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The question is, do we resign him this offseason?

I am not against spending top dollar for top pass rushing talent but it needs to make sense at the time. I definitely don't think Hendrickson makes ANY sense for us given age and where we are as a franchise. Phillips does make some sense as a younger guy but, again, we are in the infancy of our roster building comparatively. Why blow a ton of money on free agents every offseason? We spent a lot the last two offseasons on veteran free agents to some success but a chunk of these guys may never see the completed result of our building. Overall I agree. Be selective about free agents, especially in premium positions. The one big credit I will give Morgan is that he seems to be building younger. That is very smart.

recall that they likely kept Evero when they brought on Canales partially because they thought the issue was the talent he had to work with vs his gameplan. Figured "let's see what he can do when he has some talent to play with" of course, doesn't explain our horrible defensive situation last year, but it's certainly turned around this season

On the TE tip, that was why I was so perturbed about our decision to pass up on very good TE's several times in this past draft. This was a STACKED TE class. Guys like Fannin, Taylor, Gadsden, etc were serious needle movers(in my eyes) and they were a few of the guys that have provided instant impact, as well. I wasn't a big fan of the Evans pick and although he has drastically exceeded my expectations we did pass on a legit offensive weapon in Gadsden who is ehat we tried to get and largely have failed in Sanders. Honestly, considering the early success for the 2025 class, I don't want to be too harsh but I am always annoyed that our FO never seems to take players at a position of need when the classes are very strong or definitely whiff on the better players(Evans/Etienne). It's absolutely mind boggling we keep doing it. I am with you on upgrading at TE, though. Tremble is a fine player, I am happy to have him but he has probably come pretty close to what he is going to be. Sanders just doesn't appear to really have appreciably developed much. If he can't develop some overall consistency by the end of 2026 or make some step forward, I would classify him as largely a lost cause. Evans I have liked the potential of but he has played only 35% of the snaps on offense. I can't understand why he gets so many less snaps than a guy like Sanders. I know they are used differently but it isn't like Sanders is being targeted a ton. He has 30 targets compared to Evans 18 in WAY more snaps.

Maybe not you...but there were a lot on this board calling him a bust in his second season.

I think we'll move to the draft for pass rush guys, maybe even use our first on it. Edge rushers, especially free agents, are just too expensive. Better to grow your own.

This was a good combo too.

I'm enjoying the new defense, especially in contrast to what Evero trotted out there last season. If he keeps this up, he's going to be getting some HC interviews, which I think was the reason that we retained him. And this year, he's earned those opportunities. Best of luck to him.

And Dan Henning was the best OC

I say that this is the best defensive brainpower combo we’ve ever had

Hey, brother, I agree with you. I am just reading tea leaves and reacting to what they are likely to do. I think we should be in the market until we have a top 10 QB. Full stop. However, since they seem hell bent on turning their hamster into a stallion, (and we have to consider Tepper's ego is in play here) I am starting from that position, 98.3% of the time, you and I are on the same page. Seek help.

Between the influx of talent (Moehrig, Turk, Rosebloom, Ransom, Scourton, Princely, Jackson, Wallace, Brown III) keeping talent healthy - Horn and the return of his all pro DT- Brown he’s starting to put together a masterclass on defense minus the Bills game the defense has done enough to get the team in winnable opportunities (SF and NO come to mind) and he’s doing this without a certified edge yet I’m in favor of letting this man cook, he makes second half adjustments as he gets a feel for the game

Ascending from a backup QB to a slightly better backup QB is not ascending. Like I said our front office have done dumbass things before.

I think ideally you make your decision early in the offseason. I say that so that we can attempt to move Bryce early while he still might have some minimal amount of value left(Rosen scenario). Alternatively, as you stated, see what happens in free agency and the draft, then decide to move him or not, which would likely be tied to that 5th year decision. My take on how this ultimately goes is that we don't make a move at QB(we stay with Bryce/Dalton), we don't draft a QB and we pick up the 5th. No serious extension talks, though. I think they go partially in on Bryce but not all-in.

Morgan knows he was freed up by Kris Jenkins and Brenston Buckner. Same for Kuechly. Great lbs need great dts.

I dont doubt anything you said here. Put as I have stated since this came up, if they pick up the 5th and thats it, then we are in uncharted waters for a top draft pick. You can point to us picking up the 5th with darnold but thats different. Teams normally dont navigate like this. So they better have a damn good plan to figure this out. I would feel way more comfortable if they cut dalton, signed a dude, drafted a dude. Do that then go from there. Dont pick up the 5th until after the draft. That seems logical. But again, the fact that nobody from the press has even asked is fuging cowardly

My ultimate GUESS is that the core decision makers are fairly aligned on thought process regarding Bryce. My take is that is largely dictated by the ownership and everyone else is just marching to the beat of that drum. I would be surprised if they are off the bandwagon yet. I think the improvements over last season for the team overall are going to drive decision making that leads us to staying committed to Bryce.

Pass…we haven’t had much success with DTs named Peter.

I bet you would be surprised at the answers if you gave the FO truth serum. I mean for fugs sake if 85% of the huddle can see it, you mean to tell me professional football coaches and execs dont? But as always Dave and nicole are the wild cards here. If they want to give him an ext by God he is getting an ext and there is nothing Morgan and co can do. Resigning in protest would be pretty funny actually

I mean, but there is ample evidence that exists currently in the NFL and historically that if you have a talented or moderately talented team then one of the biggest upgrades you can make is at QB. It yields the biggest returns. I don't think even Prime Greg Olsen is going to make Bryce suddenly look like a stud QB. We have invested immense amounts of money on the OL and tremendous amounts of draft resources on WR's. And have added an additional extremely capable RB. At some point, the main problem is Bryce. We are at that point. That being said, we don't need to go "Full Bryce" again and sell the farm to upgrade at QB. Be intelligent and patient. Try to get better by whatever means become available WHILE continuing to make the roster better. At the bare minimum, you slowly build an upper half of the NFL talented roster that is at least a potential draw for some free agent QB's. IMO, Bryce is clearly not the answer. I don't think anyone in our organization thinks that way but if they do, it's not the end of the world. Throw as many reasonable darts as you can through free agency and the draft until either you get a bullseye or a top 10-15 option becomes available in free agency.

I think the best way to make Bryce better is to make everyone around him better. This is why I advocate for a stud (top 5, eventually) TE. I mean, when we have been a good franchise, we have had a stud TE (Walls, Olsen) and ILB (Beason, Mills, Morgan, Luke, etc) so it is in our DNA. Expect us to address these areas this year. (An Olsen or Walls would help Bryce a lot). In terms of productivity, I think we are going to work with XL for one more season and ride the TMac / Coker momentum. Where else could we find a position to improve productivity? TE. A position that caters to Bryce's style and shortcomings, a stud TE gives him another weapon he has not had. The Panthers run a lot of 2-TE sets (I have seen 3) and they have a blocker (Tremble) who is great in the run game, a balanced TE (Evans), and Sanders is supposed to be the pass-catching TE. He had 340 yards last season and he has about 170 this year. If we are going to play around with XL for another season, it only makes up to add to Bryce's weapons in a way that does not put XL on the bench, basically ending his development. It makes sense to bring in a pass-catching dawg. The way the offense is designed, I see carrying 4, but its not ideal. Having said that, I mentioned Oregon's Sadiq in another thread, but I am starting to warm up to Vanderbilt's Stowers and, in the Olsen/Walls mold, I kinda like Endries from Texas. Of course, Stowers is probably going in round 2 and Endries in 3 or later. I still say, 5 months before the draft, that I would not be surprised if we take a TE very early.

Thats not true, thats what Brandt said about him in the off season. Then he has continued to play "meh". We simply dont know how the staff feels about him now. There are no reports that they like him or not

If you think Bryce is an "established starter" then that probably would be the place to begin

Svech