The barren safety market finally showed some signs of life on Wednesday. After an extended stay in free agency, former Los Angeles Chargers safety Tre Boston signed with the Arizona Cardinals. According to NFL Networks Ian Rapoport, Boston and the Cardinals agreed to a one-year deal.
A break in the safety market: Veteran Tre Boston is signing with the #AZCardinals on a 1-year deal, source said.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 26, 2018
Arizona Cardinals Sign Tre Boston
Boston was one of the more interesting safeties to show up in free agency. He had been a bit inconsistent early on in his career. However, he turned some heads in his 2017 season with career highs in practically every category. Boston went into free agency seemingly looking for a payday as a result. He has improved over the course of his career, so it is certainly plausible that his best days are still ahead of him. It does not hurt that he is still a young defensive back at 25.
Boston signed with the Los Angeles Chargers in May 2017 to a one-year, $900,000 contract. It ended up paying dividends, as he had career highs in total tackles (79) and interceptions (5). He ended up emerging as one of the main playmakers on a surprising Chargers secondary. His season included a game-winning interception against Eli Manning and the New York Giants, and what should have been a game-sealing interception against Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars (if not for the Chargers fumbling the ball away).
In high school, Boston played football at North Fort Myers High in Florida. He then played college football at North Carolina from 2010 to 2013. He was named to the All-ACC second team in his senior year.
Boston was drafted in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers at 128th overall. In three seasons he only had three interceptions, though one of them was a pick-six of Matt Ryan during his rookie season. He played in Super Bowl 50 against the Denver Broncos, though he only contributed one tackle and had two pass interference penalties. Boston recorded 50 tackles in 2016, which almost matched the 55 tackles combined in his first two seasons. He was waived by the Panthers in May 2017, which led to him going to the Chargers a couple of weeks later.
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