d-dave

So are undies getting twisted over word choice? Really? This is football, not public speaking. We kept key contributors from last year, which is what we didn't do last year letting Ginn, Michell and Munerlyn walk. That's a step up. I am going to stick to the idea that over spending for flashy FAs is a terrible risk. You keep the guys who play well in your system, and you add guys who can play well in your system. I'd much rather save the money for our guys who perform well. Does anyone want to let KK Short go? Or do we save the money and keep the band together while it works? If Cobb went to somewhere else, and was asked to take on #1 responsibilities, would he be as successful? Ask Eric Decker about that. Would it have made sense to pay $10 million a year for a guy who plays well in THEIR system, but not ours? Football is a true team sport, and that guys need to be a better fit on a team as opposed to something like the NBA where it's easier for a guy to take his super star talents across team lines (OK...Lance Stephenson isn't the best example...). The proof is in the pudding on this one. If Cam is upright more, we win more games, and move further in the playoffs, is that OK with everyone?

I'm really glad that the posters here know more than the guys who run the team! Phew! Richardson is very protective of the Carolina Panthers brand, image and identity. We are still a young franchise. Fundamentally, Richardson decided to cut ties with Hardy because it was hurting the brand. It has less to do with the NFL and more to do with protecting his own legacy. Now why is the NFL so hungry for the Hardy evidence? It's kind of a big deal. If Hardy did cause the kinds of injury to Holder that she claimed and there is direct physical proof AND he paid her off to prevent a jury trial...what kind of damage does that do to your brand? Sure they don't all need to be boy scouts, but they need to be trusted not to make terrible decisions when given millions of dollars... It's one thing to pull several Steve Smiths (punching teammates) when he's an all pro, but beating up women in your home is not acceptable. This has much less to do with the legal findings as much as it does with the court of public opinion. Will Hardy make the Cowboys happy? Maybe. Or maybe he'll get hurt. Maybe he'll make another questionable decision that get's put on TMZ and ESPN. How many out comes are there, and what are the probabilities of each. That's an interesting question.

Good one...Good Charlotte! Though I wouldn't want to admit that it's a guilty pleasure I enjoy listening to when I've knowingly done something wrong, got caught, fought over it, lost, and am still punished by my wife yet feel like I'm right even if I was completely wrong.... No, I'd never, never admit that! NOPE! =) This would be pretty cool. If he's good for 700ish yards and 5-6 TDs a year, and can really help the younger guys out then this could be another one of those Gettlemagic deals...

I think the most important fact that folks tend to completely ignore when talking about Revis or Peyton Manning is the FIT. Is a guy going to cash in and wash up like a Haynesworth? Is he going to get better? Has he hit a plateau? VERY RARELY do you manage to get really good players off of good teams. Sometimes you have situation where there is a moving on period for the players or teams (Manning and Revis are prime examples). That's where you get the best value. Rarely do you sign a guy who had a breakout year to see him succeed. There have been lots of stuff thrown in here about guys some folks want and think would be an upgrade. How could we pass up on so and so? Do their skills translate to what you want to do? Look at Mike Wallace? Talent and Ability, but he should have stayed in Pittsburgh where he found the most success and acceptance. He goes to Miami and is chased out of town for a 5th round pick...on that huge salary... Will these guys fit? Will they still produce here? For a lot of the questionable FAs, do they have enough in the tank to make it happen for us? It's not always about being able to bring them in, but it's also if they actually can help.

Yep, time to cut everyone and sign all the big names in March! That's when we win! In March! Yeah... Keep in mind, that same team was within one play of beating the Pats. An arrogant, stupid play call. What other FAs would you bring in and/or trade for to improve the secondary? Would their deals have fit into our plans versus what we'd have to give up to get them? Gettleman has done well since he got here, and the team isn't perfect. He's got a plan, he's deliberate, and he's going to make sure we keep our two foundation players here: Cam and Luke. They will set the tone for the team, lead the team. Looking at the past few years of FA spending (since the lockout), there have been a lot more misses than hits. I'll gladly play the slow game and grow our talent instead of going all Saints or Eagles this offseason.

Arguments that will be posted: 1. We don't have a reliable #2 to take pressure off of KB and Olsen. 2. We are relying on a guy better known for a movie than his on the field play (or better known as a bust) 3. The Super Bowl is tots won in March. Just look at the Eagles! They are having their parade because they signed like 18 running backs over 25! 4. Since we "lucked" out and play the worst teams possible, and they are all getting a ton better because of their FA spending and trading while we stand pat; we are immediately worse than all of them. 5. This isn't how I run my Madden/Fantasy team! I won several championships last year! What it comes down to: We are fans, some more knowledgeable than others. Gettleman is a real GM who'se helped build Super Bowl winning teams. I'll trust him. We can bicker about fits and players and stuff, but at the end of the day we have no control over anything football related. I'm not unhappy with where we are right now. I question some of the moves, but I look forward to seeing how everything comes together. I'm a fan. It's March. I have hope!

What is going on? I mean, it's great to watch the Saints implode and all, but what is the impetus for it? They had a bad year, but they still have a HoF QB (and his monster contract).

And now the chicken littles have a rallying cry! While I am more than a little concerned about Oher considering his history...Got to trust Dave. I mean the things he said make sense. I'm not a football evaluator, just a fan who likes watching football and cheering on my home team no matter how terrilbe they have been in the past. Here's to hoping our coaches can do some magic with Oher!

It's a good thing it's still 1999! Nothing has happened to change the landscape of how public perception affects brand value! Hindsight is 20/20 so it's really easy to be very selective in the cases you support. Remember when that guy for the Rams literally killed someone (vehicular manslaughter I think), but played the next week? How would that work in 2015? Might a bad boy be a better player? Maybe, but how much production are you going to see? What is the success rate on players with great ability and terrible backgrounds? How did that Lawrence Phillips guy workout again? Character is important, and it's very important to the Panthers. If you disagree, you can be angry (not productive or healthy), you can accept it (much better), or you can find a team that takes the good with the bad and see how often that works out, then come back in 10 years with proof of the success in the form of HoFers, Super Bowl Rings, and awards. It does happen, but more often than not, guys with character concerns continue to have character concerns in their career which is not good when you're a millionaire...

DGB is a very polarizing players. You can't deny that he has the tools to become an elite level player, BUT this is a very different NFL from even a couple of years ago. Has he been humbled and humiliated to the point where he's going to be a boy scout the rest of his NFL career? Maybe, BUT the off the field stuff has almost become more important in the eyes of the NFL for players with these kinds of issues. The Moss story, the Rae Carruth stuff, Steve Smith's play "issues" and of course our "bad boy" of the year: Greg Hardy. I'm pretty sure the Panthers are going to steer very, very clear of players with these kinds of issues. Our owner has a very personal investment in the NFL, and it looks like he's going to do what he can to protect that as best he can. You have to wonder if he feels wrong for continuing to put up with Smith's antics as that gets compared to what happened to Hardy? If it was on talent alone, it's a no brainer. But in the current NFL, I just don't see the Panthers signing up for another possible media circus the first time DGB get's a speeding ticket, or if his prior issues resurface once he's got a few million in hand and unsupervised freedom. That's a sticky slope. Absolutely correct TANTRIC-NINJA

Is Ginn an upgrade over Bersin? Yes. Would you pay 4x more for Torrey Smith? And after you signed Smith for the $9 million a year that he ended up getting, where would the money come from for the $7 million a year for Balugia? He who has trouble staying healthy and is considered more of a OG than OT? Do you want to go for any of the other FA OL flops who got cut this year? We're doing what we can while still remembering we have the contracts for Cam, Luke, Star, JNorman, etc... I disagree with your assessment of facts over opinions. Ginn has his best year here. Oher had his best years under our current OL coach. Those are opinions as well, but tend to be backed up by facts. And stuff respected folks (not just trolls like me) have to say on the situations.

BBBBBbbbbbBBbbbBBbbuuuuuuuUUuuuUUuutttTTTtTTttTTttt..... We need to spend all of our money! We needs all da FAz?!!!! We haz n0 F@Z so we de worste! Sorry, most of the negative folks have broken my language centers in my brain. It's a long off season which just started. I'll put my trust in Dave because since he's gotten here, we've gotten better. Tell me, in Seattle's SB season, how many marque FAs did they bring in? Bennett? And he came super cheap I believe. Trust in Dave since we're not NFL decision makers.

I think we can all agree that Jake Long was a great player. He's not been healthy lately, and he's not a spring chicken of a lineman. It could be that Jake Long thinks he should be paid like Jake Long four years ago.. He's going to need to prove that he's healthy AND that he can still play. I'd love it if we took a good look at him, but if he doesn't pass the physical or expects premier money.... Well, we're not going to overpay someone who hasn't been healthy. I could see Jake Long as a guy who will wait and see what happens before he makes a choice of where to go. If he could be healthy and play at his high level prior to injury, every team in the NFL would love to have him.

It's really sweet that Smitty still has an interest in our players, but I have no doubts that part of the reason we aren't going ape-feces crazy in FA is to ensure that Cam and Luke are going to get paid. It's just a theory I have; it might be crazy!

This has been a really shocking day as far as Huddle response... Even for the Huddle! Too many here are too upset that names got picked up by "not us."

Xbox, I'll add you (I'm dionysusfiend). I'm not going to be on much right now with my work schedule.

I'm still waiting to find the time to die repeadedly meleeing Cursed Thralls... On a different note, I FINALLY beat Crota's End (Normal)! It was really fun! I got arms and the HMG (Song of Ir Yut). Did my usual Destiny LFG thing and got a great group. Had to replace some people but we beat it, and it was nice! A guy who was added late got the Hunger of Crota and was like: "Should I shard this?" It was his first time too! Oh, and I finally saw an exotic drop in the Roc play list. We two manned Rocket Man. I got blue engrams and he got the Suros Regime! Alas =/ But that's the way the RNG works =)

So I'm pretty active on the b.net forums (I know, I'm a sad person), but I'm curious to what my fellow huddlers are experiencing in Destiny. 1. Do you end up grouping with folks either via MM or LFG that are offensive jerk-faces? 2. Do you have a LOT of people who skip out on strikes or go AFK for entire strikes? 3. In the Crucible, do you end up with a lot of people who quit early or really play that stupidly on objectives? I see a lot of 3 when I do play. I have a few AFKers, but I've not had any really terrible human beings through MM or LFG.

Good grief, you sound like the bungie forums! There are several of us who still enjoy the game. It's not a game for everyone. Personally, I'm looking forward to "trying" the match made weekly heroic. When I get that done, I'll have enough coins for buy two things from Xur (if he has anything good). I'm not hardcore at all... I had a funny thought though while driving to work. What if he sold the Ruin Wings and Ghorn again...personally I'd be thrilled =) But imagine the out cry from the forums and internet about it! =)

If it comes down to listening to folk complain about value versus getting the best guy to become our starting LT, which choice do you make? 10/10, I take the starting LT. I don't want to wait until someone picks him up mid round two. The Cowboys "over drafted" that C from Wisconson (Fredricks), got blasted early on, but have what is considered on of the best OLines in the NFL. Everyone's an expert, but if you love a prospect and you think he can slot right in day 1 as a starter, do you gamble and wait? Or do you pull the trigger? Good thing I'm not a GM, but I think you take the best player who makes your team better.

I really doubt it. When push comes to shove, Cam is going to get a huge contract. Gettleman may hate it, but Cam gives us the best chance to win a superbowl. You have to pay your Franchise QB. Otherwise, you're back to square one. Who wants to break in another rookie QB in a year or two? Nope, Cam's going to stay a Panther. It's going to be a huge number, but that's the way the NFL works. The Panthers and Cam are going to see what Seattle and Indy do for their QBs and work from there. This is all just dancing right now. (Now that I say that, Cam's contract with the Panthers will be announced in 10 minutes...)

Does he use Mayock's or Kiper's ratings to determine BPA? I think we get caught up in what determines the "Best" player available. The reality of the situation is that every team creates it's big board based on what they need. If Mariota or Winston fell to 25, would they be at the top of our draft board as the BPA? Nope. In the 4th round? Why not! Every year this kind of stuff get's people worked up into thinking that for some reason Gettleman would draft someone who would not fit in the team at all. He won't. It's his job and reputation to build the best team. Do you bring the best team together by drafting 3 QBs in a row because they are the BPA? No, let's not be silly. If a team looks at getting the best football players at every pick, they are going to get better. There will be misses here and there, but you can make plans to get your best guys on the field regardless.

Yes, this can't be stated enough. To me it's also where things got a lot more flexible regarding time/rewards as well. Up to 20 you're just trying to get 20. Once you're there, it's like a new game (sort of). You have to play with others a lot more in order to get the better gear. I just ground out my gear doing the daily story, public events, and the occasional strike. That got me to 28 on the old vendor gear pretty quickly and easily. Now I really enjoy hitting the Roc list for 2-3 strikes at a time. I just did my first weekly heroic (sad right? Thanks x1stMexicianx!), and attempted CE for the first time (we got carried by a 32, but was a really good learning experience!). I look forward to the next time I can go take a crack at the raid. I might try to LFG it this afternoon after I get out of this workshop! As I've said before, Destiny really plays to a specific audience. If you are into investment games, then you'll love this game. You get new toys, you level them, then you fight harder stuff, get more new toys, ect. Then it peters out, you play something else for a while, then the next content drops and you do it again. SOJA said it best when it was like Gambling! Like with Xur's engrams when he has them... I still love playing. As soon as I get my 25 Strikes for Bad Juju done, I hope I can get my Thorn PVP stuff done as well.

I'd happily take Ted Ginn back! I would think that so long as he still has the wheels to be a return guy, and catch 30 balls a year, we'd all be thrilled! He had a great year for us, maybe he could do it again? Lighting in a bottle?

It's been a decade since that stuff happened. Fox and Hurney were willing to put up with the drama to go with the production and were rewarded. Gettleman and Rivera have a different perspective. For all the folks crying foul with the owner, he has input, but the reason he has a GM is to make the final call. Considering the climate between now and then, domestic violence is a MUCH BIGGER issue than beating up a teammate. Don't we still celebrate when a football player hits another football player really hard? Don't we love to watch these guys get in training camp fights about competitiveness. When was the last time we celebrated a big man hitting a woman? What a lot of people here fail to see is the Grey Area. This is still very uncharted water for everyone. Everyone is treated differently. Sucks but it's true. Fans might love to see Hardy come back from a better team scenario, but the NFL is much bigger than the teams. It's ingrained as part of American Culture, and they have to answer to the court of public opinion more so than we did 10 years ago.