Don't look for a big move to replace Josh Norman

[Jeremy Igo]

Now that the Josh Norman situation has been settled for the Panthers, don't expect any drastic moves to replace him. 

There won't be an immediate trade. There won't be a high dollar free agent brought in tomorrow. There won't be any of that. 

There may be a mid round draft selection at cornerback, but that would have probably happened anyways. Dave Gettleman does not change his draft strategy because of one player or position. That is just not his way. 

How do I know? Well, we only need to look back less than a year ago to find a precedent. When Kelvin Benjamin went down in camp with a torn ACL, it was arguably a more dire situation than this current Josh Norman dilemma. The Panthers were suddenly without an impact player for the year. 

What did Gettleman do? Not much. He relied on the men already on his roster to step up and fill the void. The team stayed on course and did not deviate from the plan. The result? A Superbowl appearance, which completely validated Gettleman's approach to team building and problem solving. 

The Panthers corner situation is not as bad off as the wide receiver situation a year ago. Bene Benwikere and Brandon Boykin are two talented players. Some will call Benwikere "injury prone" which is silly. One broken bone is no indication of such. Boykin, who signed as a nickel, could slide to the outside to help. He has experience there as well. 

So what will the Panthers do? 

Firstly, the 5 corners currently on the roster not named Bene will be given the opportunity to earn a starting spot across from him. Lou Young showed promise last season. Robert McClain is also someone to keep an eye on. 

The Panthers will likely be signing a low to mid level corner in the coming days in addition to drafting one. With OTAs and training camp on the horizon, another couple of corners are needed just to fill out the practice schedule. 

Any real impact move the Panthers could make would likely be well into the preseason. Once teams are required to cut down their roster, depth or potentially a starter could be found. Also, Gettleman has shown in the past that, at that point, he is willing to trade for upgrades. 

In short, don't look for much to be done right away... and that is a good thing. The Carolina Panthers are a stable organization that methodically goes about doing their business no matter which individual player is no longer available. 

You should be happy about that. 

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[DOMOMAN]

We've had a lot of success with mid/late-round corners and low-risk free agents, another small school prospect overlooked in the later rounds (I'm looking at you Ryan Smith out of NC-Central) to bolster depth and maybe a veteran Free Agent like Antonio Cromartie on a short leash looking for a ring will be what we do, and should do. Notice how no one other than the Media are calling the Panthers idiots for doing this, lots of GMs agree that J-No is not worth that big of a paycheck, and keeping your locker room focused and distraction free is a bigger prize in the long run.

Also i expect to see a dog-fight for that CB2 position in camp, guys like Lou Young and Robert McClain are eyeing up a lot of gametime suddenly

[cgcp84]

That may be all good playing against teams like Seattle and San Fran this year, but going against these offenses with Brees, Julio, Palmer, even Jameis, etc. you need great play at the corner positions.  I was already a little worried about Bene moving outside this year.  Hope we at least go CB in round 1.

[top dawg]

Yeah, it would probably not end up so well if Gettleman had a knee-jerk chain reaction to a situation in which he is at least---or at most, depending upon perspective---partly responsible.

[ctrcat]

11 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Now that the Josh Norman situation has been settled for the Panthers, don't expect any drastic moves to replace him. 

There won't be an immediate trade. There won't be a high dollar free agent brought in tomorrow. There won't be any of that. 

There may be a mid round draft selection at cornerback, but that would have probably happened anyways. Dave Gettleman does not change his draft strategy because of one player or position. That is just not his way. 

How do I know? Well, we only need to look back less than a year ago to find a precedent. When Kelvin Benjamin went down in camp with a torn ACL, it was arguably a more dire situation than this current Josh Norman dilemma. The Panthers were suddenly without an impact player for the year. 

What did Gettleman do? Not much. He relied on the men already on his roster to step up and fill the void. The team stayed on course and did not deviate from the plan. The result? A Superbowl appearance, which completely validated Gettleman's approach to team building and problem solving. 

The Panthers corner situation is not as bad off as the wide receiver situation a year ago. Bene Benwikere and Brandon Boykin are two talented players. Some will call Benwikere "injury prone" which is silly. One broken bone is no indication of such. Boykin, who signed as a nickel, could slide to the outside to help. He has experience there as well. 

So what will the Panthers do? 

Firstly, the 5 corners currently on the roster not named Bene will be given the opportunity to earn a starting spot across from him. Lou Young showed promise last season. Robert McClain is also someone to keep an eye on. 

The Panthers will likely be signing a low to mid level corner in the coming days in addition to drafting one. With OTAs and training camp on the horizon, another couple of corners are needed just to fill out the practice schedule. 

Any real impact move the Panthers could make would likely be well into the preseason. Once teams are required to cut down their roster, depth or potentially a starter could be found. Also, Gettleman has shown in the past that, at that point, he is willing to trade for upgrades. 

In short, don't look for much to be done right away... and that is a good thing. The Carolina Panthers are a stable organization that methodically goes about doing their business no matter which individual player is no longer available. 

You should be happy about that. 

 

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It will not be drastic or knee jerk, but KB's injury was way after the draft and we had far less money.  If Alexander or Fuller are even on our board with the four you mentioned you don't think they move to the top of the board?  I do.  Boykin could be gone next year too.

The Giants took multiple corners in the 1st in the GMan era.  Amukamara, Ross, Webster, Allen, etc.

[CWORS]

DG has a plan...the draft is a week away. Watch DG work!!! 

[Jeremy Igo]

3 hours ago, ctrcat said:

It will not be drastic or knee jerk, but KB's injury was way after the draft and we had far less money.  If Alexander or Fuller are even on our board with the four you mentioned you don't think they move to the top of the board?  I do.  Boykin could be gone next year too.

The Giants took multiple corners in the 1st in the GMan era.  Amukamara, Ross, Webster, Allen, etc.

Maybe Fuller in the second. 

 

Gettleman will not pass up on a first round talent he likes for a second round corner. 

[Jeremy Igo]

3 hours ago, top dawg said:

Yeah, it would probably not end up so well if Gettleman had a knee-jerk chain reaction to a situation in which he is at least---or at most, depending upon perspective---partly responsible.

He has a long term plan. Defensive money is spent on the line and linebackers, lesser paid corners and safeties reap the benefits for a while and move on. Not moving away from that plan isn't a bad thing. It is why the Panthers will be competitive for many many years. 

[stirs]

When we solidified the Oline last season, it made Cam, the RB's and WR's all look better

Same with the DLine.  A great front seven will keep the pressure off the secondary, so I look for a DE in the first and possibly a DT, one who has fallen, in the second.  Then, a CB, S, G/T and RB to round out the picks.  Last 4 in any order

[the_philosopher]

All I want to know is why does everyone call them "corners?" We never say, "Cam is a great quarter," or "Wonder if we'll draft a running this year." 

[Toker Smurf]

39 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Now that the Josh Norman situation has been settled for the Panthers, don't expect any drastic moves to replace him. 

There won't be an immediate trade. There won't be a high dollar free agent brought in tomorrow. There won't be any of that. 

There may be a mid round draft selection at cornerback, but that would have probably happened anyways. Dave Gettleman does not change his draft strategy because of one player or position. That is just not his way. 

How do I know? Well, we only need to look back less than a year ago to find a precedent. When Kelvin Benjamin went down in camp with a torn ACL, it was arguably a more dire situation than this current Josh Norman dilemma. The Panthers were suddenly without an impact player for the year. 

What did Gettleman do? Not much. He relied on the men already on his roster to step up and fill the void. The team stayed on course and did not deviate from the plan. The result? A Superbowl appearance, which completely validated Gettleman's approach to team building and problem solving. 

The Panthers corner situation is not as bad off as the wide receiver situation a year ago. Bene Benwikere and Brandon Boykin are two talented players. Some will call Benwikere "injury prone" which is silly. One broken bone is no indication of such. Boykin, who signed as a nickel, could slide to the outside to help. He has experience there as well. 

So what will the Panthers do? 

Firstly, the 5 corners currently on the roster not named Bene will be given the opportunity to earn a starting spot across from him. Lou Young showed promise last season. Robert McClain is also someone to keep an eye on. 

The Panthers will likely be signing a low to mid level corner in the coming days in addition to drafting one. With OTAs and training camp on the horizon, another couple of corners are needed just to fill out the practice schedule. 

Any real impact move the Panthers could make would likely be well into the preseason. Once teams are required to cut down their roster, depth or potentially a starter could be found. Also, Gettleman has shown in the past that, at that point, he is willing to trade for upgrades. 

In short, don't look for much to be done right away... and that is a good thing. The Carolina Panthers are a stable organization that methodically goes about doing their business no matter which individual player is no longer available. 

You should be happy about that. 

 

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I take your point as he will not reach for a corner in the draft (especially early), which I agree with. I do wonder if this will give him more hesitation in trading up. Keeping our 5th and 7th round picks give him more opportunities to take a flyer on a late round corner.

[d-dave]

But we haz all the moneyz?  Why not sign ALL the CBz???

Very rational and well thought out point by Jeremy (again!), which folks will still ignore.  I will admit, the Chicken Littles are kind of fun to watch =)

[pantherclaw]

37 minutes ago, cgcp84 said:

That may be all good playing against teams like Seattle and San Fran this year, but going against these offenses with Brees, Julio, Palmer, even Jameis, etc. you need great play at the corner positions.  I was already a little worried about Bene moving outside this year.  Hope we at least go CB in round 1.

Once again, it won't change the draft strategy, nor should it. That's how a GM fugs his team up. 

I'll take a top group in our front seven, than the opposite.

[Khaki Lackey]

All I know is that if we are going to get by with discount connahs, our pass rush has got to be better than last year.