Mr. Scot

...is a mess. Heaven knows Rodgers has all the talent in the world, but good grief what an entitled, narcissistic douchebag he's become.

I can agree with that. Mind you, I'd do so while keeping it in the back of my mind that they're probably trying to screw me too.

I don't think anybody would call Christensen "elite". Hell, from what I've read, a lot of analysts wouldn't call anybody other than Sewell "elite" Thing is though, we didn't pass on Sewell. He just didn't make it to our pick. You can say we could have traded up, but I think it's unlikely we were gonna do that for anybody. So now that it's over, I can sit here and scream and cry and whine and b-tch and talk down everybody in the Panthers organization, or I can just say "oh well" and hope for the best. I prefer Option B.

To tell the truth, I'd say the most correct answer is by being good at personnel evaluation. Sometimes that's pro personnel via free agency or trade. Other times, it's college prospects via draft evaluation. Bottom Line: If you don't know what you're doing, the method doesn't really matter.

Again, it's not that smokescreens don't happen. It's just that fans see them everywhere, including a lot of places where they're not. And technically, we drafted a left tackle. We just didn't get the guy I really wanted, or do it in the round I would have preferred. C'est la vie. I'll still hope for the best like I always do. And yes, everyone has a right to their opinion, just like everyone else has a right to an opinion about those opinions. For example, "Darnold might not be good"? Valid. "We've mortgaged the future for Darnold" though? Goofy.

There's not just a single answer to that.

Jimmy Johnson always used to say that when someone in the NFL tells you they're going to offer you a fair trade, what they really mean is that they're gonna try to screw ya but they don't want you to know. I'd hope that any draft pick trade we make with the Saints would be very "fair".

A few pieces of info relevant to the Panthers from Breer's latest mailbag, even though neither of the questions being answered was specifically about them. FYI: I'm posting only the pieces relevant to Carolina, not the complete answers. The link is above if you want to see more (it's a good read). From Robert “The Rock” Saleh (@TylerIanKirk): Was the Jets’ philosophy always offense/playmakers for the first four rounds, or did the board happen to fall that way? Saleh! I think the philosophy reflected some self-awareness for how things went so terribly wrong with Sam Darnold. Talking to people in the organization over the last couple of months, it felt almost like there was an acknowledgment there that Darnold didn’t really have a chance. You can assign blame however you want, but Darnold and Adam Gase really weren’t a good fit for each other. And the personnel around Darnold wouldn’t have been the right fit for anyone. _____________ From R.B. (@Sports_Fi3nd): Which teams do you think were the top NFL draft winner and loser from this past weekend? R.B., let’s wrap up here with three winners and three losers for you … Winners Falcons QB Matt Ryan: The Falcons gave him a generational talent to work with at tight end and a new lease on life by passing on Justin Fields and Mac Jones. And going forward, Ryan’s got a GM in house now who was part of the Saints’ rebuild-on-the-fly around an aging quarterback, Drew Brees in that case, so there’s a template for that GM, Terry Fontenot, and head coach Arthur Smith to work off of. The Panthers: I don’t know what they’ll be as pros, but through every step of the draft, the players new Carolina GM Scott Fitterer and coach Matt Rhule took—from Jaycee Horn to Terrace Marshall Jr. to Brady Christensen, Tommy Tremble and Chuba Hubbard—seemed like a good value for where they had been projected. And I love how Fitterer made up for picks lost in the Sam Darnold deal, effectively replacing the sixth-rounder this year, and the fourth next year via a flurry of trades. _____________ (I'll throw this in for Cam Newton fans; but be warned, you won't like it) Losers Patriots QB Cam Newton and Bears QB Andy Dalton: We’re leaving Jimmy Garoppolo off this list. Why? I actually think he’s in a better spot than people realize. He has two years left on his contract, and now he’ll get to play for his football future in a loaded offense for maybe the best tactician in the sport. This is actually a really great opportunity to compete for a title, and revive his value league-wide (which would be a win/win, because then San Francisco could get something good for him in 2022). The cases of Newton and Dalton are a little different. Yes, both can really help themselves. But I think, for separate reasons, the leash will be shorter in New England and Chicago. And a benching would be devastating for the future of either guy.

It's not at all difficult to deny something when it isn't true. I'd add that I'm pretty sure anybody reading your back and forth with me right now wouldn't be labeling me as the emotional one who's "lashing out' (hell, just look back in this thread). Yes, you were right about Bridgewater. Congratulations. Doesn't guarantee that you're right about Darnold. You were already wrong about how the team saw him. Here's hoping you're also wrong about the rest.

Oh, the irony here... And yeah, as far as Darnold. I am neutral. I have no idea whether he's going to succeed or not. I just hope he does. As far as emotion, I think what's got you all wound up isn't just that they didn't pick the guy you wanted. What seems to be equally pissing you off is that prior to the draft, you committed heavily to this idea that the team only saw Darnold as an insurance policy. I told you at the time there was plenty of evidence to the contrary, but you pretty much talked yourself into that belief so much so that you kept asking why other people couldn't see how obvious it was. Pretty obvious now that you were very, very wrong. Big deal. It happens. Every one of us gets something wrong on an annual basis. All you're doing by continuously throwing a fit over it is making yourself look bad. And if you doubt me on that, I'd suggest you take note that I'm not the only person calling you out on this.

Darnold is still on his rookie contract.

You calling me emotional on this topic is hysterically funny, especially when you've been whining about this just about every day since the draft. They didn't pick the guy you wanted. Heck, they didn't wind up taking the players I wanted in the first few rounds either. It happens. Get over it.

Well, one man did. Unfortunately, his opinion was the one that counted.

It's nothing of the sort. Dude seriously, I'm used to you being logical and level headed but you have absolutely lost your mind over the Darnold stuff. He's our quarterback now. He'll succeed or he won't. If he doesn't, we'll try something different. This is not the end of the world.

It's not confusing. It's silly. We basically ended up paying a second rounder for Darnold. The first rounder we didn't use on Fields was a choice. Just like any other first round pick, that choice may turn out to be right or it may turn out to be wrong, same as every draft in team history. But to call that "mortgaging the future" is temper tantrum throwing by people who are having an extended sh-t fit because the team didn't pick the guy they wanted. It's getting ridiculous

Multiple sources are reporting he's taking time away from football, maybe permanently. He's not going anywhere.

Quick note on this... The Bills do have the option to decline permission to interview. Morgan wouldn't be the final decision maker in the organization, so the Bills could indeed block the interview if they were so inclined. Given the relationships between the two teams, I don't expect they will. But they could.

Here's a veteran option.

Just the one season. They fired their head coach at the end of that year and replaced him with John Fox. Meyer moved on to the Bills for two years before joining the Chargers.

This was his bio from the 2020 Seahawks Media Guide. Scott Fitterer begins his sixth season as co-director of player personnel. Originally joining the Seahawks’ staff on June 25, 2001, as an area scout, he recently served 2011-14 as the club’s director of college scouting. In his current role, Fitterer works collaboratively with Trent Kirchner in directing both the college scouting and pro personnel departments to manage and strengthen all aspects of the Seahawks roster. As the director of college scouting he coordinated the Seahawks’ entire scouting operation and compiled all of the college scouting information required to set the draft board. He is responsible for the evaluation of all draft eligible players nationally, oversight of the Seahawks college scouting staff and works closely with GM John Schneider and the Seahawks coaching staff regarding the NFL Draft and college free agency. Before joining Seattle, spent three seasons with the New York Giants, 1998-00, as a part-time scout before being assigned to the West Coast region for the 2000 season. Was a 1995 draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays and spent three years in the Blue Jays system (1995-97) before his career ended due to three shoulder surgeries. Was a two-sport athlete in college, playing quarterback in football and pitcher in baseball at UCLA (1992-94) and LSU (1994-95). In 1998, Fitterer returned to UCLA to earn his undergraduate degree in history. Born in Seattle, he is a graduate of Kennedy High School in Seattle. Scott, his wife Cherish, daughter Ella, and son Cole live in Sammamish, Wash. Before he left, hey gave him a new title (VP of Football Operations) but neither he nor Kirchner were ever named Assistant GM.

The Saints are the team that has two assistant GMs...or did with Jeff Ireland and Terry Fontenot. Now that Fontenot has gone to the Falcons, I don't know if they're going to keep that arrangement. Fitterer used to be a co-director of player personnel along with former Panthers scout Trent Kirchner, but neither was ever named Assistant GM.

Speaking of... He'll be catching his next passes from Andy Dalton and/or Justin Fields.

That whole "boycott working out at the team facilities" thing might just cost him his entire salary for this season, a cool 10 million. Something tells me that particular boycott might be about to go away.

Maybe we can trade him to Denver too.

No he wasn't. Seattle didn't have an assistant GM. And most of the power there belongs to Pete Carroll anyway. Fitterer started off as a scout and basically worked his way up to director of scouting.