Saints swoop in on potential Panthers target after Tyrann Mathieu retirement

It’s been an active few days for Dave Canales’s team. The Carolina Panthers have begun training camp. On Tuesday, they surprisingly released veteran inside linebacker Josey Jewell due to the fact that the veteran defender was still experiencing symptom from a concussion suffered last December. General manager Dan Morgan inked former Seahawks’ tight end Tyler Mabry to fill that roster spot.

For the last few months, there has been speculation that Morgan could add someone to the back end of a defensive unit that has undergone plenty of changes. In fact, the Panthers did add a player to their secondary. Earlier on Wednesday, the club signed cornerback Tre Swilling, who appeared in two games with the San Francisco 49ers in 2023 and one contest with New York Jets this past season.

It was thought that the team could look at a veteran safety, with names such as Justin Simmons, Marcus Williams, and Julian Blackmon likely candidates. That list went from three to two earlier today as Blackmon inked a deal with the New Orleans Saints. The 2020 third-round pick from the University of Utah by the Colts spent five seasons with Indianapolis. He played and started in a career-high 16 contests in 2024, and over the past three seasons has shown a real nose for the ball.