bythenbrs

... but his hair is perfect

He’s had a very good year personally; could have another very good year in 2025. I will guess that he is a very positive presence in the WR room and perhaps also with Bryce. At this stage in his career, it depends on what he values more: making a personal impact with young players on a bad team trending upward or a ring or money. What you value at the end of your professional career is not necessarily the same as what you value early in your career. Early career is typically maximizing income. End of career is sometimes about your personal investment in people, paying it forward and how you are remembered, i.e. your legacy. Just the ruminations of someone who retired in 2024.

I just threw up in my mouth a little…

Nice write-up. Looking at just the maths, we have enough day three picks to minimally cover the depth requirements. We do not have enough day one and day two picks to cover the need for starters, so, quoting Captain Obvious, we will be active in free agency. Cap management becomes the critical issue; I think we may need to get comfortable with the idea that we may be losing BC, Tremble, other marginal starters and backups that we might like to retain but just can’t afford to. We may also lose Horn if he does not agree to an incentive laden contract. I do not think we sign him to straight up Pro Bowl type money, given his injury history. Unpopular take: We will be more competitive in 2025 but this team needs another draft (2026), maybe two (2027) to replenish the roster and fix our ugly cap situation.

I think the better comparison is to Jake, not Cam. They are all very different personalities and to expect Bryce to be a 'larger than life' personality like Cam is unrealistic. Bryce just has to find his own way and style of leadership in the huddle. If Bryce can become a better version of Jake, he will rightfully take his place among the top Panther QB's.

Cleveland area massage therapists probably did…

Yes, you do, if the player’s contract demands are over the top unreasonable. Ask the Browns how that Watson contract is working out for them.

Some people grow in their craft as they get older. I’m happy for the success that Baker, Sam, and Joe have earned. Good for them.

“When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” - Winston Churchill

If T-Mc is sitting there at 8, that will be hard to pass up. It’s a nice problem to have.

It’s okay, brother. I’m still working off my first helping of crow. There’s still plenty to go around.

Yes, but the bar is pretty low for owners

As a team, we seem to do that a lot, and then crucify the player on the Huddle. It’s what we do.

[Sorry, just caught the ‘after next year’. Mea culpa.] I don’t think we’re ready to part with Thielen yet. He needs to be on this roster for next year at the least. The development of Bryce and our young receivers requires his veteran presence. His intangibles are great and can’t be measured in stats.

What’s up with Johnson? Reserve/non-football injury?

I have thought about the night and day change in performance for some time, welcome though it is. What made the dramatic difference in performance? I see three possible causes… 1. Something clicked - watching Dalton from the bench, light bulb comes on moment, ‘okay, now I understand; I can do this’ 2. Canales radically simplified the offensive scheme to better fit Bryce 3. Bryce’s mental state or motivation changed 4. Greatly improved offensive line - a necessary but not sufficient condition; Bryce had this offensive line in the first two games before his benching Causes 2 (explicitly) and 3 (maybe) have Canales’ fingerprints all over them. Canales and position coaches may have also been involved in helping Bryce get to that critical ‘aha’ moment in cause 1. Any way that I look at it, Canales directly or indirectly is the instrument of Bryce’s success after returning as a starter. Bryce gets full credit for his improved performance on the field but, I don’t see that happening without Canales. YMMV

The original mods…

You called?

Indeed. That’s what scares me…

XL, Sanders, Boone, Mays, Zavalla Wonnum, DJ Johnson, Crumedy

How about we draft T-Mac (Evans mini-me), and have him on a rookie contract for five years. Use the cap that Higgins would have taken up to re-sign Horn and/or sign another FA on defense. With two guards eating a huge chunk of cap, we sure could use cap space for FA’s on the defensive side of the roster. [Snow makes the same point above but hits the send button before I did. He says it better than I did, anyway.]

With Chuba out for the season, here are the first 15 scripted offensive plays… BY to AT (repeat 14 times)

I haven’t checked the injury reports this week. Is Coker available? [I can’t believe that I’m inquiring about the game day status of an UDFA but, here we are… ]

I think the word you were searching for is ‘fugly’…

PSA For those who are struggling to accept that BY will be QB1 next year, may I recommend reading ‘The Seven Stages of Grief’ by Kubler-Ross.