LinvilleGorge

Yeah, I know the Panthers are acting like they definitely have the answers in Icky and Bryce but based on what I've seen out of them on the field I need to see a lot more out of them before I'm convinced they're worth the cap crippling contracts those positions demand. You can't pay a road grading LT who struggles in pass protection franchise LT money. And we're honestly still trying to figure out if Bryce is a legit starter much less a franchise QB.

Yep. I would've thought that watching a series of knee jerk desperation bandaid approach moves in recent years resulting in losing season after losing season would have eventually sunk in that's not the way to drag yourself out of the gutter. If we were a a playoff team who thought Hendrickson was the piece we needed to become a legit contender, sure. That's the type of team that a move like that would make all the sense in the word for. It makes absolutely no sense for a team that has more question marks than answers though.

I warned so many of the people who complained about him that they're gonna miss him when he's gone. They may not miss HIM, but they miss being relevant and we were relevant largely because of him even if they don't wanna admit it.

This. If there's an opportunity to trade a late round pick for a decent veteran bandaid, fine. Late round picks are basically scratch off lottery tickets. But trading premium assets for an aging big money player? That's the exact sort of thing we have absolutely no business doing right now.

No you didn't. He made a joke and provided a link for clarification. You made a post that had other posters thinking that Igo had died. Big difference. I keep receipts.

And we have to figure out if Bryce is our future.

I don't really care about the final score. I just want to see competency out of our starters and primary backups. Whose camp bodies end up putting more points on the board in the second half really just isn't relevant. But when you look at what our starters have done, it's not an optimistic picture.

Yeah, I considered that. It's possible. I don't think they would honestly be AS bad but the results could be for the very reason you state. I shudder to think what our D would've given up if our opponents thought they had to try to outscore us in shootouts.

The only two reasons why I think this situation might turn out differently is because 1) the Bengals have a rep of being one of the stingiest teams in the league and 2) they have an absurd percentage of their cap tied up in their QB and two WRs. I honestly thought they were in a situation where they had to let Higgins walk or tag and trade. I guess they just don't care that Burrow gets the hell beat out of him behind a shoddy OL every year and they can't stop anybody on D. Take away Hendrickson and I don't think they'd be as abysmal as we were last year on D but they might be close. They really are just completely bungling their window with a top 5 QB and probably the #1 WR in the league.

Yep. I have zero desire to moderate opinions and vibes. It is what it is. When it gets super snippy I just ask that those posters put each other on ignore. I want people to moderate themselves as much as possible.

It's baffling. We've been blowing off preseason for years now acting like it's irrelevant and we'll just flip the switch come the regular season and take the league by storm. We've been approaching it like we're a contender year in and year out, not a team trying to claw ourselves out of the basement. Preseason doesn't matter if you're a contender with an established football culture and you're basically just trying to stay healthy and evaluate the bottom of your roster. That's not us. That hasn't been us for a long time. But we keep acting like it.

I've said numerous times during the Tepper era that the Panthers would honestly be better off making major decisions via poll on the Huddle and that's just fuging sad. LOL

Truth be told, if App had realized this NIL stuff was coming down the pipeline I don't think they would've ever made the leap to D1. I never like it for them anyway. I'd rather compete for titles in D1AA than compete for toilet bowls in D1.

Yeah, it's honestly a lot more volatile when emotions run high. Apathy is the overall general fanbase vibe in recent years.

Boise State of the early '00s might just be the most entertaining football team of all time. They always punched well above their weight class and when they'd play a big dog they'd let it ALL hang out. That Boise State/OU Fiesta Bowl might be the single most entertaining football game I've ever watched live.

Hell, you still had some fans grumbling about Cam during an MVP season. LOL

Yep, that's the normal pathway these situations take.

Burns also isn't half the player and we stupidly turned down two firsts for him a year prior from the Rams before the league realized that he had basically plateaued in the "good" category and was likely never going to make the leap to great. The Rams made their offer when the expectation was for him to become great.

Honestly the vast majority are somewhere in the middle. There's a few with absolutely no hope, a few with unbridled optimism and everyone else is somewhere on the spectrum of cautiously optimistic and hoping for the best while fully expecting the worst. I'm firmly in that last camp. LOL

Just the way it goes. As the team goes, so goes the fanbase. If you need nothing but positivity in your life then my suggestion is to bail on Tepper's Panthers. I find myself watching fewer and fewer games and giving up earlier in the season with each passing year. It is what it is. Don't let the floundering of his team negatively impact your life.

Hey @frankwand @Icege, how about y'all do us all a favor and put each other on ignore? Thanks.

This is what seven losing seasons and looking like trash in the preseason again looks like, y'all. Hate to say, it doesn't breed a lot of positivity. We had this exact same thread last year. Some folks left and started a Discord group. Maybe check it out. I don't know what else to tell you.

Because at 30 (he'll turn 31 on December 5th) he's likely to be past his prime before this team is ready to meaningfully compete all the while it's draining us of cap space and depriving us of draft capital to add younger talent. It's just not a smart move for this organization at this time, but it's the exact type of move we've been making the entire Tepper era where we're more than happy to shoot ourselves in the dick for the future while trying to squeeze 5-6 wins out of a 3-4 win roster. Just brilliant.

Well yeah, everyone would trade trash for treasure. That goes without saying.