Mr. Scot

You're the only one here pathetically trolling a fan forum for attention.

Man, on this format, Darnold comes off seeming even younger than he actually is.

Oh sure. Teams give their presumed starter permission to seek a trade all the time.

David Newton asked him the exact same question he asked Matt Rhule.

I get the impression he's already met David Tepper.

Reading your spin on a couple of things makes me doubt you actually read the full article, but accepting the premise... Your ideas, especially about the 49ers trade, are more fitting of this being a spur of the moment thing rather than something that was months in the making. I get that most people's ideas of how/why somebody did something tend to revolve around "well, that's how I would have done it", but sometimes it's better to read what actually happened

On now...

Read the story. They initiated the trade talks long before that trade happened, and had Douglas been more willing to move forward it likely would have gotten done sooner.

Because he's not a fallback. They genuinely wanted him.

CM's good about stuff like this. FYI though: The Panthers typically post the full video later in the day on their YouTube channel.

I would add to the Darnold critics excited about the fifth year option answer and thinking it means something, you probably shouldn't be. Rhule didn't say that they won't, only that they hadn't yet. There was talk they might try to rework his contract to split the difference over two years, so there may just be some finagling before it's official.

FYI: Darnold should be coming up at some point today.

Aaaaaand Rhule finishes his press conference by leaning back and rubbing his gut

I don't want to go with anybody that much older.

One answer on Darnold, talking about how his last few years were basically like his Junior and Senior year at college, basically confirm they're going to treat him like a rookie.

Actually just said they haven't officially done so. Didn't necessarily express whether any decision had been made on it.

"I don't necessarily believe in 'fair' in sports." Boy, is that a huge change from Ron Rivera.

Live now...

I go back to saying I think this is truly year one of the rebuild rather than year two. These are moves like I might expect in a year one.

Thaaaat's not a good definition.

You and Ellis... I get Stiller, though I'm not that sold on the idea. He basically plays the same two or three characters in every movie and Payton doesn't fit any of them. Frankie Muniz, though? I hope you're kidding, John.

That's not bad.

Fields second pro day comes first. Both he and Lance are basically trying to sell themselves to Shanahan. Last I saw, only the 49ers and Patriots confirmed attending (doesn't necessarily mean we won't be there, though). Hadn't seen anything on who'll be coming to watch Lance other than Lynch and Shanny.

King left Sports Illustrated for NBC a while back (don't remember when; I'm terrible with dates). Albert Breer does the MMQB now, and honestly I think he's better than King.

Takeaways from this (extensive) article… Both Fitterer and Rhule were fans of Darnold based on prior experiences. They were still extremely thorough, though. Both head coach and GM went through the film of Darnold’s entire Jets career as well as his college tape, and ultimately liked what they saw. At the time of the initial contact, both teams were still in the early stages of their draft prospect evaluations. That’s why Joe Douglas said “keep in touch”, and of course they did. (Side Note: The phone call story is pretty funny) Having read again about how strongly the Panthers want to keep their picks in the first three rounds, I’m a tad dubious of the idea that the Panthers might trade up. Granted it’s still possible. I’m just not necessarily expecting it. Similarly, the more I read, the less I believe we were ever willing to give up as much for Deshaun Watson as people theorized. Would we have traded for him? Absolutely. Would we have given up the kind of crazy, Herschel Walker 2.0 trade packages people were suggesting, though? Eeehhh, not so convinced on that point. One more thing I’m not sold on: the idea that Darnold is a “just in case” deal. As mentioned, Rhule and Fitterer were already talking about Darnold right after the Stafford deal fell through / well before their draft prospect evaluations were very far along, and they were willing to go ahead and make the trade even then. Honestly, I think it’s quite possible that if Joe Douglas hadn’t wanted to wait, this trade might have come a lot sooner. As to now, I know the possibility of taking a quarterback is still there and I get the rationale behind it, but count me in the crowd that hopes they don’t. Regardless of whether Darnold turns out to be “the guy” or not, there are lingering issues that it’s well past time we fixed. And lastly, I know some of Darnold’s biggest critics are sick of hearing about Adam Gase, but Breer’s elaboration on what he said previously regarding Gase and Darnold just strengthens the case that Darnold’s years under Gase need to be taken with at least one, and probably several, grains of salt.