Panthers’ defensive overhaul in free agency means draft flexibility

To help on the backend, the Panthers brought in safety Tre’von Moehrig. The former Raider had a career year last season with 104 tackles. That was a result of playing much closer to the line of scrimmage. Morgan isn’t committing to playing Moehrig exclusively in the box yet. Instead, he is waiting to see where the versatile defensive back (he’s played every DB position throughout his career) best fits once the entire defense is assembled.

“Obviously, it was our plan, collaborating with the coaching staff, coach Canales, EJ, just us talking through things and what we need, we felt like Tre’von was gonna be a really good fit,” explained Morgan. “He can play deep, but he’s also really good, moving him up into like the nickel position. You can do a lot of things with him from a run defense standpoint, from a blitzing standpoint, so yeah, he brings a lot of versatility that we really liked about him.”

Along with Demani Richardson and Nick Scott, the latter of whom resigned for another year this week, the safety unit currently sits at three. It’s thin and far from done, promised Morgan. Whether that’s finished through the draft or more free agents, like the two veterans—Julian Blackmon and Marcus Williams—the club brought in for a visit this week, is yet to be seen, but something is clearly coming.

“You guys saw that we brought in a few veterans. There’s a few guys on the street that we like, that we think can help us. We’ll see what happens there,” began Morgan. “In the draft, I think there’s a good crop of safeties there, too, so we know that’s a position that we need to address. The numbers aren’t where they need to be there, but we’ll get there, and, you know, we just gotta stay patient, stay with the plan, and let it happen.

“But in terms of a ball hawk on the backside, yeah, we’re going to look for somebody, we’re going to look for players to take the ball away. Who that is, I don’t know, but we’re actively pursuing and we’ll be aggressive when the time comes.”