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I would like to talk about this Matt Kalil situation

electro's horse

By electro's horse,
in Carolina Panthers

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electro's horse Grand Master

electro's horse

Posted
Posted

Matt Kalil is bad. 

Matt Kalil's contract is bad. 

How bad is it? The Panthers would eat 13.7 million in dead cap space just for the privilege of cutting him after this season. The season after is more palatable at 1.8. After that if he's still on the team, his ass is in the street. 

Now on IR, until at least week 8, Panther nation, along with the rest of the world who appreciates talent and beauty, is hoping he never sees starting time at LT again. That Tyler Moton turns into Walter Jones and holds the spot down for ten years. I mean, hope is important. 

What do we do with Matt Kalil? 

1. Banish to Cleveland

The Panthers could have sent him and a pick to Cleveland back when they were just taking horrible contracts for draft picks (ie Osweiler). At that point, Kalil wasn't as hopelessly lost as he is now, but Jerry was still in charge. Ryan Kalil holds a lot of sway in the organization, and it wouldn't be The Family Way to send someone to die in Ohio when their brother is so important to the organization. 

But Jerry was sent to the molestation ranch, and Ryan is on maybe his final year. Dave Tepper probably doesn't give a poo, although we don't know much about the new office politics. 

Historically, Hurney hasn't taken advantage of stupid front offices like New England does, with one notable exception with Greg Olsen. But the Browns are always there, and now apparently the Raiders are too. There's also enough former Panthers assistants scattered throughout the league that could be foolish enough to think they could rehab him. 

2. Force a Restructure

Okay, we're out of options here. If you're Matt Kalil, why in the world would you restructure that contract? The Panthers have absolutely no leverage, unless Matt wants to keep playing. 

The Panthers could tell him they'll effectively bench him for two seasons then cut him. He'll get his money, hit none of his incentives (god knows what those are), and then they'll ship him out the door the day the 2019 business cycle ends. At that point, he'll have been out of football effectively for 2 seasons, with no good tape since his rookie year. He'll have to take a bunch of flyers with shitty teams offering the vet min. You'd be effectively ending his career.

I think this could work if done correctly and savagely enough. Players have pride. And telling someone "you're not good enough but we're stuck here because we can't trade you" is going to cut deep. At that point, he might be willing to restructure to make himself tradeable. 

Again, there are plenty of former panthers coaches and FO men around the league who know him. This wouldn't be sending a pick to get rid of his contract like in the previous scenario, but it'd be similar. 

3. Change his position

This is a pipe dream. Kalil has sucked at the position he's played all his life; you don't just roll the dice and hope it works out. Furthermore, the Panthers rely on their linemen pulling quite a bit. Who knows if that'll continue under Norv, but as long as cam as there, we're going to need more athletic interior linemen. Imagine Kalil playing LG, stepping back to sprint left, tripping over a tall blade of grass, then falling backwards into every one of Cam's ligaments, and pooping his pants in the process.

No no, there's no salvaging this through madden tricks. 

4. Doing nothing is easier than doing something

Discretion something something valor. You have to play the hand you're dealt. Hurney has never been one to get out of bad contracts; to the opposite, he usually doubles down. It's incredibly possible that Kalil just hangs around as a shitty tackle for the next two seasons. Moton will likely struggle, and Rivera, eager to play both sides like he's done his entire career, will call it "an open competition." Moton will be benched after Kalil has "a strong week of practice," and we'll be right to all this again. 

Moving into 2019, it'll be another open competition, with lots of articles mysteriously coming out that Matt is ready to take the next step. That he started doing yoga or crossfit in the offseason, that he went to a fish only diet, that he's cut out sugars, that he looks leaner than ever, and that he's ready to dominate the left side for years to come. No matter how badly he struggles, he'll continue to split first team reps with moton or whomever. Rivera will take the path of least resistance, name him the starter, and we'll be here again. 

Corporate inertia is a powerful, powerful thing. 

5. Accidents happen all the time

All.

The. 

Time.

So where do we go?

I honestly think forcing a restructure could work if the panthers were ruthless enough to do it. "Take your illgotten fortune and never play football again, or work with us and we'll send you somewhere you can compete."

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Lumps Newbie

Lumps

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Posted
7 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

That Tyler Moton turns into Walter Jones and holds the spot down for ten years. I mean, hope is important. 

Impossible. That means he’d be good and demand money and Panthers don’t pay or really retain olineman.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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Posted
8 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

At that point, Kalil wasn't as hopelessly lost as he is now, but Jerry was still in charge. Ryan Kalil holds a lot of sway in the organization, and it wouldn't be The Family Way to send someone to die in Ohio when their brother is so important to the organization. 

Ugh.

I really really hate when players have influence over roster decisions. That's one thing I absolutely hope Tepper chucks out the door.

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LinvilleGorge Grand Master

LinvilleGorge

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It always surprises me how many people don't understand that trading a player is the same as cutting a player in terms of cap impact. All that bonus money gets accelerated.

Best case scenario for us, his injuries continue to linger and we work out an injury settlement. I would say the best case is that Matt retires but there's zero chance he walks away from all that money. He'd keep showing up and force us to release him.

Most likely scenario, we cut him next off-season and designate him as a post June 1st cut so we can spread the cap hit out over two years.

Either way, Matt Kalil is the biggest roster love mistake this franchise has made since Sean Gilbert.

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tondi Newbie

tondi

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I honestly don't think he cares if he ever sets foot on a football field ever again, which is the bigger problem than whatever phantom injury is ailing him.  Dave has made him set for life either way so now that hes found his sucker he's happy to cash a check and kick back.  

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