PNW_PantherMan

I would also add that I think it's more than money. AT has looked absolutely miserable out there at times, and there was a lot of speculation he would demand to be traded. Personally, I thought he was a lock to be moved last year. Maybe his hamstring is the only thing that prevents that from happening. The fact that he's not only willing to come back and play, but excited about it, really bodes well for Bryce. AT is a veteran and he knows the game. If he didn't have confidence in Bryce, I guarantee you he wouldn't be in a Panther uniform this year. I'll take that as a positive.

So wins are now a WR stat. The haters ball is in full swing.

It seems having amazing hands is still worth something in the NFL. PFF had his overall grade for last year as 28th overall, which I also think feels about right.

I hated the contract when we signed him, but by some miracle he has actually out performed it. Like I said. It was a Charlotte Hornets signing. Not one other team was paying AT what we did. It just happened to work out for us.

So what do you propose? Cut him and save 2mm? Package a draft pick to try and trade him? I don't even know what you're arguing tbh.

Only 2mm difference in cap hit and dead cap. This bed was made a while ago. Given our team composition, I'd argue it's really not a tough pill to swallow. We don't have any stars. This was a Charlotte Hornets deal from the get go. I'm just thankful he's been as productive as he has. Maybe he'll fall off a cliff this year. Or maybe one or more of the young WRs will break out in the season. But as of right now, he's our best WR because he consistently gets open and catches the ball.

Now everybody's gonna be like "Wait, why didn't I get a fully guaranteed contract??"

People have been announcing the death of Adam Thielen for 5 years now. He was done when we signed him, and last year his yards per game had him on pace for an even better season than 2023. He's still the best WR we have until proven otherwise.

I'm not surprised that he questioned retirement at points last year. The team looked hopeless early on and he suffered a pretty severe hamstring injury.

Yeah just be the Eagles. Pay your young QB a questionable extension earlier into his rookie deal and then sign the highest priced free agent RB. I think that's why I filtered them from my mental models of teams that work, because that's not a model you can repeat. But I guess neither is having Pat Mahomes.

Yeah okay I'll take the L on that. Not sure how I already memory wiped that they won LOL.

And until demonstrated otherwise, it remains a very effective way of building a playoff loser. I really wanted to see the Ravens win this year to accelerate the change. But nobody's actually won a Super Bowl with that team build in the modern era.

It was a letdown for us too Dmitri

I'm only interested if Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald are on the table.

Also worth mentioning that Jordan Staal has always been more of a defensive forward. His older brother Eric was more of a scorer. I still remember Jordan as the kid the Penguins were lucky to have as 3C under Crosby and Malkin.

I saw some people saying Svech should be with Jarvis to offset the size. Jarvis Stankoven is pretty small.

He was supposed to be relegated to the 4th line as the honorary captain by now. But he hasn’t fallen off enough to be unseated from the main checking line.

That's my biggest concern with making him the 2C. You split up the Aho Jarvis bromance that accounted for a lot of points. If Jarvis excels as a C, it could help the team even more though.

We should trade KK to the Sharks. They need to spend money. We don't want KK. It's a win/win trade.

Nobody wants him for that contract. I really doubt we're getting much back for him without something else in the package and/or retained salary.

I like Necas wheels and his ability to create space with the puck on his stick. Super talented and fun to watch. But I don't like how his game translates in the playoffs. Maybe we didn't have the right team composition for it to work, but his time and space disappeared pretty quick in the series' (plural?) where we got sent home.

Yeah that seemed like the type of game where we'd lay an egg and find some way to lose to the Cowboys. But instead the Panthers came out and beat the crap out of them. That one felt good because the Panthers came out and performed like an elite team when the whole country was watching.

Yea took me way too long to realize this. The fan's only incentive is what's best for the team. The front office guy's incentive is what's best for him. And we'd all be that way. That's how humans work.

Meh end result is the same. You end up stuck with a roster built around a mid QB because you couldn't make the tough decision. Hope we aren't forced into that position. And if we are, I hope our guys make the right call.