BrianS

I would really have liked to see Brady C and Ickey swapped when things went downhill this year just to see if we had a LT on the roster we didn't know about. And yea, it sure does seem like we have had a lot more injuries the last couple years - strangely right around the time we switched to turf. Hmmmmm.

Honestly, the difference between 30 million and 15 million per year in the overall scheme of your life is irrelevant. Burns is gonna walk away from football with a MINIMUM of 100 million in the bank. He is set for life. If he really wants to be here - which is what he's saying - then the money shouldn't matter. I still think we franchise him, just to protect our interests. It's a $19 million offer, and it gives us the chance to see if we can still get those two firsts for him. If someone were to offer him $25 million per season I would take the draft picks and RUN.

And that's probably about right. The guy just doesn't impact / change games. More often than not, you see him getting ridden around behind the QB - when he even gets close. He doesn't get sacks, he doesn't really make a lot of tackles . . . and if you're counting on another player to "unlock" him that's dead solid evidence he's not a game changer. Honestly, I think he'd be better of as a situational pass rusher. He doesn't defend the run very well so don't have him in there. Maybe if he's still here, next year will show us something different. This is our first year in the 3-4 and that's never an easy transition. We've had a ton of injuries. I'm curious if he finally figures it out . . . but not at top money.

You need a coach who gives you an advantage. Period. Has nothing to do with the old "leader of men" trope. What kind of culture did the Dolphins have before McDaniel? The Lions before the current staff? Bengals? All the teams that turned things around got two things right: Coach and QB. That's it. You get those two things right and your franchise can flip immediately.

I think the HoF needs to start looking at different stats. Total yardage isn't a great way to look at receiving, especially between eras. Yards per game or yards per reception might be better.

You're going through a lot of mental gymnastics to make it look like CMC was a 10M a year player for us and he wasn't. If we kept him, he would have cost us 16M (average) per year - there is no getting around that. In terms of THIS year, it would have cost us 2M LESS (18M versus 16M) to keep him than trade him. Next year we save 16M versus keeping him.

Incorrect. CMC was going to cost us $16M annually. Because we paid his signing bonus, it accelerated when we traded him and we're paying the rest of it off this year. That's where his dead cap number with us came from. San Fran didn't have to take any of that on, so they get him for $10M per year, which is a freaking steal.

I agree with Mr Scot, 1000 yards isn't the bar it used to be. But likewise, Chubba has shown us this year that he is, in fact, a legit NFL RB and can be counted on. I no longer think of Chubba as part of the problem, instead I think he can be part of the solution.

I was not encouraged. Two terrible offenses played in monsoon conditions and managed 16 points between them. I don't know how anyone looks at that and is encouraged. You have to be seriously looking for hopium under every rock to take anything from that game.

This is a silly argument honestly. There is only one stat that matters on defense: Points. If you give up 500 yards per game but only give up 10 points per game, are you the #1 defense? I don't even see it as a legit question. Of course you are. It's all about points surrendered. Other stats might help you figure out WHY you are giving up points - for example if opposing teams average 5+ yards per rush attempt, you might look at that and go "Oh, we need to tighten up our run defense or teams are just going to grind it down our throat". But it's not going to tell you the story of how good your defense really is. Points per game is the stat that tells you how good your defense is.

What do we think? Chargers got rid of a guy who has built a pretty talented roster. I'd take their talent over ours every day.

The issue is that Cam isn't being intellectually honest with himself. You know who else has that issue? David Tepper. Cam is a Panther legend. From that position he's allowed to make whatever observations he wants, and yes, it gives him a lot more reach than most. But none of that qualifies him to be the guy running this team.

Cam is a great personality, but he's not the guy you want running your team.

The people who think this about Purdy have clearly forgotten that Sam Darnold is on that team as the backup. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Darnold is the more physically gifted QB of the two. The thing is West Coast systems never valued big arms. They value intelligence, decisiveness and timing. These are things Purdy has in spades. Purdy isn't a system QB, he's a QB that fits the system. He's Teddy Bridgewater with enough arm to hit the downfield shots that a WC system opens up with it's stretch concepts.

BPA. No (*&$ing trades. There isn't a single position we don't need help at.

Want to talk about nightmare fuel? Here it is. We start Bryce our remaining three games, because we wouldn't want to hurt his "development". This means we learn nothing more about the guys we have surrounded him with. If we don't change that variable, we learn nothing. It isn't even a discussion. But here's where it gets worse. Next year, we're 10 games in and Bryce still looks like Bryce. At that point, we know NOTHING about the players around him because we were determined to keep developing him this year. So we make a change in 2024 for the last 7 games. Suddenly, we become a middle of the pack team. We stay close in games. We win a few down the stretch against teams who are resting for the playoffs or whatever. And we blow the top pick in the draft - a pick we still have - because we didn't know anything about these players. That's really the only way we make this worse. And we have fans who think it's a good idea. I am terrified that we have staff who think it's a good idea.

Why? The why is simple for me, and it's not even about wins and losses. It's about evaluating the REST of the offense. I'd like to see what the other players can do with a veteran QB. Is our line as bad as we think? What about our receivers? TE's? etc. Bryce has had more than enough opportunity this year. I would think that just in the name of fair evaluation of all the players putting Dalton in at QB might give us something different to look at. I don't care if we win or lose.

The problem is not what we gave up to get there. The problem is who we chose with that selection. Had we chosen Stroud, do you think this would even be a conversation?

I strongly believe McCown was fired either because he wanted CJ and did hide it or because he didn't coach Bryce up on the flaws that everyone can see.

We need a true franchise QB. It cures a whole lot of things. Maybe Bryce is that guy, but it isn't looking good. We need to look like a team that cares. We really don't right now. We need to stay healthy. The Panthers organization has a huge problem with injured players - and it's not something new. Not sure what it is, but it's gotta get fixed. These are things that will motivate the fan base.

FWIW, the national media are finally catching on as well:

Depends on who the coach is.

So wait. CJ Stroud has the same pocket time as Bryce. He has been blitzed more, hurried more, hit more, pressured more . . . the only thing Bryce has had more of is sacks. It's another piece of data that does not look good. We need to run a system that fits the linemen we have, or hit an offseason where we can realistically expect to change most of them out. It would also be sweet if our starters could stay healthy. I don't think enough attention is paid to our seemingly sky high injury rate. It's been going on for years and I'd love to know why.

I've said it elsewhere, I'll say it again here. Anyone who is "stunned" my Josh McCown's firing isn't paying attention. He was the guy most closely tasked with developing Bryce Young and Young has regressed. His mechanics are terrible compared to what he put on tape at Bama. It may be this very thing that's at issue with BY. We've heard how he's a fast decision maker, but we haven't seen it. In the NFL your decisions are tied to your mechanics, and BY has not been "ready to throw" at the point decisions need to be made. This could be why we haven't seen the quick decision making manifest - he's just not ready to deliver when he should be. I retain a very healthy doubt as to whether BY is an NFL QB, but he'll get another season. On the other hand it's easy for me to see why McCown wasn't given more time.

This year is irrelevant to Horn. I will say I think his mentality is weak. He had a hamstring injury in week 1. It's week 10. Aaron Rodgers blew out his achilles. Required surgery. He returned to practice this week. Think what you will about Rodgers, his mentality is not weak. Also, Rodgers is 40 years old. From the outside looking in, JC looks like a guy who just doesn't want to be here. Right now, Horn is three years into a career and has played the equivalent of one. I could be wrong, he could never be injured again and have an All Pro or even Hall of Fame career ahead. History doesn't stand on his side right now.