Donte Whitner isn't the only safety the #Panthers are working out. I'm told Stevie Brown, just released by the #Chiefs, will join him.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 26, 2016
As we've been harping on since Saturday, the Panthers are currently dangerously thin at safety. Heading into Friday night's preseason game with the Patriots, Kurt Coleman, Tre Boston, Colin Jones and Travell Dixon are the only healthy guys at the position.
Brown, 29, has played just one season since 2012. He's not a threat to starters Coleman and Boston.
When the second-year safety injured his hamstring three days before the preseason opener in Baltimore, it was supposedly just a tweak. But then he missed a week. And another week. On Monday, coach Ron Rivera said he hoped Marlowe would be on the field the next day. Instead, he worked on the side Tuesday and wasn't even out there on Wednesday.
Before his injury, Marlowe had been rotating in for Coleman at the end of nearly every practice. If the Panthers recently found out Marlowe's going to miss a chunk of time, an immediate add makes sense.
Brown, who was released by the Chiefs on Thursday, last played in 2014. That was an eight-start stint with the Giants, who brought him back after he sat out the 2013 season.
In 2012, Brown racked up the only interceptions (8) and forced fumbles (2) of his career while Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman looked on as the Giants' senior personnel analyst.
Brown's already had a cup of coffee in the Carolinas, spending four days with the Panthers after the Raiders cut their 2010 seventh-round pick just before the start of the 2011 season.
Both Brown and Whitner needs jobs, but the latter — a 3-time Pro Bowler — will likely come at a higher cost.