Seltzer

He was a legit starting caliber WR for the Lions. Not sure what happened in NYG, but I would like to have him in a 1-year prove it deal. He would have a chance to reclaim a starting spot here.

100%.

It's unreal. I go to the games. Shaq flies around as much as anyone out there, and he has gotten better in coverage throughout his career. Him & Burns & Luvu are insanely fast when you see them live. He still has plenty of juice, unless he falls off a cliff this season. He is a very good player, but b/c he's not Luke or TD people try to slander him. Our defense next year is much better with him than without him. Behind the scenes, Scott Fitterer, Dan Morgan, Frank Reich, Ejiro Evero, & Dom Capers all wanted this to happen. If that group is not qualified to make that decision and make the right one, I'm hard pressed to believe anyone else on this board is either.

Hardest positions to find: 1)QB (Stroud/Young) 2) EDGE (Burns) 3) LT (Icky) 4) CB (Horn) 5) WR (TBD) So we basically traded our 5th hardest to find position to get the 1st. You have to give up something to get something. It was a lot to give up, but it wasn't a fleece. We need to get this right, but having Reich, Caldwell, and McCowen is a damn good infrastructure to have in place.

Typical, but beyond lazy.

My sons are interested in going also now that we have the #1 pick. Would appreciate any insight also

Exactly. We have the right to expect big things. And at least everything about this shows an actual strategic plan, something we have not had since 2011 when we hired Rivera and drafted Cam. That was an actual plan, and it paid dividends with our run from 2013-2017. Everything since then has been half-assed. The team tried for 2 seasons to hold serve as Cam's body was breaking down. There was literally nothing even remotely approaching a strategic plan under Rhule- it really was the epitome of bringing in his college players and then throwing crap at the wall to try to find a QB. In retrospect, the Rhule era was so unbelievably bad. As fans, we never knew what to expect- was it compete immediately, was it a Jay-Z 7-year rebuild, etc? To this day, that question was never answered, and Rhule seemed insulted when the media dared to even ask him about it. If this plan doesn't work, at least we can understand it as fans. And there will be clear benchmarks on whether this is working or not. The Rhule Era truly was a smoke & mirrors BS-fest. And when as fans we finally got to look behind the curtain, there was nothing there but an insecure man who spouted platitudes, came up with inane slogans, and wanted to micromanage the social media team, all the while acting like he had no control over the process. We have a top-10 coaching staff, a top-10 Oline, and hopefully a top-10 defense. Let's add a QB who can be our franchise guy and cook!

Look, from the start, there is undoubtedly risk involved in trading away assets for an unproven QB who has never taken an NFL snap. NFL history is full of examples of college prospects who never fulfill their imagined potential. But after the past 5 years of unmitigated disaster (and yes, this has been the worst stretch in Panthers history), why in the world would fans not be onboard with a new approach? I know the stretch from '97-'03 was bad too, but the franchise was still young, and we didn't have 3 years in a row where the season was over before Thanksgiving. It's also almost impossible to go 5 years in the current NFL with 7 playoff spots and be as bad as we have been. The lack of success combined with the Rhule clown show destroyed every ounce of goodwill built up by the Cam/Luke squads from 2013-2017. I've been a PSL owner for 17 years now. I wasn't at the stadium in 2001, but I know the past 2 seasons especially have been rock-bottom in terms of fan apathy for at least the past 20 years. Something/everything had to change. If you just watched on TV, it's hard to convey how bad and apathetic things had become. Wilks did make things better when he took over, but overall attending games became almost chore-like. No offensive innovation, no energy, and most importantly, not enough results. The Panthers have been a bottom feeder, even with elite offensive players like CMC & DJ. It's been 5 years of a hamster wheel turning, and it was time to get off of it. David Tepper has made some missteps, but anyone who questions his desire to win and his willingness to do whatever that takes (whether misguided or not), is wildy mistaken. You don't become a self-made multi-billionaire without having an overwhelming drive to be successful. Firing Rivera and keeping Hurney was a mistake, and the entire Rhule era was overall a fiasco. But here's the thing, Tepper learned from that experience, and everything that has taken place post- Rhule validates this. Frank Reich was a homerun hire, but moreso than that, the extensive interview process really helped the team identify coaching talent, which Tepper allowed Reich the resources to go get. Everything has been put in place for a rookie QB to be our next franchise guy. Can you imagine a better set of mentors than Frank Reich, Jim Caldwell, and Josh McCowen? And a top 10 offensive line is a luxury most rookie QBs drafted high can't dream of. The Panthers defense is also far better than what many rookie QB's have to support them. Yes, our receiving threats that remain are not impressive. But with a lot of money to spend in FA and 7 draft picks, we will be alright. I'd rather have Cam Newton with Ted Ginn & Philly Brown than Sam Darnold with DJ and TMJ any day of the week. You should too. I feel like Panthers fans have become so accustomed to failure and disaster that many of us just assume bad things have to happen to the Panthers. It's almost like fans want to believe the team has no agency at all. We have to get beyond that, b/c that truly is a poverty franchise mindset. Tepper has finally enacted the right plan for the Panthers to take back agency, and to be positioned to dominate the NFC South for years to come. It's ok to be excited, seriously!! One of my best friends is from Buffalo, and my old college roommate lives in KC now. You think for a moment they regret taking a chance on a QB? Hell no, b/c there is no way else to be consistently good in the modern NFL. You don't think Bills fans had come to believe for years that nothing good could ever happen to their franchise? Bills Mafia was born out of the bond Buffalo fans shared through the 20+ years of misery. The Chiefs have been intermittently good, but they historically played 2nd fiddle in that division to the success the Broncos & Raiders franchises had until Mahomes showed up. The only way to become a coveted franchise is to have a franchise QB, and you have to be willing to take a chance to make that happen. The Panthers have created as good of an environment for a rookie QB to flourish in that a team can provide. Let's be excited and confident that the worst stretch in franchise history is behind us. We have actual professionals running the team now, and an owner who is willing to spend to be successful. This is a good day to be a Panthers fan!

Exactly. The last 5 seasons have been brutal. Look, I love CMC and DJ, but we weren't tearing up the league offensively with them. Doesn't mean they're not great players, but we aren't going to win (or even make) a SB without improving at QB. Cam lost Kelvin Benjamin (who was in the best shape of his life) before the 2015 season, and he willed us to the SB with Ted Ginn and Philly Brown. Mahomes lost Tyreek and won a SB. I'd rather swing and miss on a franchise QB right now than continue to muddle along. Does anyone besides Saints homers believe they can win anything significant over the next 5 years with a jacked-up cap and paying Derek Carr $35M a year? B/c I sure don't. Saints fans are going to look back in 5 years and realize just how colossal a waste it was, just like we need to be clear-eyed about how bad the past 5 seasons have been here. Saints fans are deluded into thinking they can keep the party going post-Brees for some unknown reason. Panthers fans should be more sober after the past 5 years of failure. Whether or not this works, at least it is a well thought out plan and strategy. We never once had that with Rhule. We had dumbass slogans and a mythical 7-year Jay-Z plan or something. We've hired some of the best offensive minds in the league, along with a top 10 offensive line. If they can't figure out a way to make it work, we have bigger issues than trading away a WR and some draft picks.

Y'all need to chill on the Suleiman slander!!! Edgar Salmingo, Jr. @PanthersAnalyst · 9m According to Over the Cap, the #Panthers have over $156M in cap space and no dead money in 2024. Sheeeeesh

We were a ridiculous DJ penalty and braindead plays from Keith Taylor and CJ Henderson from being 6-0 in the division with everything that went wrong last year. People need to chill. Everybody thought losing CMC would doom our running game. It didn't. Yes, our receiving corp is not looking good so far. But, it's early. This is still a great, great day to be a Panthers fan

And look at the free agent WR's for 2024... absolutely loaded. We finally have a clear vision and strategy for getting there. Maybe it doesn't work out, but damn if it's no so, so much better than the Rhule nonsense

And we have a chance to get our franchise QB and have a clean cap (with an incredible amount of space of the next few years) by doing this. Would you rather be the Saints running it back with their ancient squad and Derek Carr, knowing your cap will be 25+% dead cap for at least the next 3-4 years? Every team has dead cap. The situation going into 2023 isn't great (although that number & % isn't that bad per league average), but long-term, this is the best situation we have been in a long, long time.

We started Cam off with an average Oline and good playmakers that quickly devolved into an awful Oline and subpar skill players. Rather start Stroud/Young off with an excellent Oline and subpar playmakers and build from there than how we handled Cam

Shaq balled last year. Hopefully he is reasonable about a pay cut and stays.

Absolutely nothing, just like he has shown during his entire career. Carr is a lot closer to Sam Darnold than a guy that can win a SB. And Matt Corral can hopefully develop into a decent backup. With 17 games, you need a backup that can win a game or two

It feels so good to have professionals running this team. Again, the DJ move hurts this year, but the long-term vision from this is amazing. Imagine having your franchise QB and a lot of money to spend... this is going to be our future Not constant restructures just to sign retreads

You're right. Now try explaining that to the people on this board who can't understand why the Panthers weren't willing to part with Burns, who plays a position that is much, much harder to hit on than receiver.

Exactly. Losing DJ certainly does hurt going into next year, but this is a massive, massive long-term W. The draft compensation outside of DJ was honestly minimal The past 5 years have been brutal for Panthers Nation. We actually have a plan and vision going forward. We never, ever had than under Rhule. It was done half-assed the whole way. This is a true new beginning.

You have to replace a top 10 edge rusher in this scenario. If you think finding a good WR is hard, edge rusher is 5x harder. Only thing harder than finding an elite edge rusher is finding a franchise QB. The cupboard is the complete opposite of bare over the next few years when you have a QB on a rookie contract and more than enough cap to fill holes in FA

I really think if you draft a letter to Tepper given all your past successes according to yourself, I don't see any reason why he wouldn't fire both Scott Fitterer and Dan Morgan to bring you in to turn things around

This is so much better than the lunacy brewing down in New Orleans, where they are further screwing themselves long-term to run it back with a bunch of old and injured players and Derek Carr, with the upside of maybe winning a down division. This is a move to set this franchise up for the next decade. If it doesn't work, of course it will be a setback but the upside with this approach is so, so much better. Losing DJ hurts next year, but having a QB on a rookie deal makes all the other draft capital meaningless b/c the team will have a lot of cap space for the next 4+ years. This is about potentially setting the team up to being a SB contender, not screwing around with the constant retreads anymore.

Given all that, I really am surprised teams haven't reached out to you for your services

People need to be realistic about what a franchise QB is worth. Losing DJ hurts us, especially next year no doubt, but the idea we got fleeced in this deal is nonsense. We got a top 5-10 offensive line now and will hopefully have a franchise QB on a rookie contract. Things are looking so much better than they have for the past 5 years. Of course there is risk in everything, but anyone not excited about this (even if you are wary about the compensation) is crazy. I'm tired of not being a serious football organization. We got an all-star offensive coaching staff, and we're giving them their pick of the litter. It's on them now.

I feel confident you are smarter than Scott Fitterer, Frank Reich, Josh McCowen, Thomas Brown, Duce Staley, Parks Frazier, etc. who all signed off on this deal... /s Seriously, Tepper hired an all-star cast of offensive coaches. If they don't have a plan for moving forward with this move, we got much better issues than just this trade. There is absolutely nothing crippling about this. Yes, moving DJ doesn't help our WR corp next year, but we have plenty of money to spend in FA plus the potential to finally draft a franchise QB again. Crippling is what this fanbase has had to endure the past 5 seasons. We are finally a serious football organization again. I don't know what's not to like about that