grimesgoat

He's due to make 11m this year. I'd try to extend him - 3 years 42m with 15m signing bonus. Salary of 1m, 13m, 13m. Gives us 5m in cap savings for 2022. If he says no, trade him to Philly for their 16th pick. They need a good #2 possession receiver. Let Marshall and Shi play.

Not advocating for this, but here's one possible scenario... Rhule has to take a big swing on QB or he's out. Minnesota is currently 18m over the cap without a lot of flexibility. Cousins is soaking up 45m in cap with 35 dead if he's cut. They have to move him. Panthers trade Darnold (18m cap) and Bouye for Cousins (35m cap) and a 5th. Minnesota gets cap relief of around 15-20m or so and can use their #12 pick on a QB (remember this is a new regime with a hotshot offensive mind at the wheel). They have several nice weapons and probably see Darnold as a cheaper bridge for their new draftee. Panthers get a proven successful QB for one year. They keep their pick so they can add some OL talent. The extra 5th may help as well. They will probably need to convert some base salary to bonus for Moton and Shaq and extend DJ in order to get extra cap, but those are fairly easy adjustments as these are long-term investments.

I think in that scenario we offer Sam something like 2 for 25m with maybe 15m guaranteed. Then draft a QB in 2023 and let him sit for a year before handing him the keys.

Well your first paragraph is not correct. Don't really get the second paragraph. You've made some predictions that may or may not be true. Did you predict Cam would be on the team at the end of the season? good for you I guess. Jury's still out on Rhule's tenure (we just finished year 2 of a 7 year contract by the way) and we'll know how bad extending Darnold's option was at the end of next year. You might be correct - but saying you are already correct is actually not correct. Bottom line - I don't care that you are here - just wish you were more respectful toward my fellow panther fans. You obviously are not a fan but you seem to think you are somehow contributing. But to me, it just looks like you are here to somehow feel superior to everyone, which I find ironic.

Optimists are an endangered species around here lately. I'm an optimist too. I always think things can get better. I like the coaching upgrades. If we can trade back and grab Linderbaum, Dean or Lloyd - than use the extra draft capital to pick up a solid Guard, we would be in decent shape. Then if CMC is back and healthy - we might even be in the playoff mix.

I believe your numbers are fine, but I respectively disagree on your conclusion. We are not competing for a superb owl next year, but we are trying to develop a QB and OL. Whether that QB is Darnold or a Rookie, a player like CMC could be invaluable to that development. If a QB's options are hand it to Chubba or throw it to Anderson, he is doomed before he even starts. And no OL will want to block for that shitshow. But having some competency/skill/hope is, in my opinion, critical and worth the 14m price tag. Sure he could get hurt, but he managed to play 48 out of 48 games from 2017-2019 and he's extraordinarily productive when he's out there. Even if he only plays 10-12 games, he could be instrumental in helping the OL and QB improve throughout the year. 2023 is when I'd make my decision on him (unless of course someone offered me a deal I could not refuse).

Don't want you devastated, but some self-realization wouldn't hurt. I did not call AU-Panther's take silly. He was not on my radar. The silly take is the 'let's trade CMC' take without the contractual details in place. The details are important. And you completely mischaracterize my motivations. I don't mind being wrong. I admitted the additional cost to trade CMC is around 6m vs. 12m. I was never looking for any head-patting or huddle validation. I'm just here to share my thoughts on our team and what we may be able to do to improve. What I can't figure out is why are you here?

lol. I used to enjoy reading your posts. Now I just think of you as huge douche. Sad.

I didn't mention the post-june 1 actions because your just kicking the can down the road. Otherwise we seem to agree on everything except the pre-june 1 2022 trade option. A trade will cost 4.2m (assuming the other team picks up all of the base salary), With the 4.2m plus the salary of the picks we receive, it may cost us 6m or so to replace CMC. If we can replace CMC productivity for 6m or so, sounds like a plan. Will CMC be hurt this year or will he be healthy. Let us know so we can plan accordingly.

I'm still not convinced Darnold is not salvageable. No way he's worth the 20m price tag he gets this year (bad decision there), but barring injury he'll probably be around a long time in this league. In the right environment, he may even be successful. Giving up a 2nd and 4th for a former first round QB that had languished in a dis-functional environment for 3 years was not considered a huge cost at the time. It was better than giving up future firsts to move up to get Fields or Lance. Hindsight is 20/20. Had we known Fields would be there at 8, would we have done the deal for Darnold? Maybe not. Who knows, maybe there is a team out there that sees the dis-functional environment here in Panther land and thinks - 'poor Sam, I can fix that...how about a 4th rounder?'

There are some silly takes on this thread due to a misunderstanding of CMCs Contract. In 2022, our choices are - keep CMC with a cap hit of 14.3m, or trade/cut him for a cap hit of 26.6m. There is no savings. We lose the player and an additional 12.3m. We're paying 12.3m for whatever we can get in a trade. Who wants to pay 12.3m for a 2nd or a 3rd rounder? Or we keep him for a year. Maybe he returns to form or maybe he's hurt all year. Who knows. Then in 2023 our choices are - keep CMC with a cap hit of 17.7m or trade/cut him for a cap hit of 12.8m. We save 4.9m and if traded, we get something for him. This is a far more likely scenario. Unless someone is giving me a 1st and 2nd for CMC, I'm not losing that extra 12.3m this year.

Gotta trade back. If you have to have a QB, fine - but don't fall in love with just one. At least one of Pickett or Corral will probably still be around at 11 or 12. Slide back and pick up an extra pick or two (even if not equal value based on trade chart). We have so many needs and really need another 2nd or 3rd to play with. Sign a FA vet guard to work next to Christensen. Draft a G in whatever round we get for moving back a few spots. This guy should be able to start right away at RG. Moton - Draftee - Elf - Vet FA - Christiansen with Brown/Erving are backups. That seems better than what we trotted out last year. I'm also counting on our new Offensive Coordinator to make a difference as well. Whoever we draft at QB should definitely sit at least 6-8 games before sniffing the field.

Of course he has final say. Its his team. How is this news? The GM's job is to get the players the coach thinks he needs to win. The GMs job is also to help guide him to the right players. If Rhule wants somebody that everyone knows will suck, the GM needs to talk him out of it. I think Fitterer has done that reasonably well (other than Darnold - which turned out to be a bit of a head scratcher). Its not like they were reaching on guys in the draft. Horn will be fine. Most people were mocking Marshall and Nixon in the first and second rounds. Tremble, Christensen, and Brown were all being mocked in the 3rd or 4th round. We filled needs everywhere. While every pick will not be an all-pro, I believe we got some solid talent and contributors throughout the draft. Once the coach has his guys and he fails to win, he will get fired. I think Rhule needs to win at least 9 games next year to keep his job. (believe it or not, Darnold went 7-6 with the jets in 2019, so it may be possible) We just need to draft well again this year, ride with Darnold one more time, and grab our franchise QB next year.

I like the mock, but I'd slot a TE instead of Strange. 3 rookie OL seems like overkill. We'll probably sign someone in free agency and have Christensen - FA - Elflein - Brown - Moton on board with Erving as a swing tackle. We need a couple other guys for sure, but 3 seems like too much. We need a TE bad. There seem to be quite a few slotted in that round 4/5 area that would do the trick.

I think the idea will be to draft a QB and let him sit for 8-10 weeks. I think Howell, Corral, or Pickett all have a chance to be somewhat successful if given some time to learn and get up to speed. And at least one of these guys will be available around picks 15-20. They will trade back, grab an extra 2nd, and pick Howell or Picket somewhere in the 12-18 pick range. Then they use the second to trade back and pick up an extra third or two. I think they want to walk out with a Day-1 starting guard and a pass-catching TE, along with a developmental QB. The rest of the draft (picks 4,5,5,6) will be for the defense. Darnold will be mediocre, but with a temporarily healthy CMC, they should be able to scratch out some wins early. Maybe go 3-5 or 4-6 before turning it over to our new hero. Picking a QB allows for the argument that the plan is working and they are developing their franchise QB, even if the wins are not there. They may be able to get away with it if they can manage 7 wins and are competitive in their losses. But if the team looks like they have packed it in, like they did late last year, then he done.

If all 3 Tackles are gone, that leaves Hutchison, Thibodeaux, or Hamilton. I could get on board with any of these guys.

My dream scenario is - Denver is worried ATL will pick their guy so they give us 9 and 41 for 6. Then Minn and WFT get nervous about getting their guy at QB so they get in a bidding war for 9. The winner gives us a 2nd and 3rd. Minnesota offers 12 and 46 and 77. WFT offers 11 42 73. WFT Wins. 11: Cross 41: Edge or G 42: Edge, G, or TE 73: G, TE, or LB

Really like this one. I'd be tempted to swap out a FS for Zappe in the 4th. And maybe a development DT in the 7th instead of another OT. 4 OL just seems like overkill.

So many options. Here's my plan. 1. Restructures. Convert Moton's 2022 16m base salary to bonus (15m) and base (2m). Add a void year. Cap hit changes from 19m. to 9m. Save 10m. 2. Extend DJ - 4 yrs/60m. 25m bonus with void year. 2022 11m base salary converts to cap hit of 6m. Saves 5. Now we have around 40m in cap room. 3. The following players walk and could net comp picks...Reddick, Jackson, Jones, Thomas, Carter, Burris, Cam. Maybe we get 3 extra picks for 2023. This will help counteract void years. 4. Re-sign Gilmore (2/20m, 12m bonus, 1 void year, cap hits=5m, 11m, 4m). 5. Re-sign at reasonable deals Erickson, Zylstra, Haynes. 6. Move Chinn back to LB. Now we need a SS. Key Needs: QB, OL, OL, TE, MLB, SS. Remaining Assets: around 30m Cap, Picks 1,4,5,5,6,7. 7. If a "franchise" QB is there at 6, try to move back to 9 (Denver) or 11 (WFT) and grab an extra 2nd and future 2nd. 8. If I can't move back, Ekwonu is my pick (assuming Neal is gone). If I can move back - the Iowa center is the pick assuming Ekwonu is gone. 9. If I was able to move back, I'm looking at QB, SS, MLB, or G in the second - whichever offers the best value. 10. 4th, 5th, 5th, 6th, 7th: MLB, SS, G, DE, TE in no particular order. 11. I only consider QB in this draft if I am able to pick up an extra 2nd by moving back. Otherwise, Darnold is my guy until 2023 when the new regime comes in and we are picking top 5. 12. I target TE and maybe SS in free agency. Nothing flashy. Hang onto those comp picks and around 20m for emergencies and maximum rollover. Probable OL: Moton, Brown/Draftee, Elf or Iowa Center, Ekwonu/Draftee, Christiansen. Erving is a Swing. With potentially 2 rookies and 2 second-year players, I believe there will be improvement, but not enough to prevent us from getting a very high pick in 2023. Eventually this group could be very good. In 2023, the new regime will have some decent talent: a very good defense, a top 5 pick, and hopefully 3 extra comp picks, and an extra 2023 second. Just need to find and develop a franchise QB for long-term.

thanks.

where?

Let's say there are 2 quarterbacks that stand out after the combine - Pickett and Corral. Maybe Houston takes a QB at 3, so now there is only 1 QB left with a first round grade. WFT (9), Falcons (10), Broncos (11), Saints (15), Steelers (17) may all be interested. We could find ourselves in a bidding war if 2 of these teams fall in love with drafting a QB. If I could, I'd trade the 6th to WFT for the 9th and 40th. At 9 I'd go with Ikem or the Iowa Center. Then at 40, if we go Center at 9, there are about 4 OTs valued in the 35-45 range. This will give us a decent OL and Darnold will not be constantly running for his life.