Lost in the conversation: Shaq is having a phenomenal year

[TN05]

Shaq is absolutely thriving in the 3-4. He’s played incredible so far this year and finally looks like the player we drafted him to be.

[SpeedOFLight]

Yeah he has been playing lights out. Even though I hated seeing Davis go, we had to find out what we have in Shaq and I’m loving it so far 

[NAS]

And not just in terms of tackling. He’s been tremendous in the passing defense.

[BrianS]

35 minutes ago, TN05 said:

Shaq is absolutely thriving in the 3-4. He’s played incredible so far this year and finally looks like the player we drafted him to be.

He is, finally, looking great.  Unfortunately for us.

I think the team absolutely made the right choice not to extend him prior to the season.  He hadn't shown anything worth talking about to that point.  However, with the way he's playing now, if he keeps it up, it's questionable whether we'll be able to sign him given our existing contracts and the upcoming contracts we're going to want to give out.

The team has been relatively good at finding and developing LB's in it's history.  We have been relatively terrible at finding and developing WR's, and we now have two WR's who may never be "great", but are absolutely NFL caliber.  If Funchess can get $10 million, imagine what DJ or Curtis will command.  Oh, and we have a generational talent at RB who we would be mad not to resign.

I'm worried Shaq may become a luxury we can't afford.  :(

[sml1950]

Going to be tough to afford 2 inside LBs making 8 figures+.  May be his last year.

[bababoey]

6 minutes ago, BrianS said:

He is, finally, looking great.  Unfortunately for us.

I think the team absolutely made the right choice not to extend him prior to the season.  He hadn't shown anything worth talking about to that point.  However, with the way he's playing now, if he keeps it up, it's questionable whether we'll be able to sign him given our existing contracts and the upcoming contracts we're going to want to give out.

The team has been relatively good at finding and developing LB's in it's history.  We have been relatively terrible at finding and developing WR's, and we now have two WR's who may never be "great", but are absolutely NFL caliber.  If Funchess can get $10 million, imagine what DJ or Curtis will command.  Oh, and we have a generational talent at RB who we would be mad not to resign.

I'm worried Shaq may become a luxury we can't afford.  :(

Shaq actually looked almost this good last year before TD came back.  It's been hard for him to find playing time when you had 80 year old TD still running down backs and receivers.  Now no TD and Shaq gets out there in nickle and he looks just as good as TD did or maybe better than TD last year.  

[My Goodness My Guinness]

Yeah he’s played really well and vastly exceeded my expectations, so good for him!

[ncfan]

Going to be an interesting offseason

These are the FAs

- Shaq: having career year.  We all sre excited for Carter but when put in place of Shaq in preseason, he really struggled

- Bradberry: awesome season, still hasnt signed

- Mario Addison: currently 3rd in the NFL in sacks with 6.5

- Daryl Williams: yes struggled at LT and has admitted right side is his strong side.  But has looked GOOD at RG in Trai Turner's absence 

- CMC will be eligible for extensions.  And it has become common for RBs to want it done stat and will sot out of not (see Zeke, Gordon, etc).  With the ammount of weight, workload, etc we're throwing on him and his body.  You know his agent is calling dailey to remind him

Efe Odada, McCoy, Butler, Kyle Love will all be FA's

I believe Kyle Allen is on the last year of his deal as well

[Waldo]

Shaq looks like I always hoped he would. He is great on the inside. I'm enjoying watching him reach his potential.

We have young OLBs on rockie contracts. Until Burns is up for a new contract, we should be able to afford Shaq. If we can resign Addison then we should be good to go. I would rather have Shaq locked up then bringing back Irvin. Of course that is if he doesn't ask for ridiculous money.

[Icege]

Shaq was drafted to replace TD, and fans that were whining about his production while TD was still here are doing everything they can to avoid the heaping plate of crow that's sitting and waiting for them now that he is finally being allowed to do what he was drafted for.

He was moved all over the defense, never given a consistent assignment, and did it all without complaining or throwing anyone under the bus.

Pay the man.

[trucpfan]

14 minutes ago, ncfan said:

Going to be an interesting offseason

These are the FAs

- Shaq: having career year.  We all sre excited for Carter but when put in place of Shaq in preseason, he really struggled

- Bradberry: awesome season, still hasnt signed

- Mario Addison: currently 3rd in the NFL in sacks with 6.5

- Daryl Williams: yes struggled at LT and has admitted right side is his strong side.  But has looked GOOD at RG in Trai Turner's absence 

- CMC will be eligible for extensions.  And it has become common for RBs to want it done stat and will sot out of not (see Zeke, Gordon, etc).  With the ammount of weight, workload, etc we're throwing on him and his body.  You know his agent is calling dailey to remind him

Efe Odada, McCoy, Butler, Kyle Love will all be FA's

I believe Kyle Allen is on the last year of his deal as well

Dam man we have a bunch of very good performers hitting FA. Those are major contributors to the nasty D-Line we’ve seen early in the season.

[Black&BlueBubba]

27 minutes ago, ncfan said:

Going to be an interesting offseason

These are the FAs

- Shaq: having career year.  We all sre excited for Carter but when put in place of Shaq in preseason, he really struggled

- Bradberry: awesome season, still hasnt signed

- Mario Addison: currently 3rd in the NFL in sacks with 6.5

- Daryl Williams: yes struggled at LT and has admitted right side is his strong side.  But has looked GOOD at RG in Trai Turner's absence 

- CMC will be eligible for extensions.  And it has become common for RBs to want it done stat and will sot out of not (see Zeke, Gordon, etc).  With the ammount of weight, workload, etc we're throwing on him and his body.  You know his agent is calling dailey to remind him

Efe Odada, McCoy, Butler, Kyle Love will all be FA's

I believe Kyle Allen is on the last year of his deal as well

Allen isn’t going anywhere.  Backup or starter.  H isn’t eligible really until 2022 or 2023.  Next year he is a ERFA then a RFA.  He is cheap the next several years.  
 

And there is a way for us to resign Shaq and Bradberry. But that is a topic for another time.  

[Raleigh PF]

Staying with the topic (re: Shaq), I was one of the ones who called for his release during the offseason to save $9M. 

He's having a great year. Before we give credit to the 3-4 alignment for his success, I would be interested in knowing how many times the Panthers have actually been in a 3-4 alignment. I don't think it would be as many as some believe.

My concern is overpaying. This is his fourth year. Granted, TD was in his way, but he didn't really overwhelm when TD went down. 

He's in a contract year. Is this the new standard? Or is this anomaly? Are you willing to pay $12M+ to find out?

Honestly, if he's willing to sign a reasonable contract, then bring him back. Otherwise, let's draft a replacement.

[mc52beast]

Having Davis here has held him back. Would probably already be a top LB instead of just now getting recognition.