BrianS

So truth is stranger than fiction sometimes: The Panthers look to have one of the best WR groups in the NFL *after* losing Curtis Samuel. You can't make this stuff up.

I think that all things considered Brady should get a total pass on what happened last year. TB5 under center, CMC gone most of the year, no offseason, brand new staff . . . yea. Nothing that happened last year should have any effect on Brady. This year is different. We should absolutely expect the offense to perform better this year. If the offense doesn't progress or moves backwards and it's not easily identified as a QB problem, I think at that point Brady may be in trouble. Not fired, but it would be fair to ask serious questions.

The first four games isn't even a quarter of the season any more, it's certainly not enough to make the hype real. I'd prefer that we temper expectations especially early on, otherwise we end up with threads like "TedDy cAnT thRoW DeEp" or elevating Kyle Allen to sainthood. We should hope that our defense learns to stop the run, then get off the field on third down. We should hope CMC stays healthy and returns to form. We should hope for Darnold to declare himself as either a legit NFL QB or a real bust. I'll be ecstatic this year if we can finish 8-9 / 9-8 while winning some close games. Anything beyond that would be miraculous.

He looks fast out of the break for sure. Once he makes the break, he's looking for the ball. If DJ ever becomes a really refined route runner he has a chance to be beyond special.

I gotta admit I don't get it. It's a rookie contract . . . what is there to negotiate? It's all in the CBA.

Did we see anything of Chuba catching balls? Seems like we ask our backs to do that a lot, but not much is often said about his ability in that area. Heard good things about his ability to pick up a blitz, good one cut runner, fast . . . but nothing regarding his receiving.

I don't see Donte as a priority at all. He's shown flashes, yes, but he hasn't shown anything resembling the consistent level of play you need from a long term starter. Sure, I'd have him back, but not as any sort of priority. DJ Moore has got to be one of the guys. If he isn't, the entire FO needs to be gotten rid of. No other way to put that. I'm sure Burns will get there, but I'm equally sure it's at least a year too soon on him. We still have a 5th year to pick up on him and keep costs down. He's technically not a UFA until 2024. I expect we will pick up his option prior to 2022, and then work out something long term prior to 2023. Reddick? Maybe. We're paying for him for the next few years anyway. My only concern is the potential that he's getting paid based on one game. There's a big difference between 7.5 sacks and 12.5 sacks. And one game is the difference for him. How do you negotiate that deal? Robby is a good shout, but I just don't think we can keep both Robby and DJ and still have the money we need in other areas. I think he's gone unless he agrees to a VERY friendly deal. As much stick as Paradis gets, there may be legs to this story. Paradis was not good his first year, but was clearly improved last year. The biggest issue most folks have with Paradis these days is the same issue folks have with Shaq. Contract isn't reflecting his performance. Getting Paradis on a more appropriate deal may well be in the cards.

Nothing earth shattering there. He's not obviously wrong about anything, but didn't exactly make any bold predictions either. 6/10

Good for him. I wish him the best of luck. Elsewhere.

Paradis is gone in 2022. We converted 7ish million of base salary this year into bonus in order to spread the cap hit over two years, albeit two years he is not on the team. I'm guessing the thinking was that this year our cap is in bad shape due to Luke, Teddy, etc. We needed the 4 million in relief. The next couple years our cap looks way better, and so by spreading 4 million over each of those years we have a lower impact on our ability to field a good team.

As much as I hate to see us lose, I'd almost welcome 0-17 with Darnold because it would answer all the questions definitively and give us our choice of the best QB in the next draft. I'd be way more excited about 0-17 with Darnold than 5-12 with ANY of our recent QB's.

If that's your expectation for your QB you are fine being the fan of an endlessly mediocre team. Let's face it, TB5 nearly threw for 20 last year and NOBODY wants to see that again. Ever. I expect a franchise QB to account for 30+ TD's every season. Especially with an extra game. Here's what a franchise QB looks like:

The worst part of any trade for Watson will be what we give up. His contract is actually fine. No guaranteed money on the books after next year except for his signing bonus which the Texans are going to be responsible for regardless. What that means is that if he does lose his mind and do something like what he is accused of again he can be purged with little long term cap repercussion. If we choose to put a different contract in front of him, one would presume we protect ourselves with that as well. It's all about the cost up front, particularly draft capital.

That's actually an amazing contract for us if true. All of his guarantees are out by 2023, so our dead cap after that is incredibly low.

All political issues aside: Cost is everything. If you give up too much, you can't surround him with the team required to win. I'm the first person on the QB is everything bandwagon, but just having the QB isn't enough. Green Bay has had a HoF calibre QB for fifteen years now and only one SB appearance to show for it. Likewise Drew Brees in N.O. Etc. You have to find your QB, while continuing to draft well at other positions.

As a team last year, our pass rush win rate was pretty good at 12th overall. Where we struggled was with run stop win rate, where we were 28th. Yikes! We have GOT to learn how to stop the run. Offensively, also probably what you would expect. We were 23rd in pass block win rate, but 7th in run block win rate. Looking at that run block win rate, it occurs to me that Mike Davis may not have been as good as we thought. We were actually setting him up pretty well. If we can figure out how to pass block, we're going to be dangerous.

Exactly. While I don't know the woman at all, I can speculate and remember other situations where athletes were taken advantage of in similar ways. Again, I don't know her, however it is possible her entire motive here was to get him so drunk he had no idea what was going on, provoke him into retaliating and taking him to the cleaners. It would certainly not be the first example of behavior along those lines. He may well remember exactly what happened but is keeping it close to the vest at the advice of his attorney. We don't know. What appears to be true is that he handled himself well in a tough situation. Whether he figures the NFL out or not, that is a good trait to take into life.

All I see here is (apparently) a professional athlete exercising commendable restraint in difficult circumstances.

There are rivers of regret to be cried over with regards to the way Cam was handled here in Carolina. No doubt. We likely ruined the most talented QB of the past 10 years through both our handling of him and our coaching of him. All that said, if anyone is buying the story that his shoulder was "fully healed" for last season, I invite you to go put on some 2015 tape, beside some 2020 tape and tell me his shoulder is now "healed". He may feel healed, and I hope that at least he doesn't hurt every day. It doesn't change the facts however. He's a shadow of the player who once was.

Too simplistic a take. Luke enabled us to reach a SB. You cannot look at "just" his stats - and those are impressive enough. You also have to look at how many times Luke put the players around him in position to win. It was all the freaking time. You cannot compare Luke to other MLB's. He's just different sauce altogether. This isn't to say Horn wasn't the correct pick. Our need at CB was immense. I suspect Horn will make a greater impact for us than a Micah Parsons would have. Parsons is a great talent, and he'll make a ton of plays. I just think that when you look at our needs and the relative talent you're taking and the positions . . . Horn was probably the better pick.

For a player, winning isn't everything. Archie Manning never had a winning season, yet he was widely considered one of the greatest QB's of his generation. Dan Marino never won a Super Bowl, but is there anyone you'd want on your team more in that era? Barry Sanders, never won anything of note, but the dude was just ELECTRIC with the ball in his hands. Calvin Johnson, likewise. The list goes on. When you speak of a franchise as a whole, becoming a winning team is important. But when you're talking about players, greatness is separate. CMC is a great player, regardless of our success as a franchise.

We don't need YGM to be great. We need him to be Mike Rucker. That's more than enough to call him a success.

Honestly, I don't look at the Panthers as currently having anyone in the HoF. I know, Green, White and Polian spent time with the Panthers, but they aren't really "our" HoFers. We just had short term rentals. I think Smith and Peppers will be the first HoFers we can really claim as "ours".

Darnold may well fail, but there isn't a universe where PJ Walker is a better QB. Rest assured, if PJ starts more than half our games next year, that's a sure sign we are "Sucking for Sam".

Even having a NT who demands a double team every down is a straight up win for your defense. If you double Brown, are you saying you're going to single block Burns? That seems . . . suicidal. You're single blocking Reddick? What happens if we blitz just one guy? If Brown plays up to his potential, he's going to unlock our line to maximize every other player on it. I know there was a section of the fanbase that didn't like taking Brown where we did, but he really could be all that. I'm hoping we see it this year.