The Carolina Panthers have signed unrestricted free agent safety Kurt Coleman to a two-year contract, the team announced Monday.
“Being familiar with (defensive coordinator) Sean (McDermott) and watching this defense, I wanted to be able to help this team build into something special and make a run,” Coleman said. “They’ve done great the last two years getting into the playoffs, but the great thing is they’re not satisfied with just getting there. I want to be a piece to help this team go and be something special.”
Coleman, 5-11 and 200 pounds, played in 15 games with three starts for Kansas City in 2014. He totaled 30 tackles, three interceptions, six passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery on defense. He tied for third on the team with seven special teams tackles.
A veteran of five NFL seasons, Coleman spent the first four seasons of his career with Philadelphia after being selected by the team in the seventh round (244th overall) in the 2010 NFL Draft. Panthers’ defensive coordinator Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator for Philadelphia during Coleman’s rookie season.
“Kurt gives us a versatile safety who can play both spots,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “He’s athletic, he’s intelligent, and will understand the system, having worked with Sean (McDermott) before. He’s a very consistent player and also adds special teams ability. That is something we’ve talked about improving upon and we’ve made some moves this offseason looking for guys that can help us on special teams. Kurt will help us not only on defense, but on special teams as well.”
For his career, Coleman has played in 74 regular season games with 32 starts, including starting 27 of 29 games played for Philadelphia in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. He has totaled 269 tackles, 10 interceptions, 15 passes defensed, four forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He has made 41 tackles on special teams. Coleman has played in two postseason games with one start, producing eight tackles on defense and one on special teams. He was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week at Washington (10/16/11) after tallying three interceptions in the game.
