Broncos Defensive Free Agents That Carolina Should Consider
In this story:
The Carolina Panthers hit a home run Sunday, hiring Ejiro Evero as the team's new defensive coordinator. Evero was one of the nine candidates that interviewed for the head coaching job in Carolina and the Panthers' brass came away impressed from their sit down with him.
The young, bright defensive mind also interviewed for the head coaching jobs in Denver, Indianapolis, and Houston while also receiving interest from Minnesota in their head coaching job.
So with Evero on his way to Carolina, we take a look at some of the players he coached this past year in Denver that the Panthers should pursue in free agency.
DE Dre'Mont Jones
Adding someone like Jones would be good for Yetur Gross-Matos. It gives them flexibility to move guys around but it also pushes YGM to take the next step. As a rookie, he had Morgan Fox whereas this past season, he had rookie Amaré Barno who saw very limited action. Jones averages five sacks, and seven tackles for loss per season.
DE DeShawn Williams
The Central, South Carolina native may be interested in playing closer to home after spending the last three years in Denver. After the Bengals released him in 2016, he bounced around a little bit on practice squads with Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Miami, before finding a home in Denver. In 15 starts this season, Williams tallied 37 tackles, eight QB hits, 4.5 sacks, and four tackles for loss. That said, he would be viewed as more of a depth option in Carolina rather than a starter.
LB Alex Singleton
This dude is a tackling machine. He's recorded 120+ tackles in each of the last three seasons, including a career-high 163 this season (5th-most in NFL). If Carolina decides to cut Shaq Thompson, Singleton could be his replacement. He won't be overly expensive, likely coming in somewhere around $6M-$7M per year. Thompson has a base salary of $12.3M in 2023.
S Kareem Jackson
Jackson has been in the league a long time and would be a really good pairing with Xavier Woods in the third level of the defense. Making a move like this would allow Carolina to bring Jeremy Chinn down to linebacker where he can be closer to the action and not be as involved in pass coverage. Jackson will turn 35 in April, so there's not much left in the tank but maybe Carolina can milk the last ounce of what he has left.
Other Broncos hitting free agency
LB Dakota Allen, LB Jonas Griffith, CB/PR/KR Darius Phillips, CB Essang Bassey, S P.J. Locke.
You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on Twitter:
Facebook - @PanthersOnSI
Twitter - @AllPanthers_ and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.
