BrianS

Exactly. Please give us Drake London numbers. Right now, the last Panthers receiver to hit 9 TD's? Kelvin Benjamin. The last Panther with 1300 yards? Agent 89.

The heck? How is this even a question? The answer is Mahomes. There is no other answer.

We also signed a guy who made 135 tackles last year in 11 starts during free agency. Yes, it was a career year for the guy who bounced around a lot, but you don't make 135 tackles in the NFL sitting on the bench. We might have more than we think.

I like the idea of numbers - for example 58 - being "reserved" but not retired. I would think it should only go to players on their second Panthers contract, and if former holders are part of the decision process, it should be a non-public conversation to allow former holders of the number to honestly say "Nah" without offending.

I think the business plan / concept is probably solid, but the market (Panthers) is probably wrong.

No. You don't go to battle with "middle of the road" at the most important position. You need to see real potential to win games from your QB. You're not trying to find "Don't lose this game for us", you're trying to find "We need you to win this game for us." Last year's first overall pick threw for 3500 yards, 20 TD's and 6 INT's and his season was considered disappointing. Now, I don't really get that, because his stats were very similar to Jayden Daniels, who people just gushed over. All that to say, stats don't really tell the complete story. They can be a guidepost, but only one of a number. Bryce needs to look like a guy who is going to win games for you. Like this:

Yes. He either improves or he goes. I'm still not sold on the guy. He looked better end of the year, yes. But a great deal of that was simply that he had looked so bad before it would have been difficult to not look better. BY9 was still one of the worst QB's in the league when it comes completion percentage, air yards per attempt, yards, yards per attempt . . . the list goes on. Again, I agree that he looked better toward the end of the year, but he has a lot more ground to make up before he will be looked at as a guy who can go out and win games for us. He seems like a great guy, and maybe we keep him as a backup, but if he doesn't get it done this year the Panthers need actively seek the answer.

No. But he has a chance to get stuck on the practice squad if he looks like he might have a future in the preseason. When you sign a guy like that, it's really all you can hope for.

I actually wouldn't mind drafting S. Sanders. The dude got the message. The last day of the draft is made for taking shots. Yes, I know we have Bryce. What if he regresses? Using a fourth round pick on a guy some thought was a first round talent isn't dumb. What if Bryce works out? The honest answer is it's not about Bryce. Bryce will either work or not, and it's totally in his hands. What about Sanders? Maybe Sanders is never more than a backup. Getting a backup QB in the fourth round is great business. Maybe he shows the ability to be a starter. That's a great problem to have! If you have two starting quality QB's on your roster, you can keep the one you feel fits you the best and flip the other for draft capital.

I will say that I can see Dan Morgan putting his mark on the roster, for sure. It's still a very thin roster in numerous places but you simply can't fix it all, all at once. That said, this is his second offseason. He's quickly running out of excuses . . . which isn't a negative, it's just the truth. If we can get to 8 wins this year, I'll be impressed. Most teams feel like they "win" the offseason . . . but reality in the form of regular season games will kick most of them in the *&@.

What happens this year isn't relevant. All we want is to see improvement this year and verify that what we saw at the end of last season from Bryce is what we really have. Our best opportunity for that is for Moton to remain on the team. If we come out of the season with a clear picture of what Bryce really will be, and 6-8 wins, that's a great season. Next offseason, we can find out if he really wants to be here his entire career or not. If he really does, he can take a friendly deal to help us groom a replacement. If not, we thank him for being one of the best OL we've ever had and move on.

I love, *love* Warren. Unfortunately, it would be criminal roster management to go TE in the first round with so many problems on defense.

I put our ceiling at 8 wins, and that assumes BY continues to develop in a positive fashion. If he stagnates or regresses we'll be lucky to see 5 wins. The defense will be better, but it's a dang long climb from 32 to average, let alone a legit playoff caliber defense.

^^^ This right here.

You're right, it wasn't a bad decision to move on from TB5, it was a DISASTROUS decision to move on. How many draft picks, how much dead cap, how many players did it cost us when we decided to move on? The number of dominos that move set in motion is just now beginning to stop.