Carolina Panthers re-sign veteran safety Tre Boston to three-year deal

Alaina Getzenberg
·2 min read

The Carolina Panthers are retaining at least one of their own free agents.

The team has agreed to a deal with safety Tre Boston to keep him in Carolina for the foreseeable future. Boston had been seeking a long-term deal and gets one with a three-year deal.

Boston had been signed to one-year deals with three different teams over the last three years, including a one-year, $2.1 million with the Panthers this past year. His new deal is worth $18 million with $9.5 million in the first year, according to multiple reports.

“Not a little more. It’s time. I told y’all year after year, compare Tre Boston’s stats to the top-10 paid safeties and there’s no difference,” Boston said about the salary he desired during locker room clean outs at the end of the 2019 season. “So what is stopping them from paying me the same? I’m going out there banged up just like the rest of ‘em. Numbers just like the rest of ‘em. It’s all about getting my worth … they know what I’m worth … I’ve proved it year after year after year.”

Boston is coming off a strong season with the Panthers last year, finishing with three interceptions — tied for the most on the team— 11 passes defensed and 68 tackles. The safety made a return to Carolina this year after he spent the first three years of his career with the organization. The team originally selected him in the fourth round in the 2014 NFL Draft out of UNC. He spent one season each with the Chargers and the Cardinals and then was re-signed by the Panthers during last year’s training camp.

With the team’s restructuring on defense, Boston will play a key role both on and off the field. He is a big locker room presence and keeps some of the Panthers’ secondary intact with cornerback James Bradberry moving on to the Giants this offseason. It also shows that the team’s signing of defensive back Juston Burris from the Browns on Monday was more of a depth signing and not a starting-safety move.

Boston was very publicly looking for a commitment from the Panthers and they obliged, locking him down for years to come.