Munnerlyn: Panthers ‘ready to go out there and compete’

The Carolina Panthers’ secondary needed an infusion of experience. Badly. The solution? Free agency, of course. ‘It’s kind of tough to go out there with two rookie corners’ The Panthers found help in the form cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who had been with … Continued

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SiriusXM Editor
March 15, 2017

The Carolina Panthers’ secondary needed an infusion of experience. Badly.

The solution? Free agency, of course.

‘It’s kind of tough to go out there with two rookie corners’

The Panthers found help in the form cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who had been with them from 2009 to 2013 before spending the last three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, and safety Mike Adams, a 13-year veteran who spent the last three seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

“It’s kind of tough to go out there with two rookie corners (as the Panthers did in 2016 with Daryl Worley and James Bradberry) and expect to win, man,” Munnerlyn told Bill Lekas and Brad Hopkins on the Opening Drive. “(Guys) who’ve never played a down in the NFL before, who don’t know what to expect, the ins and outs and things like that. So it was kind of tough, but when you see they signed me, at the same time Mike Adams and they already had (safety) Kurt Coleman, so it was like, ‘Man, these guys are for real.’ They’re combining youth with experience. And now these guys are ready to go out there and compete.

‘They can be a much better secondary than they were last year’

“They can be a much better secondary than they were last year. They definitely made the moves that I think were in the right direction, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

Munnerlyn called the decision to return to the Panthers a “no-brainer.”

‘And, you know, my number (41) was open’

“This was the team, the organization that drafted me, gave me the opportunity to play at the next level,” he said. “And when I became a free agent, they came after me. I’ve still got a house here, I stay here in the offseason, I train here in the offseason, so it kind of was a no-brainer. Seeing all the moves they were able to make in free agency, I felt like they were making the right moves and they were trying to win now, so this was a no-brainer for me to come back here and play for the Carolina Panthers.

“And, you know, my number (41) was open. I definitely took that into consideration.”


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