Marty Hurney tried to trade up to get Greg Little as early as the No. 21 overall pick in the first round

[musicman]

The Cap has changed the way everybody thinks. 1st, what used to be a high salary is not any more. A guy getting 10 mil a year is not even tops in his position any more. Crazy! 2nd, GM's have to think a few years ahead if they have great players that will require big salaries. In 2 years, what do you do with CMC, DJ, Ajax and Samuel? What about Bradberry next year? He's rock solid, not the best but could easily command $14 mil a year, possibly more. 

I think the Panthers got young just so they afford future contracts and one being Cam if he has a great year and shoulder if fine, is going to get $30+ mil a year next year possibly. 

The Little trade was worth it. 4 years of a LT on the cheap is worth it and needed to help balance the cap. 

[Davidson Deac II]

12 hours ago, Tbe said:

I just don’t get this guy. What was he trying to trade? A 2nd and a 3rd or two? How does a modern GM believe that it’s possible to build a consistent winner by only drafting one or two starters a year? Most guys don’t have 10 year careers. You have to bring in more young talent than that.

I am not a fan of trading up.  That being said, most teams only get a couple of starters in a year.  They do it by drafting 6 or 7 and hoping a couple of them are starter quality.  We had a good year last year getting three potential starters.  

[BrianS]

Starters don't come in the third round very often, so sacrificing that pick for a guy in the second whom we believed was a first round talent makes complete sense.  Consider that 18 of our 22 starters last year were drafted in the first two rounds by whomever drafted them . . . the outliers were Chris Clark, Greg Van Roten, Trai Turner and Mike Adams.

I follow the thinking that Hurney tried to get back up into the first, but knew what the right price was and when he didn't get a taker, he did what he had to do in the second.  Old Hurney might very well have traded away future picks.  This guy didn't.  We still have all of our draft picks next year.  We can now go into that draft without any competitive disadvantage.

What may or may not have been tried is irrelevant.  Our draft, on paper, was a pretty successful one.

[MountaineerChemist10]

13 hours ago, chknwing said:

5th year option

Yeah, I can see why Hurney was considering of trading back into 1st rounder; gives you the 5th year option. Problem is it probably would've erased our 2nd & 3rd rounders, meaning no Will Grier.

[Snake]

15 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

All hell would have broken loose on here if that would have happened. 

And for good reason. Guys don't drop for no reason.

[Jon Snow]

Drafting for need is a bad strategy that almost always ends in failure, especially for Hurney.  I hope his luck has changed but I fear a year or two from now the results will be the same.

[kungfoodude]

14 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I kinda wish we didn't have that 5th year option on Shaq to have forced our hand. We would've either already signed him to an extension that would probably put his cap hit for this year at significantly less than his current nearly $10M or we would've let him walk and TD would be here for another year.

If we were completely sold on Shaq, he would've already been extended. That 5th year option really only helps you if you're dealing with a really good player at a premium position. QB, LT, WR, CB then yeah. Mediocre LB? Meh... I wish we didn't have that crutch. Make the call.

I would have agreed prior to the start of free agency but in hindsight, I am not sure I would say it was that big of a crutch. I look at some of the contracts that were inked for some of the players that a lot of us here wanted and I don't think I would be particularly excited about being married to those contracts for the long term. 

With the benefit of hindsight, I am not sure it turned out to be as big of a deal as we all thought. Not to mention if it was that big of a deal, we would have at least considering extending him. I guess maybe with the switch to the 3-4 he is on a $9 mil "prove it" contract.

The one big upgrade I reeeeeeaaaallllllyyyyyy wanted was signing Weddle. But he signed a cheap deal with a contender, so I also doubt he was that serious about us.

[kungfoodude]

12 hours ago, panthers55 said:

I surely hope that Little is as good as Hurney thinks. Sure could use the next Jordan Gross to anchor the left side after suffering through a turnstile of JAGs that were only serviceable due to Matso's skills as a coach. Gotta give him credit for swinging for the fences and finally trying to fix the O Line.  

Yeah but that take is only accurate if Little turns into a solid LT. If he is Matt Kalil 2.0, then it was a huge blunder and a desperation move. So, I can't give him any credit now. If it works out, all the credit in the world.

[PantherOnTheProwl1523]

It is so ridiculous to make a thread that should have been made during the draft not after it is over with.

[Tepper's Chest Hair]

3 hours ago, jbland said:

Not that I needed another reason but this proves to me that hurney hasn’t learned anything from his mistakes last go around.

What mistake did Hurney make?

Are you saying he *should* have traded up?

[rippadonn]

Time will tell, but history has been on Hurndogs side as far as first rounders go. THE only reason Little fell out of the first was the run on this unusually talented Dline class.

 

[kungfoodude]

9 minutes ago, rippadonn said:

Time will tell, but history has been on Hurndogs side as far as first rounders go. THE only reason Little fell out of the first was the run on this unusually talented Dline class.

 

No, he fell out of the first round because he was very bad at the combine. Four OT's were drafted in the first round, he wasn't one of them. The Texans have a bigger need at LT than we do but they panic drafted a guy with a third round grade over him. Think about that. 

[DeAngelo Beason]

As long as he was only offering a 3rd rounder I would have been fine with it.  Greg Little is a helluva player people.  The guy is going to be an all-pro in all likelihood.  

[thefuzz]

BB up in New England on draft night:  Somebody get, and keep Marty on the phone for the entire 1st and 2nd round.