Panthers general manager Marty Hurney deserves a ton of credit for reshaping his team’s roster this offseason.
With so many key players either retiring or moving on in free agency, he had a large number of roster holes to fill. Hurney showed an appropriate sense of urgency early in the offseason and has continued to aggressively pursue players that can help throughout the spring and into the summer.
With Wednesday evening’s report from Adam Schefter at ESPN that the team is bringing back former safety Tre Boston on a one-year deal, Hurney can hang his hat and claim a job very well done.
As with any team, there are still some weak spots here and there but free safety was the last true glaring hole Carolina had on the 2019 roster.
Boston has developed into an above-average starter at free safety in the two years he’s been away from Charlotte. By adding him to the mix, the Panthers get a proven commodity at a key position and they did it at the cost of just a $3 million cap hit.
Over the last few days, Ross Cockrell and Rashaan Gaulden had been rotating reps at free safety. While they have some ability, they are better suited to play other spots. With Boston now in the fold, most likely one of them will wind up replacing Captain Munnerlyn at slot cornerback.
On the outside, Donte Jackson and James Bradberry have their spots locked down and Eric Reid will continue to play the other safety spot.
It’s not an all-star secondary by any means, but if Jackson makes the sophomore leap it can be an average and respectable unit. Given how dominant their front seven is expected to be, that may be all the Panthers need to field a very strong defense this year.
