Is Panthers CB Marshall Moving to Free Safety?

We know how rumors go this time of year but here is one I couldn’t ignore that I got off of Scout.com.

When the Carolina Panthers open up training camp on Friday, we could see a key player from the defensive side of the ball changing positions.

A league source told Scout.com that third-year CB Richard Marshall could be moving over to free safety.

Apparently the coaches want to get their best four secondary defenders on the field at the same time and they believe Marshall is clearly one of them based on his first two seasons of play.

If Marshall winds up making the positional move to free safety, he'd compete for the starting job against Nate Salley, rookie Charles Godfrey, and veteran Terrence Holt.

I have no problem with getting our four best secondary guys on the field but this doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me. Why draft Charles Godfrey and move him to FS for mini-camp? Has Richard Marshall ever played FS? Marshall may actually be our best CB so why move him to FS? If the Panthers do move one of their CB’s to FS will they then move Godfrey to the nickel CB spot? Given Godfrey is a rookie that would limit his exposure in his first season.

You may recall I pondered this move back in January and asked my readership which of the Panthers starting-caliber CB’s should be moved to FS. 37% of you thought Ken Lucas should be moved with ‘none of the above’ coming in second at 25%. We could argue about who would be better at the position but in the end it may be economics that make the decision. Certainly none of them would be cut but who has the highest trade value? The Panthers just may dangle Chris Gamble out there to see if they can get a decent draft pick for him.

If it were me I let them battle it out in TC and start the two best CB’s of the three and if that means Ken Lucas or Chris Gamble gets benched then so be it. If they want to grumble about it then a trade may be necessary for team harmony. I thought Marshall kicked ass last season when he started for the injured Chris Gamble, both in coverage and tackling. He’s just too damn good to sit the bench for half the defensive snaps and I’m glad to hear John Fox recognizes that. Nobody should feel safe going into TC so let them decide it on the field. Wooo hooo!