Jacksonville Jaguars: Signing Tre Boston carries low-risk and high-upside
The Jacksonville Jaguars need to add reinforcements to their secondary and although the free agency period is still a few weeks away, they can already go ahead and sign safety Tre Boston, who is free to sign with any team he wants.
The Carolina Panthers recently informed Boston they would be releasing him, which will save them $3.5 million in cap space, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. The team is moving on from the North Carolina product just one season after giving him a three-year $18 million deal.
A fourth-round selection in 2014, Boston played three seasons in Carolina before signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2017. He then spent one year with the Arizona Cardinals before returning to the Panthers in 2019.
In the last five seasons, Boston has played in 77 games and registered 274 tackles, 39 passes defensed, 14 interceptions, and two forced fumbles. He started all 32 games over the last two seasons and missed just three games in the last six years.
Should the Jacksonville Jaguars target Tre Boston?
Boston had arguably his worst season in the NFL. For some reason, he played closer to the line of scrimmage in 2020 even though pass coverage is his strength. He struggles in run support but has had one of the best Pro Football Focus coverage grades in the last four seasons.
Veteran Jarrod Wilson will probably start at one safety spot in 2021, but it’s uncertain who will play next to him. Daniel Thomas showed flashes in his rookie year and should get an opportunity to start, but the Jaguars need to have an alternative plan in place, and adding Boston would simultaneously give them depth and options at the position.
Signing Boston wouldn’t be cost-prohibitive and could be a low-risk, high-reward move for Jacksonville. Based on his body of work, it seems like the 2020 season was an outlier and nothing is stopping him from playing at a high level the way he did the year before.
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Boston has shown he can play at a high level when teams let him do what he does best, drop in coverage. If the Jaguars roll the dice on him, they could end up with an impact player without having to spend too much at the safety position, which would in turn let them address other roster needs this offseason.