Cam will have to get better bc Defense will get worse

[Moorgan]

http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/will-cam-newton-be-worth-the-money-for-the-panthers-060315

That is the premise of this article. It's not exactly flattering which is why I wanted to share it with you guys. It does give some voice to things we have all noticed. It's not a complete picture either though.

Basically, it's saying that when you pay a franchise QB (which he believes Cam is) then your defense will slowly start to suffer...therefore your QB will have to play better with poor defensive performances. Then it goes through the stats of the years since Cam has been in the league. They aren't pretty. Different situations like trailing going into the 4th QTR...how did we do? Not so good. Trailing at half? Not so good. In the red zone when trailing, etc.

Now what it doesn't take into account is horrid OL play and WR gutting. But there are points there and some of them are legit. BUT there is also the basic premise of the article that could be argued...at least for this team anyways. Will our defense get worse because we have to pay Cam? Honestly, I don't think so. Or if it does, Cam's contract won't be the main reason.

Regardless, it's a relatively sobering look at what we have achieved thus far and what Cam will have to do to contribute to future success. I think the good news coming out of this article, is that we all saw the problems that are identified (some blame Shula, some the OL, some Cam, etc) but I think we all, also, have seen improvement in every area we saw as a problem. And as far as Shula goes, some have said that maybe now that the weapons exist...he can and will do better. Conjecture sure...but it's a positive perspective of where we've been and where we're going.

In the end, worth discussing here I think.

[frash.exe]

That's hilarious

they have no clue about our cap situation the past few years 

[shreddingdefense]

Unlike the saints we actually have money to sign our qb and other players.

[Mr. Scot]

Does this guy have any sense of our actual cap situation?

If it was expressed in the article, I missed it.

[TheRed]

His contract is pretty manageable actually, especially considering the salary cap is expected to continue going up.

As long as we keep making solid additions (on both sides of the ball) through the draft, we should be fine.

The problem with our previous GM was not just the contracts he handed out, but his complete ineptitude at adding depth through the draft outside the 1st round. That is not the case with Gettleman. He is smart with contracts, and he knows how to maximize his drafts.

Last year our defense struggled early, but on the offensive side we didn't have the OL, or the necessary firepower to keep up with potent offenses. This year though we've obviously added much needed depth at WR, and OL. Not to mention we have a fairly deep RB corps.

Another factor is special teams, last year that group was awful. We made several improvements to that unit this offseason.

[Moorgan]

Does this guy have any sense of our actual cap situation?

If it was expressed in the article, I missed it.

​No it wasn't mentioned. The premise is simple. Pay a QB you lose on defense. Now I agree, that I don't think that is the case with our team but it very well may have been before our team. I think the expanding cap room the last 2 years and beyond are changing the way things have been done and we are riding that wave.

However, the thrust of the article was that when Cam is in a bad position (trailing late), the Panthers are downt right bad. But I think all of those ails have are on the mend with what has been done during these offseasons. Drafting very well and getting cap healthy in an era of expanding cap...is huge for us.

[mbarbour21]

I'm not really worried about our defense. As long as we can sign Keek to a fair deal, we shouldn't have a problem filling in the gaps. Dave has shown his ability to fill spots without getting stupid. I think that's the key. Once the core is signed, Dave will fill the gaps with either role players or promising rookies. IMO. 

[hepcat]

Someone wrote an article without doing any research?  I'm shocked.  Panthers have $40m in cap space next year even after Cam's extension and over $100m in 2017 when the bloated Hurney-era contracts of Stewart, Charles Johnson, and Ryan Kalil come off the books.  The defense is going to be fine, plenty of money going to be spent there and we still have Kuechly.

[OnlyPantherFaninMaine]

All goes back to Dave hitting on his draft picks as he has been and signing value FAs to fill holes and keep competition at an all time high. If we do that, the success will come when the young corps grows into vets.

[Mr. Scot]

​No it wasn't mentioned. The premise is simple. Pay a QB you lose on defense. Now I agree, that I don't think that is the case with our team but it very well may have been before our team. I think the expanding cap room the last 2 years and beyond are changing the way things have been done and we are riding that wave.

However, the thrust of the article was that when Cam is in a bad position (trailing late), the Panthers are downt right bad. But I think all of those ails have are on the mend with what has been done during these offseasons. Drafting very well and getting cap healthy in an era of expanding cap...is huge for us.

I'd say that summed up the whole thing.

[TheRed]

The basic premise makes the entire article itself pointless.

You don't need that many words just to say that Newton needs to play at a high level. Well no poo, we just signed him to a 100 million dollar contract.

[bababoey]

I would say this guy is kind of right and wrong at the same time.  If you sign a QB to a huge contract most teams tend to spend big on weapons to put around him, New Orleans and Atlanta I am looking at you.  In that case, with big cap hits from 3 or 4 guys on the offense it limits the amount of money you can spend on guys on the defensive side of the ball.  However, if you have younger guys surrounding your huge contract QB, that are still playing on the rookie deals, you can make the defense as good as you want because you have a lot of cap flexibility.  Look at New England, they signed Revis last year and he had like a $14 or $15 million dollar cap hit.  So one is not totally dependent on the other.  It just is contingent on how well your team drafts and how smart they are will there cap money available.

[L-TownCat]

I have never seen so many people that want this to fail.  Or at the least, they yearn for it to be a bad deal.  Its just not.  The Panthers are coming into some substantial Cap space the next 2 years and they opted to front load the guaranteed money for Cam.  Its actually quite fiscally responsible which is probably the main reason it drives the media insane.  Luke will not be endangered because of this and we will be in great shape to pay our core guys that continue to progress and produce.

I love this deal it works for both parties.  Now lets enjoy this for the next couple months, get rested and ready for a hell of a ride coming up this season.

KEEP POUNDING!!!

[teeray]

Boy, this article is the very definition of cherry picking stats and leaving context unaccounted for.  Every stat I think is manipulated to make it look the worst way possible for Cam and the Panthers.

Not a good article.  Gives the perception of being smart and analytical, when it is deceptive and disingenuous.