bythenbrs

4 hours ago, strato said:

I think if we properly address LOT, it takes away an important potential upgrade elsewhere. 

It will this year and maybe next year.  Icky's injury may force the Panthers to do something that fixes the obscenely lopsided cap allocation to the OL: use a premium draft pick (rounds 1-3) on an OT this year and next year.  And it has serendipitously prevented the team from adding yet another obscene contract to the OL cap allocation.

I really hope Icky is able to successfully rehab and play again for the team, but it may be as a G and not an OT.

11 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

"Usually you pay double for that kind of action, Cotton"

2 hours ago, strato said:

Good question.  I would think they would prefer keep whatever continuity there is. I hesitate to assume what ‘good’ is or what he will think it is.  
He is the floor for tackles on this roster and it seemed survivable with him in there.  I struggle to envision him as a starting LOT. 

Yes, he was serviceable when called upon.  I think he also benefited greatly from some stellar play by Damien Lewis.

On 2/1/2026 at 8:53 AM, Swaggasaurus said:

I think if you go OT it has to be someone who is proven to play on the left. At pick 20 you might have Lomu or Proctor there. Lomu has great feet, will he handle the power of the NFL? Proctor has the power, does he have the agility to stay at tackle? 

Take the great feet…

This individual has much bigger issues to deal with than playing in the NFL.  If the NFL really ‘cares’ about their players as they claim, they would tell him to sit it out for a season or two, and get counseling and mentoring from someone like Tony Dungy or Derwin Gray.  This goes way beyond 100 hours community service type of slap on the wrist.  This man has a serious heart issue to deal with.

11 hours ago, tukafan21 said:

Things where it's just give him the ball and tell him to run as fast and hard as he can straight ahead. 

1 hour ago, Soul Rebel said:

Nice! 

I'm always open to 25-year old players from SB winning franchises that are stuck behind strong veterans. 

Not a bad pond to fish in, that's for sure...

10 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

I would take Lee Hunter over a wr.

Can't go wrong strengthening the DL.  DB would benefit from another wrecking ball that offenses would have to account for...

39 minutes ago, panfanman said:

Icky going down really fowled things up.  Getting a suitable LT and OC early is a tall task.  And if we pull that off we have to ignore other severe needs.

We’re still two really good drafts away (at least) from retooling this roster, to be a year in, year out contender for our division.  Draft the LOT and C this year if the stars align and we don’t reach.  Starting two rookies on the OL will be ugly this upcoming season but it has to be done to balance out the huge misallocation of cap to the OL.  We’ll just have to fill in the other needs with cap friendly FA’s while we rebuild longer term through the draft.

50 minutes ago, CarolinaRideorDie said:

I remember watching Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco's YouTube podcast and Chad literally invited XL to come work out with him for 1 month. I think XL should take him up on that offer, his career depends on it. 

Or Ricky Proehl…

Why can’t this team have nice things?

9 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I am not a believer in Morgan…

Jeopardy ‘final answer’ or just not yet, still undecided?  Just curious…

23 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

His wife will take over, if she hasn't already. 

Low T is a terrible thing for someone Tepper’s age…

3 hours ago, Panthera onca said:

Yes they do. Any team that wants to hire him would have to work out compensation with the Steelers.

Throw in Bryce and call it even…

1 hour ago, strato said:

I don’t know what Caldwell does, for one thing, but if he had anything to do with drafting Bryce he can gtfo now. 

I’m still curious about the relationship (was then/is now) between Caldwell and Reich.  Will Reich take a phone call from Caldwell today?  Did Caldwell receive an X-mas card from Reich?  Do the fingerprints on the knife in Reich’s back match Caldwell’s?

4 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Something will have to be done at LT, as Barnwell pointed out and was very clear in that game, Nijman is a reserve. He will be a disaster for a full season schedule.

It sucks so much worse to lose Ikey with BC likely being done here, too. BC was our realistic, on roster stop gap option.

What did I miss?  Why is BC done here?  No snark, just busy with life and must have missed something.

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

Same reason Nixon kept Spiro agnew around as long as he could. 

True.  Few people remember that.  Kudos to you, Sir!

59 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

Right. but no extension for Bryce yet. 5th year option? Sure. I think Bryce's camp will agree they aren't in the best place to demand an extension or top dollar. 

This is where we’ll find out if Tillis is his own man or Tepper’s sock puppet…

On 12/29/2025 at 6:31 PM, Jon Snow said:

The heat is getting turned up in BOA. The knives are coming out. 

Well, career preservation is a real thing…

On 12/29/2025 at 3:23 PM, SCO96 said:

Don't forget what Tepper said about WR's. He said that we would be able to spend less on the position because of Bryce's elite processing and ability to distribute the ball like a point guard on the field.

I remember when Tepper made that analogy, extolling the virtues of the wee super processor.  It should be made into a sign and hung around his neck whenever he ventures out in public.  Huddlers can follow behind and shout, ‘Shame!, Shame!, Shame!’.

56 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

Ok and what else?

If you take XL out of the offer, does it make the offer more attractive?

5 hours ago, strato said:

I never understood the Pete hiring. 

Reminds me of turnaround specialists hired for dysfunctional companies. They’re hired to come in and make the hard decisions that boards and previous management could not bring themselves to make, and then are ‘fired’ after a year or two when the work is essentially complete.  However, in this case, I don’t think Pete’s old magic is working on the Raiders organization.

I think a fully healthy Renfrow might have a place on this roster next season.  When he was healthy, he was as good a chain mover as you will ever see on third down from the slot.  That alone is worth roster consideration.

3 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

We have speed in the room. We need skill in the room. All our "fast" guys are super low on skill.

Skill beats speed 95% of the time.

You misspelled Ladd.  If only he was available when we picked XL, how our WR room would look different.  [sigh]

4 hours ago, OldhamA said:

Wonder why no-ones posted his immediate, post game PFF score this week.

To ask the question is to know the answer…