Coming off a thrilling 16-13 win over the Green Bay Packers to bring them to 5-4, the Carolina Panthers are looking to bolster their secondary. The Panthers will host former Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Asante Samuel Jr.
Samuel is the son of former All-Pro and Super Bowl Champion with the New England Patriots, Asante Samuel Sr. Drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft, Samuel has played his entire career with the Chargers and has four career interceptions.
The last year of Samuel’s career, however, has been defined by injuries. However, Samuel has recently been cleared to return to playing football after undergoing a spinal fusion surgery in the offseason. The Panthers will be just one of many teams that are attempting to court Samuel.
Generating Buzz
Since Asante Samuel Jr did not get the opportunity to participate in actual free agency due to his surgery, he’s taking full advantage of the opportunity now.
NFL Insider Ian Rapoport wrote on Twitter about how Samuel will be a busy man over the next week.
“It’ll be a busy couple of weeks for Asante Samuel Jr. He’s visiting the Panthers today. After that, it’s: Packers (Thursday), Vikings (Friday), 49ers (Monday), Bears (Tuesday) and Steelers (Wednesday). A thorough, methodical process,” Rapoport wrote.
Samuel will take his time choosing a new team, and the Panthers hope that being the first team Samuel visited is a good omen for them.
The Panthers could look to Samuel to improve their middle-of-the-road pass defense, which is ranked 15th in the NFL by Fox Sports.
Dave Canales Met with Samuel
Asante Samuel Jr’s visit to meet with the Panthers wouldn’t have been complete without meeting with head coach Dave Canales, and so, that’s precisely what he did.
And as Panthers Wire writer Anthony Rizzuti wrote about in his November 5 article, the meeting between Canales and Samuel was a pleasant one, as Canales discussed when asked.
“So, I haven’t watched him on the field, working out. We brought him in to meet him, talk to him, take him through the whole process,” Canales replied. “Really nice conversation with him. A fantastic player for the Chargers for a while, has played in our scheme.”
Canales then spoke about how bringing in Samuel for a visit is just part of the team’s process to keep their options open.
“All those things, it’s just a part of our process. When there’s guys out there that are coming back from injuries, that are ready to go—let’s look at all of ’em,” Canales said. “And you never know, it’s a long season. So just keeping all of our options open.”
The Panthers’ secondary is coming off a good week where they limited the Packers to just 13 points, and safety Tre’von Moehrig was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week after accumulating an interception, five tackles, including two for loss, and two passes defended. The Panthers will look to keep up this momentum in their secondary against the New Orleans Saints and rookie quarterback Tyler Shough.
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