t96

If Fields is there at 8 and Sewell is gone do you really think we pass him up for Waddle or Horn/Farley? I really just can't see that. My guess is it won't matter and Fields is gone in the top 6 anyways, but we'll find out in less than 12 hours... Thanks for sharing this Verge, good stuff.

I think our defense, offensive weapons, OL and coaching all wound up being good enough that yes even with Grier we probably have a similar record. Couldn't get much worse than Teddy at times, especially in the clutch.

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree signing Teddy was a bad decision. I was just responding to your point about us having Teddy to thank for drafting 8th (presumably instead of picking higher). I don't think he really hurt us in that regard. It's not like without Teddy we'd have been in play for Lawrence or Wilson... Unless the coaching staff blatantly tanked (which wasn't going to happen no matter who was at QB) we weren't going to realistically be in play for the top handful of picks regardless.

I'm not convinced at all that we'd have a worse record with Grier or Kyle starting all season... In fact I think with Allen we may have had 1 or 2 more wins even.

Oops, I was looking at 2020 numbers not 2021 numbers so I think you guys are right. We're only saving $3M in dead cap compared to releasing him, not $16M. Still much better for us than releasing him but I don't know how it compares to if we had traded him without the restructure. I tried to edit the OP but can't, please ignore those numbers they are completely off.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on the below but this is the information I can gather on how this trade affects our cap compared to trading him without restructure or straight up releasing him: This is the resulting effect of the trade on our cap: Comparing this trade to our other options based on this spotrac info -- https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/denver-broncos/teddy-bridgewater-14441/ If we had released him pre-June 1st we would've had $33M in dead cap this year, none next year. If we had traded him pre-June 1st we would've had $15M in dead cap this year, none next year. If we had released him post-June 1st we would've had $23M in dead cap this year, $10M next year. If we had traded him post-June 1st we would've had $5M in dead cap this year, $10M next year. Those were our only other options to get rid of Teddy (other than a different restructure). Our best option obviously would've been to just trade his contract straight up but clearly (and understandably) no team would've been willing to take that on unless we added other assets to the deal and who knows how much that would've been (it really was not a good contract for a player of his caliber). Ultimately we're getting an extra 6th round pick for $2M more in dead cap this year than our ideal option (but not a realistic option given team's unwillingness to take on Teddy's deal) of just trading him. We are saving $16M in total dead cap space by being able to trade him and not just straight up release him. This is partly due to Teddy's willingness to restructure as he could've just said fug you to the Panthers and forced us to release him and signed elsewhere anyways. Denver has Teddy for just $3M this year, which is actually an incredible deal for them as he is a solid backup at that price. I'd say Teddy deserves some credit from Panthers fans for helping to facilitate this trade, as we benefit quite a bit from it. Of course we never should've been in this position anyways but we had to fix Hurney's mistake...

Yeah so seems like in terms of total value to the team it's not much different than releasing him. We just valued the 6th round pick over the minimal cap space. I would've rather traded a late pick to get a team to take his whole contract but whatever.

I honestly really hope he does well in Denver. Great guy. Just couldn't cut it on the field for us here. Still rooting for him to succeed, even coming back from his injury in the first place was awesome.

I'm astonished we got anything for a team to take Teddy's contract... Thanks John!

@Mr. Scot @LinvilleGorge This was the "report" on Darnold to 49ers talks: https://www.49erswebzone.com/articles/146181-rumor-jets-turned-down-1st-round-pick-49ers-darnold/ I seriously question that, more reasonable if it was just a 2022 1st rounder.

May be wrong but I thought I saw somewhere it was the Niners before they traded up. Even if I do remember correctly in seeing that reported somewhere, I HIGHLY doubt the report, at least in the sense that it was just Darnold for their 1st rounder straight up.

LOVE the idea of getting Fields HATE the idea of Tepper heavily influencing the pick

Ehh, does the offense really need fixing like the D did last year? I don't think so. Main pieces we're missing are LT and QB (obviously hugely important pieces) but those aren't positions you just force in the draft, especially after the Darnold trade too. I think it'll be a decent mix this year, it still makes sense to bolster the D in my view.

All depends on QBs and offensive weapons -- I'd say right around 50/50

That top 6 is a perfect scenario. Guarantees we get either Fields or Sewell which are my ideal 2 picks and other than those 2 I would want to trade down. Let's hope he's right.

Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it’s good allocation of cap space/assets.

He’s overpaid and overrated, no thanks.

I prefer Fields but Lance at 8 is still good value and we can give him a year or 2 to develop while we try out Darnold. I’d be happy with that pick, though based on reports it doesn’t even seem that we care much for Lance. Fields then Sewell then trade down is what I want.

If it’s Mac Jones at 3 which seems to be likely at this point, then 1 of Fields/Lance is there at 8 and should be the pick.

Probably but I’m not 100% sure about that... That’s a lot of cap to be taken up by what is likely to be a backup QB if we draft Fields. I think the point is moot though since Fields likely isn’t dropping to 8.

LT for sure, unless he’s not sold on Darnold, then it’d be whatever QB he likes best.

Ehh he was going to force his way out anyways, he wants to play LT and they already have a better LT...

This rule change will also make it a lot easier to retire jerseys since there’s less positional constraint now. I highly doubt a Panther ever wears 89 or 1 again, maybe even 59

Yeah, I agree. I actually wish I had a TD #47 jersey.

The thing is though, Matt Ryan is still unquestionably a franchise QB and at 35 he could easily have another 5-7+ years left in him these days... Why give that up for an unknown? Even if they’re still somewhat bad next year that doesn’t mean the issue will be QB any time soon...