SmokinwithWilly

At this point I'm more interested in do they have the tools vs is he a bonehead. Sometimes it comes down to speaking the right language. I said this before about Darnold after we traded him away. He needed someone who could communicate with him effectively to help him grow. Neither of those were Gase or Rhule. He could also be another Rosen. Either way, Dalton is done and we need to look elsewhere whether it's Levis, Howell, the ghost of Vinnie Testaverdi. Somewhere.

Not a promising center class for day 1 starters. There's a couple of intriguing prospects, but none that you can really look at and say that guy is starter material. Lew, Slaughter, Hecht and Jones seem to be in the top 5 on most rankings projections I've seen, but even so, don't know that any of them are ready to go day 1.

Not at all, but we wouldn't bring in anyone who might possibly unseat Bryce. Either he rises or falls, hopefully before we give him any extension. Levis, if he gets cut by the Titans, looks like he could be a backup with potential if he can get a do over, kind of like Darnold after Gase and Rhule.

Center is a bit questionable this year. There are some interesting candidates out there, with Parker having a good senior bowl and Coogan is a guy that I think is an interesting prospect but I don't think he's day 1 ready. We've passed over some gems at the position the past few years in favor of guys with high RAS scores and raw potential. Sometimes the sensible, non flashy pick is the one you should make instead of TMJ over Humphries or Brooks over Frazier.

On a side note, I've heard a large shipment of exercise bikes is being sent to the 9ers training facility.

Bryce or Mayes?

Maybe he can talk Matt Paradis out of retirement.

Injuries happen but the concussions are worrisome, any TBI is since you can't actually see the injury or repair it like an ACL. After the 1st they come easier. I've had 4 myself. I do know that my bell gets rung much easier now than it did. All we can do is hope he can stay healthy.

I really don't see how you can extend Young if he puts up another season on par or slightly improved with this past one, or especially before the season. Brissett put up better numbers in 5 fewer games as a backup for 6 mil per season. I know they were behind and passing a lot, but still. 185 yards a game is not extension worthy. I can't imagine paying 40m per season for what we've gotten so far at the QB position.

I sort of think it is and isn't with regards to our tackle situation. I see tackle like QB. Even if you have 2 decent starting tackles, you need to be developing one behind them constantly. Expecting both tackles to make it through the season unscathed is not reasonable, nor is it reasonable to think you can pay both tackles elite tackle money. Always have to be developing a backup plan. 2 elite tackles and a QB on his 2nd contract can easily eat over half your cap space. That's not sustainable long term. I don't blame Dan for what happened to Icky, but I think we've been short sighted since drafting him. We've pretty much ignored OL in the draft and that's not something you can do with the attrition rate of OL.

Save $1.99 against the cap.

The most important position room on the team has been ass for 3 years so the solution is to go find a big ol scoop of ass and add it to the mix. Might as well keep Andy Dalton.

Can't save any money this year by cutting him. His salary is fully guaranteed and counts against the cap no matter what unless we do a minimal extension to spread the hit out. There's always the risk he doesn't play again and there's the possibility he does. It all depends on do we take the risk of spreading out the guaranteed money or just eat it all this year. Any extension is really just about cap management while seeing when/if he can recover.

Crosby probably wanted out and wants a real shot at winning. That ain't happening in Vegas. They've been dysfunctional for a while. Playing in Vegas is playing for a paycheck. As a competitor, you gotta want more.

XL for Thomas. We aren't enamored with XL. They aren't for Thomas. Trade straight across. Hell, we'll even throw in David Moore.

I'd feel much more comfortable going into 2026 with him as a starter and Yosh/rookie as a backup than Yosh/equivalent and a rookie prayer as backup or starter. Also, this is where a smaller extension for Icky would come in handy. Extend him for 2 years as suggested in another thread, spread out that 5th year option salary cap hit, use the relief to sign Decker, and give Icky time to recover and evaluate instead of taking a shot in the dark after a year or longer full recovery period.

At this point, I think we need to be looking beyond backups. Bryce hasn't even proven he's worthy of being a weekly starter. It's time to start looking for another potential QB1. Bryce needs to be pushed. The Panthers need to explore future possibilities who could potentially take the reigns when/if Bryce has another meh season. Geno doesn't fall into that category anymore.

That's why I said relatively. The Bills need someone who can catch and DJ can do that. How much he gets to play with said injury and how well are the questions. Still, for a 2nd rounder, they know what they got instead of firing a shot in the dark and potentially getting a Mingo or TMJ.

Still a good trade. DJ makes them better instantly. He tends to stay relatively healthy unlike most of their receivers. Saw Diggs being released also. Wouldn't be surprised to see him back in Buffalo.

Saw the compensation is a mid rounder on fantasy pros.

I don't know that doing an extension to get some cap relief would be having a player over a barrel. At this time, his recovery is unknown. An extension as previously described would give cap relief for us, time for Icky to fully recover without rushing back, and time to evaluate him once he does. If he is good to go, another extension reflecting that evaluation can always be done. I don't think that would destroy a locker room. I think it shows we're willing to working with players and put them and the team in a favorable position while recovering from major injury. This isn't a common situation with a major injury at the 5th year extension. I think it actually could sit well with agents and players that we take care of players.

Scariest part of the Little trade was Hurney said if Burns hadn't been there, Little would have been the pick in the 1st. Thank you to Daniel Snyder for being a meddling idiot and taking Haskins at 15.

Just have to take what comes to us. Styles is going top 10 easily and top 5 is a real possibility. That trade up cost is going to be ridiculous. Stay put, take the BPA or if we get a good offer, move down a little and see if we can't pick up an extra 2nd or early 3rd. We have needs at S, LB and IOL and day 2 is a good place to find them. Tackle may be in play in the 2nd as well depending on who falls.

And our record says we were a losing team that lucked into getting into the playoffs. Playoffs are not our standard because we didn't earn our way in, the Falcons had to do it for us. We also got in because the NFCS sent another losing record team to the playoffs and the Panthers are the only team in the NFL to go twice with a losing record. That's not something to be proud of. The reason I brought up the 13 and 16 point scores was those are not typically wins most weeks in the NFL. In fact, there were 31 wins this season where the winning team scored under 20. 7 of those happened in week 18. That means this past season, only 11% of the time, the winning team scored under 20. Prior to week 18, that was 9%. Week 18 was a statistical anomaly. How often does a team go into the red zone 6 times and come away with 13 points? Not often. GB did and we won that game. And we played a Jets team (0-7 at the time) that was offensively inept. Teams also don't consistently win one score games as often as we did either. Those things tend to balance themselves out the following year. I'm not erasing wins. I'm looking at how this team actually performed during the season. We defied the odds winning 2 games scoring under 20. The record, and the stats across the NFL, show we are in reality closer in performance to a 6 win team than we are to 8. If Bryce was a FA for another team would we be looking at him? Probably not. He's in the retread and dice roll category. It just so happens we just signed him to the option. There's not a lot of good options out there right now. That's why I'm not in the sign a vet as QB2 club. Bring in a retread or dice roll. Trotting a vet out a couple of games isn't going to get us anywhere long term.

David Montgomery is headed to Houston in a trade for a 4th, 7th and OL Juice Scruggs.