars, Jets, Patriots, Colts, Bengals and the Washington Football Team have more.
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For the second time in his career, the Carolina Panthers have released free safety Tre Boston.
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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The Lions have some ties to Tre Boston and a need for a veteran safety
There are a few salary cap roster casualties starting to fall around the league. One of the reported ones on Friday involves a player who the Detroit Lions should have at least some interest in signing.
Per numerous reports, the Carolina Panthers will release starting safety Tre Boston. The move saves the cap-strapped Panthers some $3.5 million in 2021 obligations.
As Panthers Wire editor Tim Weaver notes, cutting Boston is something of a surprise. Carolina signed him to a three-year, $18 million deal last offseason. And Boston played well for the young Panthers, starting all 16 games and finishing with 95 tackles.
The 28-year-old Boston has been a reliable starting safety for several years. He had his best season in 2017 with the Los Angeles Chargers under head coach Anthony Lynn, who is now the Lions’ offensive coordinator. Boston picked off five passes and registered 79 tackles and eight PDs that year.
The Lions have a need at safety with Duron Harmon a pending free agent. Boston is a proven veteran with some familiarity to the coaching staff and a solid track record of making plays. He’s definitely worth investigating for new GM Brad Holmes and the Detroit brass.
Boston joins a deep free agent safety class. If the Lions are looking more for a 1-2 year bridge veteran instead of a higher-end (and more expensive) starter, Boston should be a primary option.
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Veteran safety Tre Boston was released by the Panthers on Sunday, which could give Washington a relatively cheap answer at a position of need.
Panthers informed starting safety Tre Boston today that they are releasing him, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) February 19, 2021
We knew there were going to be a lot of cap casualties this offseason with the salary cap going down to a projected $180 million in 2021, and the Carolina Panthers cut one of their veteran players on Friday as a result.
After signing him to a three-year deal just a season ago, the Panthers released veteran safety Tre Boston, allowing him to hit the open market. Of course, this is potentially important to note in Washington, especially once you consider the numerous links they have to Boston.
Boston was drafted by the Panthers in 2014 when Ron Rivera was the head coach, and he re-signed with the team in 2019 and signed a contract extension last season with Marty Hurney in charge. Washington also has a need to improve the free safety position, looking to find someone to run alongside Kameron Curl.
We’ll see if they show any interest in signing the veteran for relatively cheap, which they chose not to do last offseason.
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The Carolina Panthers have informed free safety Tre Boston that they’re cutting him, according to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN.
The Carolina Panthers have informed free safety Tre Boston that they’re releasing him, according to a report by Adam Schefter at ESPN. Cutting Boston comes as a bit of a surprise, considering he just signed a three-year, $18 million deal last offseason. He did struggle at times during the 2020 campaign, allowing three touchdowns in coverage and missing 15 tackles (13.6%).
The Panthers have done the same with defensive end Stephen Weatherly and punter Michael Palardy, according to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN. Unlike Boston, Weather and Palardy were predictable cuts for salary cap reasons – the same as Kawann Short, who was released a few days ago.
Weatherly was arguably the team’s worst free agent signing of 2020 outside of middle linebacker Tahir Whitehead. He never made a real impact in the nine games he played, totaling just 17 tackles, three quarterback hits, nine pressures and no sacks. A finger injury cut his season short. The Panthers are loaded with young talent on the edge anyway, so cutting Weatherly is no real loss.
Palardy spent the entire 2020 season on injured reserve after he tore his ACL at some point during the offseason. He’s already been replaced by Joseph Charlton, who was an undrafted free agent from South Carolina. He had a very strong rookie season and may be their punter for a long time.
All together, the moves will save the team about $11.5 million in salary cap space for the year.
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Here are the four Carolina players who have the most to prove over these last four games of the 2020 season.
The Carolina Panthers are finally on their bye week. At 4-8, they’re out of the playoff picture and have to start thinking about next season. Certain individuals will be under a lot of pressure during this last month to show improvement and secure their future with the franchise. We could see some major roster changes this offseason depending on how things go in December.
Here are the four Carolina players who have the most to prove over the last four games of the 2020 season.
