There’s still a Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl yet to play, but the vast majority of teams have begun shifting their attention to the upcoming 2018 NFL draft and free agency period. This will be the first in a series of profiles on potential free agent targets for the Carolina Panthers this year.

We begin with underrated San Francisco 49ers strong safety Eric Reid.

Career Stats:

Games Tackles INT PD Sacks FF 70 264 (solo) 10 34 1 2

Pros:

At 26 years old, Reid checks every box for an above-average pro defensive back and has plenty of gas left in the tank. He plays tight coverage and does not allow much YAC, he’s a great tackler for his size (6-foot-1, 214 pounds) and he’s got keen instincts, which is a quality every safety needs.

Speaking of safety needs, Eric Washington’s defense has plenty of them to spare.

Starters Mike Adams (36) and Kurt Coleman (29) both struggled at times this past season and when either one of them came off the field, defensive catastrophes followed soon after too-often.

Reid is a high-quality strong safety who can plug up what is perhaps the biggest hole in Carolina’s defense single-handed. He can also fill in at linebacker in a pinch.

Cons:

Some will say signing Reid would be an unwelcome distraction. Reid has been a prominent part of the social justice protests started by former teammate Colin Kaepernick during the national anthem and some fans have turned against him as a result.

Jerry Richardson would not sign off, but he’s on his way out and it’s a new era for the franchise. If Marty Hurney or whoever is running the Panthers front office are going to let politics sour them on a good safety when they need one, they deserve to fail.

The only real question as far as Reid is concerned may be his health. He missed nine games over the last two seasons with a few injuries, but none of them were considered serious.

Probability:

Low. It’s unlikely the Panthers will sign Reid and it has little to do with kneeling.

Carolina committed a whole lot of money in free agency last year (including $55.5 million for left tackle Matt Kalil) and will have to pay big bucks to keep left guard Andrew Norwell in town. That will make it difficult for the team to make any significant splashes on outside candidates in free agency this year.

For what it’s worth though, Reid seems like a great fit on many levels.