NanuqoftheNorth

You know what's even funnier? That Hurney didn't. Weird.

133 million fully guaranteed over six years (which is what the Ravens have offered) is more than generous for a QB with a playoff record of 1-4 and significant history of injuries. Lamar is no Watson and is certainly no Mahomes. When you believe you're being disrespected with that level of compensation, you're ego has gotten the better of you.

A QB with significant injury history and a playoff record of 1-4 doesn't seem like someone who should be demanding top tier compensation. Maybe that's why the Ravens and Lamar are reported to be $100,000,000 apart on compensation?

Ravens have proven themselves to be one of the better managed teams of the last two decades. Their not being able to come to terms with Lamar Jackson should be viewed as a huge red flag.

Let some other team "reset the market" for QB compensation and handcuff their ability to compete effectively.

If Steve Smith were a better teammate he would have been with the Panthers until he retired. He wasn't, so he wasn't.

I like the way you're thinking. Frank, is that you?

I do remember a lot of comments from posters about not wanting a retread head coach. Thankfully, most seem to have come to embrace Frank and his staff during this honeymoon phase. Next hurdle will be embracing whoever ends up being the Panthers starting QB, rookie or vet.

Ah, yes, remember just a few weeks ago when everyone here at the Huddle wanted Frank Reich as our next head coach? Yeah, me neither. However, I'm glad it turned out the way that it did!

I may be misreading the tea leaves here, but it seems like Tepper has pulled out all the stops to ensure the Panthers have one of the best coaching staffs in the league. If true, chances are all Reich has to do is mention that it would be better to have more coaches and Tepper would write the check to make it happen.

Reich will most likely try a different approach. One of those ways is bringing in a better veteran QB.

I'm not opposed to that approach either. It certainly made those teams attractive destinations for two of the better QBs in the league. Just feels like Panthers fans have suffered long enough and need some signs of hope. Looking forward to seeing what the new brain trust comes up with.

Anything is possible. However, this team has many hungry mouths to feed and only so many draft picks to go around. Chances are none of these new coaches signed up to hear they'd have to make do with what they already have. One thing is for sure, this off season promises to be rather entertaining.

It would be awesome if the Panthers could do both. I'm somewhat concerned that the Panthers may make some significant personnel changes on defense (considering the preferred schemes of our new DC). If that's the case, it may limit what the team can do on offense in this year's draft.

I'll tell you this much, it's as rare as hen's teeth to find Raiders fans that are enamored with McDaniels or Mark Davis.

In a perfect world the Panthers would draft their next franchise QB and still have enough picks to surround him with talent. That's not the world we live in. At #9 the Panthers may have to give up a boatload of pics over several years to draft one of the better rookie QBs and hamstring themselves when it comes to surrounding that rookie with supporting talent. Or, the Panthers can bring in a vet QB and use their picks to surround him with talent. It's above my pay grade, but that's why Reich and Fitterer get paid the big bucks.

Who might this be? Would the Panthers be interested?

Give this guy a Top Ten defense and you'll have yourself a Top Ten QB.

QBs play a lot better when their team has a strong defense (so they don't have to constantly take risks coming from behind). Carr has had to deal with a Raiders defense that has ranked in the lower half of the league since he was drafted. He played lights out in 2021 with numerous last minute come from behind victories. Give Carr a decent defense and he is a Top Ten QB.

Insert Carr here.

Nothing, Panthers need to continue to draft QBs until they find the right one. We've now got the coaches capable of developing rookie QBs. We should take advantage of it.

Carr is at an entirely different level than any of the QBs that have played for the Panthers during the last 5 years. He isn't top five, but given a decent defense he is in the top 10-12 range.

If the Panthers were holding the first pick in this year's draft, I'm almost certain they'd be picking a QB. Unfortunately, they're sitting at 9 and moving up to #1 would likely cost more draft capital than a team with so many needs can afford to give up.

This is almost assuredly the discussion Reich's coaches and Tepper are having at the moment.

Tepper's history suggests to me that he'll make a run at Carr and draft a QB either this year or next. He didn't sign all these high dollar coaches to nursemaid a rookie QB without having a capable vet on the team.