Previously, the Carolina Panthers have received strong praise for their offseason heading into the 2025 NFL season. For example, Trevon Moehrig signed a three-year, $51 million deal this offseason to leave the Raiders and join the Panthers.
Despite a lot of success, a harsh critique from Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport has called out the Panthers for having the most overpaid safety in the NFL.
Davenport wrote that 2024 may have been a “lightbulb season” for Moehrig after he produced the best season of his career. In 2024, he collected 104 tackles, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a sack over 17 starts for the Raiders.
According to Davenport, 65% of passes thrown in Moehrig’s direction were caught in the last three seasons. The article said the Tre’von Moehrig contract a “gamble,” and the Panthers making him the sixth-highest paid safety in the league makes him the most overpaid safety in the NFL.
GettyTre’Von Moehrig played 66 games for the Raiders and earned 297 tackles, 6 interceptions and 3 sacks.
Is Trevon Moehrig Overpaid?
The Trevon Moehrig free agent signing offers a lot of benefits to the Carolina Panthers. Moehrig has been described as a defensive “Swiss Army knife,” who also brings elite run defense and an aggressive mentality. During an interview with The Athletic, Moehrig explained that he wants to bring a “dog mentality” to the Panthers’ defense.
“I really think I can just provide, just like a dog mentality. A dominant mentality, every time I’m on the field,” Moehrig claimed. “I think that’s what I’ll be able to bring to the table. That’s kind of what (the Panthers) were mentioning, just kind of being the Swiss Army, being able to move around different spots. I said, just give me different looks.”
Moehrig appears ready to play great football for the Panthers: “I come into work every day feeling good about the new situation,” he expressed to The Athletic. ” I’m excited about the new faces and what we can become.”
On paper, Tre’von Moehrig seems primed for a strong season in 2025. If NFL critics want to call him overpaid, Moehrig will need to play to the price tag he’s been given. However, that begs the question: how do his stats compare to the other highest-paid safeties in the NFL?
GettyTrevon Moehrig is the only safety in the NFL with 100+ tackles and 10+ passes defensed in 2024.
Do Trevon Moehrig Stats Compare to Top 5 NFL Safeties?
A report from PFF gave Moehrig an 87.5 rating, which ranks him 6th-7th among safeties from 2024. For clarification, other elite safeties, like Brian Branch and Xavier McKinney, were both ranked above 90.
Trevon Moehrig ranked highly in run defense, but he also rankd 122nd in coverage grade and was below average on his coverage grade. For context, Derwin James received an overall PFF score of 80.8 while Kyle Hamilton received an 88.0 ranking. Overall, Moehrig received a 67.5 PFF score.
Davenport’s report predicted that Moehrig “could be the latest player to have a big outlier season before reverting to mediocrity.” Objectively, Moehrig does rank highly on the PFF score. But the Panthers paid him for what he can bring to the team. It seems harsh and too quick to say Tre’Von Moehrig is “overpaid” when hasn’t played a down of football yet for the Panthers.
Davenport admitted that Moehrig was never given the chance to be more than a replacement player for the Raiders. When he was given a chance, he became the sixth-highest-paid safety in the NFL. Free agency is always a gamble. The Panthers are rolling the dice on Moehrig, who can silence his critics with another good season.
Panthers’ Biggest Free Agent Signing Just Got a Brutal Reality Check