Evil Hurney

FFS

It appears that several have moved on to coach firing season. They are probably mad that the Giants beat us to the punch yet again.

The last time he started it was pretty bad. I'm glad he's improving.

If this is truly a playoff worthy team they will find a way to get to 9-8. Also, no one is "unbeatable" this year. Each week a "top" team loses some game they already penciled in as a W (see Titans this week). However, as others have said there are likely going to be teams like the Eagles and Vikings also at 9-8.

Another minor thing to consider is if Sam stays on next season (2122) and hits FA the following season (2123) we can net a 6th or 7th round comp pick out of him assuming he signs a typical backup QB level contract.

I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread so I wanted to add it to the collective consciousness. There is a chance that if the team were to cut Sam and he were to sign with a new team the Panthers would only owe the difference. I haven't been able to find the language in the CBA that talks about how guaranteed salary works in this regard, but I did hear it mentioned briefly by Florio on PFT. Now don't get too excited. If this were true any team that would sign Sam would also know this and would likely only give him the veteran minimum since Sam gets his $18M either way.

Agreed. A decent backup QB is going to cost around $5M. Cutting Sam and then signing a guy will result in even less cap space just to get a comparable level of player. Of note, PJ is an RFA after this season; I have no idea what he will cost. I'm onboard with paying the $18M or extending Sam to a backup level contract. If Sam thinks he is still a starter let him seek a trade. Much like Teddy he'll be much more willing to renegotiate his contract to facilitate a trade.

This article and the highlighted portion are talking about the old CBA. There is a link at the very top takes you over to the updates made in 2020. This is the most relevant section of the current CBA for 5th year options: https://overthecap.com/collective-bargaining-agreement/article/7/section/7/(g)(v)/ Excerpt: "For any Drafted Rookie selected in the first round of the 2018 or any subsequent Draft, the entire Paragraph 5 Salary for the Fifth-Year Option shall become guaranteed for skill, injury, and Salary Cap-related termination, effective upon the Club’s exercise of the Option." In short, we will owe Sam $18M next season regardless. The only outs are to trade him or possibly get him to agree to a restructured contract ... or I suppose it would void if he were to violate some clause of the contract

Agreed. They tried to get Stafford. They tried to get Watson. They looked a drafting a QB until the 49ers traded up ensuring that we would at best be getting the #4 guy. Options at that point weren't great.

A team that likes a player enough to give up a 2nd + extras probably also likes that player enough to use the 5th year option on them. They are expecting that player to be around more than 1 year so they are taking a risk to save a significant amount of money in a future year. If Darnold had continued his pace from the first 4 games we'd be looking at extending him for ~$30M a year.

We "basically" recouped the picks. During the draft the Panthers were able to add a 3rd, 4th, and 6th (plus several other picks). I've only listed the ones relevant to "paying off" the Darnold trade. While they didn't add a 2nd they did add a 3rd in the current year. Generally a 3rd in the current draft is worth a 2nd in a future draft; the 2nd that was given to the Jets was in a future draft (the upcoming one).

Good OL don't typically make it to FA. Charles Leno might be the top guy since I expect the guys above him to get re-signed. "Offensive Line 1) Orlando Brown Jr., T, Kansas City Chiefs 2) Brandon Scherff, G, Washington Football Team 3) Terron Armstead, T, New Orleans Saints 4) Wyatt Teller, G, Cleveland Browns 5) Duane Brown, T, Seattle Seahawks 6) Charles Leno Jr., T, Washington Football Team 7) Riley Reiff, T, Cincinnati Bengals 8) Laken Tomlinson, G, San Francisco 49ers 9) Ben Jones, C, Tennessee Titans 10) Jason Peters, T, Chicago Bears" https://www.profootballnetwork.com/2022-nfl-free-agents-top-free-agents-by-position-available/

PJ will start. Shaq basically indicated that is what the players are expecting. I wouldn't be surprised if there are some Cam packages for AZ though. Basically a collection of plays/schemes he's already comfortable with.

You still need PJ to play well this week. What is gained by taking the wind out his sails before he even steps on the field? In short, it's just coach speak and there was enough said by Rhule and others to indicate Cam will start as soon as next week.

Weak bottom half of the NFC means you only need 8-9 wins to get the 7 seed. Our top 5 defense and an average offense is good enough to achieve that. Once you are in the playoffs anything can happen.

Yup. I seem to recall people clamoring for Trubisky since he hasn't been under the microscope this season.

It would be silly to not start him after that performance.

Agreed. It's nice to be a fan of a team that is able to and willing to make such moves.

Squirrel!

I feel like Cam returning is a likelihood given the names listed. Also to me, Drummond is the interesting one in that mix. I feel like he is there to talk non-football things like role, expectations, and messaging.

Gregg Williams approves of this message, per unnamed source

It's pretty likely that it will only take 9 wins gets the 7-seed. So a few wins might be enough.

DA and Barkley were there in Josh's rookie year. Barkley stayed on for two more seasons after that.