Panthers and the Salary Cap

[Happy Panther]

I think he's a Baltimore Ravens beat writer that reports information about the Panthers quicker than Joe Person.

lol thanks for the info. I'll put him in my Rolodex.

[CRA]

It's reactionary and I have no idea who that guy is.

So Steve Smith was prolific his entire career until October 26th of 2014 and is now washed up (except you have to ignore another game where he had great stats.)

Got it.

No Steve was prolific most of his career. You could see a steady decline his last couple years as his routes changed and his YAC dwindled.

He isn't washed up. He is a roleplayer. Those guys are needed. He isn't more than a roleplayer with attitude though

[L-TownCat]

But the revisionists say Hurney was actually not bad because Cam/Luke.  Right???

[nctarheel0619]

24 Rec 390 Yd 2 Td over the past 8 games. The only reason he had big numbers over the first 4 weeks is because he was butthurt & trying to prove a point. He wore his tiny, old ass out in one month. That, & he doesn't care now that he's played Carolina.

48 Rec 780 Yd 4 Td over a season. And that's playing in a pass heavy offense with a SB MVP QB.

Stop daydreaming about....

SS89

SUPER BOWL

2005

RULES & REGULATIONS

ICE UP SON

....it's in the past. Smith is washed up.

 

He must think hes in the NFC South too.  All the NFC South teams he basically destroyed besides the Falcons.  Crazy.  

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

at least gettleman's crap washed up FA signings are cheap and can be parted with easily.

 

harper, decoud, chandler, cotchery, and bell can all kick rocks with no cap penalties although chandler's cap figure is reasonable as a backup able to play multiple positions on the line so he probably stays.  of course hardy will be off the books.  charles johnson can be a june 1st cut and free up $10 million.  the entire back end of thomas davis' contract consists of cheap dummy years and he can be restructured easily.

[AU-panther]

 

There is some light at the end of the tunnel, however. The team has made moves with Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly's contract extensions in mind. The team will 3 (potentially 4) starters now from the 2012 draft class (LB Kuechly, G Silatolu, CB Norman, P Nortman), 3 from 2013 (DT Lotulelei, DT Short, LB Klein (with potential depth from G Kubila), and 3 to 5 starters from the 2014 draft class (WR Benjamin, OG Turner, CB Benwikere, DE Ealy, FS Boston). If the team can come away from the 2015 NFL Draft with 2-3 starters, the Panthers could have a very, very strong team that could end up being regulars in the NFL post season.

 

This forum likes to talk about free agents a lot but with the new CBA drafting is going to be more important then ever.  As most people know the CBA that was went into effect in 2011 drastically reduced the amount of money rookies can make.  Before 2011 first round picks could land contracts that would rival what some top free agents would get.

 

Because of this teams that draft well will have the ability to build a pool of really cheap talent.  In theory a team that can draft 3 quality starters a year would have 12 of their 22 starters on rookie contracts after 4 years.  This would free up considerable money for free agents.  

 

Unfortunately we only have one starter left from the 2011 draft (Cam).  Of the 2012 class we have 4 as Icege listed but one of them is a punter and another, Silatolu, is a player that  a lot of people on here aren't happy with.  2013 looks good considering we had less picks then normal. 2014 draft class has the potential of being really good but it is still early to say.

 

I think the lack of quality cheap talent from the 2011 and 2012 draft classes has contributed to some of the problems we are seeing now on the field.

[AceMan]

Hurney should never be allowed to talk Carolina football

[heel31ok]

Williams

Tolbert

Kalil

Davis

Johnson

3-4 of those guys probably won't be back, and it's gonna piss off a lot of the same butthurt Smith fans that are attached to old, declining players. None of them are worth the massive hits they have going forward.

 

looks more like some team is going to gain some valuable veteran leadership. But we will see who is butthurt when these are gone and we are at this same point next year wondering who we can get in the next draft or which 1 year contract has-been we need to try and sign.LOL , it cold outside!

 

[Semaj]

Very well written. Thank you.

[Marguide]

Imagine if we had let Hardy walk and signed 3-4 players to multi year deals like some on here wanted.  The numbers would have worked this year but next year would be a mess.  We might have been forced to cut Kalil, Davis, and CJ.  

 

By being disciplined DG gave himself some options.  He might not have to ask a player to take a pay cut and have them retire early.  

 

I am one of the people you are talking about. While not necessarily advocating signing 3-4 players to multi-year deals, we could have signed a couple without a significant negative impact on our cap and been in much better shape going into next year.

 

Remember, Hardy was never intended to be anything more than a 1 year rental. We spent that $13 million but it gives us nothing going forward in putting together a complete roster.

 

Case in point? Look at Cotchery's contract, and compare it to Golden Tate's. Yes, Tate is the more expensive player long term, but his deal would have been completely workable for us. Let's be honest, would you feel better going forward knowing you had Golden Tate as your #2 receiver or having Jerricho?

 

Those options were out there, but Dave opted to go with Hardy, apparently thinking he was necessary for our 2014 Super Bowl run.

[grimesgoat]

AU-Panther is absolutely killing it on this thread.  Everyone needs to pay attention to what he is saying.  We can't just add up Hardy's money and start spending. Most of the players on our team under contract will cost more next year and we have a ton of holes to fill. I think Dave is pretty good at finding talent and depth in the draft.  This is critical for long term success in a salary cap world.The lack of quality depth from the 2011 and 2012 drafts is just killing us.  I think Dave has done well finding undrafted depth like velasco, nortman, white, Philly, fuzzy, glanton, byndom, swole, Horton, etc.  The free agents he signed were cheap and short-term.  One more year of suckage and we'll be good to go.

[X-Clown]

at least gettleman's crap washed up FA signings are cheap and can be parted with easily.

 

harper, decoud, chandler, cotchery, and bell can all kick rocks with no cap penalties although chandler's cap figure is reasonable as a backup able to play multiple positions on the line so he probably stays.  of course hardy will be off the books.  charles johnson can be a june 1st cut and free up $10 million.  the entire back end of thomas davis' contract consists of cheap dummy years and he can be restructured easily.

 

Meanwhile, 3 of ESPN's top 10 worst free agent signings were offensive tackles, some of whom the experts GMs here at the Huddle have stated would have fixed our problems if Gettlemen had just signed them instead of not having the foresight to know that Greg Hardy was going to be accused of domestic violence and miss 90+% of the season.

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11977286/michael-johnson-eric-decker-10-worst-offseason-pickups-nfl

 

5. Michael Oher

6. Anthony Collins

7. Austin Howard

 

Also notable was that Tampa managed to sign 2 of the top 10 (Collins, and Michael Johnson who came in at #1) , and the Saints who many other experts here have claimed as evidence of the salary cap being a myth managed to land Jairus Byrd who came in at #2, after giving him $26 million in guarantees who was Harper level bad when he played and only made it through 4 games.

[Razeyfingers]

Not to put fuel on the fire, but I dont know if Godfrey's 30mil figure has been said. I like the guy but he didnt work out well either unfortunately.

[DeeJay]

This team will probably get cut hard in the new few months,

Rivera gone 

Shula gone

 

Once new coach comes in a ton of people getting cut cut cut

Homer Simpson could cut them all!