Carolina Panthers Top 3 Offseason Priorities

[crushcard1976]

3 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Now that the Carolina Panthers offseason has begun, it is time to look ahead to the team's priorities. 

 

1. Josh Norman will receive the franchise tag paying him 14 million. Dave Gettleman won't sign Norman long term, although it could be easily argued Norman has earned it. Instead, he will be franchised for at least one more season. This is not ideal for either party, Norman or the team itself. But, this is sometimes a necessary evil in today's NFL. Yes, Josh Norman gets a nice pay check for a year. The problem for him is he is coming up on 28 years of age and could risk being injured this season. That would mean an unlikely top paying long term contract in 2017. There is a risk here for Norman to lose tens of millions of dollars overall in his career. Keep an eye on this. It is possible Norman could demand a sign and trade to a team that can afford his services long term, like the Oakland Raiders for instance. 

2. Shore up the pass rush. Dave Gettleman told us this in so many words at his press conference yesterday. Kony Ealy showed tremendous promise in the Superbowl with a performance on par with the Superbowl MVP Von Miller. Ealy is just now coming into his own, and like Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy, could break out in his third year in the league. Charles Johnson will either be released or will be extended at a very cap friendly deal. Normally I would say Johnson would be released for sure, but his relationship with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has me second guessing it. There isn't a stronger mutual player/owner respect in the league. Look for the Panthers to make a strong push in free agency for an up and coming player or spend one of their top 2 draft picks on a defensive end. Remember, free agency sets up the draft. 

3. Find your future runner. Gettleman told us one of his three pillars of a winning philosophy is running the ball. Jonathan Stewart will likely be retained for one more season, but after that the Panthers currently do not know who their future feature back is. Cameron Artis-Payne saw mixed results during the season, showing an issue holding on to the ball. Brandon Wegher they like, but the fact that he was only active for one game tells me they see him as a long term backup. Does this mean that both have no shot at being a feature back? Of course not, but it does mean that the Panthers will look to minimize the possibility of not having a true feature back in 2017 and even 2016 if Stewart is injured. I can easily see the Panthers signing a quality free agent runner or spending a top 3 pick on a running back. 

 

 

View full article

 

Some mock drafts have us selecting Elliot from Ohio state or Derrick Henry from Alabama. Tho think Safety from Boise state or Emmanuel ogabah de from Oklahoma state or Eli Apple a Cb or the Cb from Vtech

[Randolph Panther]

11 minutes ago, crushcard1976 said:

Some mock drafts have us selecting Elliot from Ohio state or Derrick Henry from Alabama. Tho think Safety from Boise state or Emmanuel ogabah de from Oklahoma state or Eli Apple a Cb or the Cb from Vtech

I would love to pick Derrick Henry.  Just think he will be a hall of fame RB in the NFL

[thefuzz]

34 minutes ago, Randolph Panther said:

I would love to pick Derrick Henry.  Just think he will be a hall of fame RB in the NFL

Was just coming here to post that it wouldn't surprise me to see him drafted at 30, not my style, but wouldn't surprise me.

[*FreeFua*]

48 minutes ago, crushcard1976 said:

Some mock drafts have us selecting Elliot from Ohio state or Derrick Henry from Alabama. Tho think Safety from Boise state or Emmanuel ogabah de from Oklahoma state or Eli Apple a Cb or the Cb from Vtech

Darian Thompson would be the biggest waste of a 1st round pick 

[Bj-Monster23]

1 hour ago, Randolph Panther said:

I would love to pick Derrick Henry.  Just think he will be a hall of fame RB in the NFL

BPA 

[Rocky Davis]

5 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Now that the Carolina Panthers offseason has begun, it is time to look ahead to the team's priorities. 

 

1. Josh Norman will receive the franchise tag paying him 14 million. Dave Gettleman won't sign Norman long term, although it could be easily argued Norman has earned it. Instead, he will be franchised for at least one more season. This is not ideal for either party, Norman or the team itself. But, this is sometimes a necessary evil in today's NFL. Yes, Josh Norman gets a nice pay check for a year. The problem for him is he is coming up on 28 years of age and could risk being injured this season. That would mean an unlikely top paying long term contract in 2017. There is a risk here for Norman to lose tens of millions of dollars overall in his career. Keep an eye on this. It is possible Norman could demand a sign and trade to a team that can afford his services long term, like the Oakland Raiders for instance. 

2. Shore up the pass rush. Dave Gettleman told us this in so many words at his press conference yesterday. Kony Ealy showed tremendous promise in the Superbowl with a performance on par with the Superbowl MVP Von Miller. Ealy is just now coming into his own, and like Charles Johnson and Greg Hardy, could break out in his third year in the league. Charles Johnson will either be released or will be extended at a very cap friendly deal. Normally I would say Johnson would be released for sure, but his relationship with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson has me second guessing it. There isn't a stronger mutual player/owner respect in the league. Look for the Panthers to make a strong push in free agency for an up and coming player or spend one of their top 2 draft picks on a defensive end. Remember, free agency sets up the draft. 

3. Find your future runner. Gettleman told us one of his three pillars of a winning philosophy is running the ball. Jonathan Stewart will likely be retained for one more season, but after that the Panthers currently do not know who their future feature back is. Cameron Artis-Payne saw mixed results during the season, showing an issue holding on to the ball. Brandon Wegher they like, but the fact that he was only active for one game tells me they see him as a long term backup. Does this mean that both have no shot at being a feature back? Of course not, but it does mean that the Panthers will look to minimize the possibility of not having a true feature back in 2017 and even 2016 if Stewart is injured. I can easily see the Panthers signing a quality free agent runner or spending a top 3 pick on a running back. 

 

 

View full article

 

Is JNo asking for the world?

[Riverboat Ron]

I'd hate to lose Norman, seems like a really cool guy. A sign and trade would be ideal for both parties but Norman brings a presence we've never had at corner.

[crushcard1976]

http://www.walterfootball.com/freeagents2016all.php?tih 75 unrestricted free agents most will probably be franchised.

[Crazydounut]

Norman will stay even after he gets tagged. He wants to stay it seems like. We just can't piss him off after we tag him this year. Next year it will be time to extend KB, Kony, and sign Short, Norman to long term deals after TD, Tillman, Allen, maybe even Stewart all retire. We will have the cap room. What we need to do this year is sign some veteren FA's after we restructure Johnson and sign Tolbert. Weddle and maybe Jeffery come to mind. Than we can see what we do after next season. Draft some project players in the draft. We won't need them to produce right away. We are in a great position to make another great run next season. Gettleman knows what he is doing. I just hope he gets this offseason correct like he has in the past seasons. 

[MountainHeel66]

6 hours ago, LawCat said:

Seems like it would be in everyone's best interest if JNo signs a 4 year deal here for a hometown discount, that pays him $9-10 Million a year. We get him for a relative bargain and he gets financial security. If we end up tagging him...sure he gets $14 Million but with no other guarantee. Maybe he has a sub par year, maybe he gets hurt. He will also be going on 30 this time next year, will other teams be willing to pay shell out top flight CB money to a 30 year old CB? I think Revis was about 30 when he got his last deal...but will JNo really command Revis money?

I trust your sources just thinking out loud.

This is exactly my stance on it. Josh and The Panthers would both be smart to get this done without getting too greedy in either direction. 

[megadeth078]

I hate the idea of having to replace Stewart so soon, but his constant foot injuries are becoming a problem.  He's also not a versatile back.  It's a real problem when Mike Tolbert (one of the least athletic RBs in the league) has to be relied upon to be our screen pass RB.  There are many reasons why we don't run screen plays (Shula's hard-on for 25+ yard passing plays, Cam's unimpressive short-pass accuracy, lousy OTs, etc.), but I think one of the big reasons might be because we don't trust our starting RB in that role.  

I would hate for RB to be one of our top priorities, but Stewart's injuries almost cost us home-field advantage and was one of many reasons for our Offensive disaster in the Super Bowl.  Plus, I'm not really convinced that we can't just plug another RB in the backfield and get similar production.  We should either find a new RB soon or actually focus on grooming CAP.  It's obvious the team didn't bother preparing him in case Stewart got injured.  Him and Cam looked completely lost trying to run simple read-option plays together.  

Edited February 11, 2016 by megadeth078

[Thanatos]

8 minutes ago, megadeth078 said:

I hate the idea of having to replace Stewart so soon, but his constant foot injuries are becoming a problem.  He's also not a versatile back.  It's a real problem when Mike Tolbert (one of the least athletic RBs in the league) has to be relied upon to be our screen pass RB.  There are many reasons why we don't run screen plays (Shula's hard-on for 25+ yard passing plays, Cam's unimpressive short-pass accuracy, lousy OTs, etc.), but I think one of the big reasons might be because we don't trust our starting RB in that role.  

I would hate for RB to be one of our top priorities, but Stewart's injuries almost cost us home-field advantage and was one of many reasons for our Offensive disaster in the Super Bowl.  Plus, I'm not really convinced that we can't just plug another RB in the backfield and get similar production.  We should either find a new RB soon or actually focus on grooming CAP.  It's obvious the team didn't bother preparing him in case Stewart got injured.  Him and Cam looked completely lost trying to run simple read-option plays together.  

There's no RB on earth that would take the hit from Wolfe on Stew's ankle and not come out limping.

[blacknblue]

Gotta think any long term deal would be structured like what the 49ers did with Kaepernick, something that looks good on paper but that the team can get out of in a couple years with a minimal cap hit.

Failing that I cant see Gettleman letting even Norman eat up 13 mil of his salary cap on a franchise tag. He's a front seven guy who I think would rather get by with a mid-tier secondary helped by a dominant pass rush.

 

[BIGH2001]

Would be surprised if gettleman tags Norman.  I think he only does it if Norman won't agree to a fair but cap friendly deal first.  To me Gettleman seems to negotiate deals with long term interest of the team as his #1 priority whereas Hurney just blindly threw cash around.  with that in mind, I think he's looking to lock up a good player in Norman for 3-4 years at reasonable prices.