MHS831

Less than an hour ago, Eagles reporting through SI that they are close to a "Monster" deal with Phillips. https://www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi/news/eagles-make-significant-progress-on-monster-jaelan-phillips-deal-pat3

https://www.si.com/nfl/eagles/onsi/news/eagles-make-significant-progress-on-monster-jaelan-phillips-deal-pat3

especially when he is on the brink of a big payday. My thinking, you ask? Until you find, "that guy," you don't pay a guy who can't get you a Lombardi. That stunts your growth. A 4-year audition is enough.

Dont know how much of that is kaye speculating or inside info--i used to be a reporter at the Observer for a few months out of college (internship type thing) and I was close to Bonnell. He was a master at not blasting whispers and inside intel to sell a paper. He knew stuff, but he never tried to become Nostradamus.

To summarize my summary. The answer at C may be on the roster and/or day 3 of the draft. OT in round 1 is not crazy The Panthers can afford to go high-end ILB but no good fit or salary for high-end edge. Not sure edge will be that much of a focus, although we will probably do something somehow. I will repeat my opinion that it will be a situational vet pass rusher. We may not be as hungry for a Safety, and Smith-Wade could be moved to FS. With Ransom and Mehrig, we may be good. (I had S as a top 4 need) We may not be as hungry for a WR as previously thunked. So with this epiphanyism, I might adjust my needs (needs--in relation to the cap, current contracts, and available personnel with a realistic focus on salaries). Without further ado, my adjusted (what I think the Panthers are currently thinking) top 8 needs. (Spoiler alert-I am going rogue a bit--buckle up, bastids. 1. Offensive Tackle. (Kaye explains that, if you consider long-term needs and contracts etc. in relation to cap, this is a need. I disagree with his comments about drafting what he calls a "swing tackle" at 19. I think you draft your LT here and plan to move Ickey if he returns to health. Moton's contract expires in 2027. 2. Defensive Tackle. A lot of you blasted me rudely when I suggested that we might draft DT on day 2. You mocked me. It hurt. Seriously, if we sign a ILB in free agency and downplay our need for edge, then we have to look at DT as a problem. Yes, we have jags and busts, but a stud beside Brown? I think DT might be our second round pick. 3. Center. Not for a second to I think Samac is the perfect answer, but in a zone scheme that focuses on run blocking, he might be better value than what we can draft or sign in free agency. Look for a C in round 4 or even 5. I think we could draft Parker, the OT from Duke turned C. 4. Tight End. This surprises me even as I type it. I am guessing there is a type we are looking for, and I am guessing it is because Sanders has not become what they wanted. TEs are not expensive, so this could be a free agent signing. 5. Nickel CB. Watch for a big nickel CB who can blitz. I have not researched this, but they got me to thinking. That is all for now. 6. Another LB. I have crushed on Golday for some time. Depending on who we sign in free agency (and ILB will be our biggest signing) They want 2 studs back there who can process and cover from sideline to sideline. 7. Edge. We may do nothing or sign a journeyman for a season or two in free agency, but if we sign an edge, I am guessing it will be later in free agency. Someone we have to research. Last year, we did not have our 2 starters for a combined 22 games. Scourton emerged as a potential star. Princely showed some flash. With more blitzing from LB, S, and CB, with better pass rush from the DL, we may need to develop instead of adding salaries. 8. QB. We need to find QBs that are capable of starting in the NFL and find players who can fit here. I think there might be a day 3 gem or two in this draft. add a vet not getting social security and draft a developmental prospect as the emergency qb. There you have it. Subject to change.

Here is what I LEARNED: They really like Samac--they really never loved Mays. Samac is 25--might they draft a fourth round C and have him and Samac compete for the job? Between two stud Guards, maybe, just maybe. The Cap matters here, and they seem determined to go cheap here. Samac? Hmmmm. Never heard of him before last week. He thinks we are going to "double dip" at backup QB. Talked about the emergency QB. I am happy to hear we might focus on that. Smith-Wade to safety? Pretty logical-- WR--Like who they have signed. Coker, Horn (feel better about him than they let on) Tremayne they like a lot. Kaye's insights into the Panther preparation for the Draft--Panthers have done a lot of work (researching the draft) at DL and OL (even though he predicts OT in round 1). Mentioned TE (lotta work researching Draft and free agency). How this changed me? Adding TE to my list. Looking OT (rounds 1, 2) and C (day 3?) in draft. What veterans do we have available? Research, people. I have to think they want to give Bryce a weapon. Beware--be very, very ware. ILB will be a free agent. Maybe we draft one too, but not real early(?). Edge? Not going to address it in free agency. Not really confident that edge is the answer this year (I have said this--be awed). Instead, we need to use Wharton better, find a blitzing LB (That Atlanta backer sure seems like a fit) and maybe move Wade-Smith to S and bring in a nickel who can blitz. I am going to research C Samac. They kept him on the active roster for a reason. They told Corbett and Mays and BC to test the market for a reason. What Kaye says and what I have been saying about OT (not in free agency, but in round 1) is spot on. The Cap, etc. Either we are both right, or he is wrong and I was misled.

thanks again Juan.

I support Morgan too my bro--he is learning. I think he let his emotions get in the way. I also approved of releasing Clowney after the draft--nobody could have predicted 9 sacks in 2025 and nobody saw Jones II and Wonnum missing 22 games combined. With that in mind, we are (guessing) keeping Jones and Scourton as our starters and Princely should be better. A veteran on a decent contract is all we need-

this list makes more sense. These reporters have to spew content--anyone can look at needs and a list of potential free agents. I would think we grab a pass rushing specialist edge (vet) and I would add that Edge from Atlanta Ebiketie (before Pearce decided he'd go full retard in February)--but now that may be more difficult. Fairly young, gets a lot of pressures. Expected to be less than $10m. good list!!

While I appreciate those of you who start threads and keep up with the news, I sometimes start a thread because I do not have a clear picture of what Huddlers think about this or that. So, I share my random lunacy with you to get your reactions. Unless I missed something, there has been very little noise in the areas of restructuring, re-signing, rumor mongering, etc. from Panther headquarters. That either means we have a top, triple, pinky-swear secret or two, or we simply are not headed for a big splash. So since I had psychology in college and made a B-, I feel qualified to look at things from Morgan's perspective. First, his primary target last year was to pay Milton Williams a ton of money. When Morgan did not get Williams, he immediately reverted to enter a bidding war with Tershawn Wharton, eventually signing him to a 3-year, $45m contract. Was this impulsive? Everyone pretty much had Williams coming to Carolina, and at the last minute, the Pats, big spenders in 2025, took Williams from under Morgan's nose. The Pats made the Super Bowl and the Panthers reacted by signing a bust. In almost an equal number of snaps, Williams had twice the pressures (seen above) and twice the sacks (4 to 2). And in the aftermath, he signed another DT (Brown III), ultimately spending the same amount of money as Milton Williams cost. These may or may not be related, but in the words of the great Dave Gettleman, "I'd rather have a quarter over two dimes." Is that what happened? You could argue that we had 2 needs, but we did not get an elite player--we did not make that splash--instead, we signed 2 mediocre players. Maybe we signed Moehrig because S is not that coveted position that a losing team in a small market has to overpay to attract. Who really knows? Morgan is still a young executive. So this is what I think he learned: 1. Everyone knew about Carolina and Williams as we entered the tampering period. So did the Patriots, and they walked into the saloon at the last second and bullied him out into the streets. Morgan got embarrassed, I would think, because he gave away leverage, it seems. New England simply waited for Carolina's offer and outbid them. They held all the cards, and they had the cash. They had tons of cap room and Carolina did not, so Morgan had to know better than to raise the stakes vs. the guy at the table behind a huge stack of chips. He folded. That happens. Maybe he should have been more secretive, maybe he should have gone all in. But losing Williams to NE is probably not where he made his biggest error. Immediately chasing Wharton was his biggest error, it seems. 2. Since they were not quiet about it, Morgan reacted quickly, as if to save face and fill this huge need. Then signed Brown III. e grabbed a defensive lineman from the same DL Chris Jones plays on--who do you think got the focus when teams played the Chiefs. Wharton had Brown here, you could argue, but in KC, Wharton had the benefit of knowing that most of the time, the opposition was coming from behind--that makes reads very easy. Wharton had good numbers in a perfect environment. So it looks as though it is possible Morgan made 2 mistakes. He showed his cards with Williams, perhaps, and overpaid for "Plan B" by not reading the fine print. As a result, we got 2 poor to mediocre DL when we could have had a DT to pair with Brown. 3. Morgan settled down in free agency after that act of desperation, agreeing to terms with Moehrig, a S we needed. (3 years, $51m), and Patrick Jones (Edge) to give us pass-rushing depth Behind Gamecocks Clowney and Wonnum. Then the draft came along and he grabbed two rookies. To save cap room, he released Clowney, who went on to get 9 sacks and 40 pressures in Dallas to save about $8m in cap room. He could not have foreseen that, or the Wonnum and Jones II injuries, but one has to wonder how often he regretted that as the season unfolded. One could argue that the defense was better, but how much better would it have been if Morgan had not made some choices that backfired? So for now it is quiet. To me, that could mean that Morgan learned a lot from last year.

Leo Chenal is going to be the guy--I am guessing a 3-year deal for $21m--I am not basing this on anything other than my hunches.

The only way I would trade XL for him is if I was DONE with XL and I thought a new situation might benefit Thomas. In other words, it is better to think you might have a problem in Thomas than to know you have one in XL. They were drafted at the same spot, fwiw, so the contracts are the same, basically.

I love this draft because they picked the right OL. It is possible that we have 2 rookies starting on the OL. I would take Utah's Lomu as well, but for those who think you find the OL in free agency and not the draft, here is all I have to say: We cannot give $110m to the 5 starting OL. We need an infusion of youth on the OL as well. If Ickey returns and can play, I imagine that he takes over for Hunt at RG--in 2027 or so. Currently, our 2 guards and right tackle make up over 20% of the total cap. We have to add 2 starters, but if Cade Mays was too pricey at around (anticipated) $8m, then we plan to draft a C, it seems. I think we draft an OT and C now because we will need a G or 2 and a RT soon. While they were good in 2026, they were not elite. For that kind of $$, we need elite. Is starting a rookie LT and C ideal? Nope. But if we can get better than Nijman and Mays, we should be OK. I think we will pick up an ILB in free agency and add an ILB. Who we draft (Mike or Will) will depend on who we sign. Rodriguez is a favorite of mine, but if Golday is there, Morgan is going to take him. Morgan will love him. I do not think we need to overpopulate the edge position right now because we have 1 edge returning from injury (Jones II), one rookie from last year ready to step up and could be really good (Scourton), and another who could be ready to step into the situational pass rusher role (Princely). 2 hold the edge very well and if we had a situational pass rusher to join Princely, we could be much better. I think rookies at Edge tend to jump considerably from their rookie seasons to years 2 and 3. (Charles Johnson, Mike Rucker, and Greg Hardy were that way-and all became very good in time. Safety seems omitted, but we shall see. That could be another free agent acquisition.

If you bring in a head case (and it sure sounds like that may be Coen's take on Thomas Jr), imagine what that might do to XL. WHen I see drops and a coach complaining about a drop in production, I think we should drop the idea. I see him going to Denver or Baltimore.