Darnold doesn't bother me

[BrianS]

I just realized this a little while ago.  He was a risk, and everyone knew it.  You can argue whether someone should or should not have accepted that risk, but there was never any question that he was a risk.

You know what does bother me?  Every other QB on our roster.  There was too much opportunity to put another QB on the roster who might be able to complete a pass.  Tyrod Taylor, Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco and Mitch Trubisky all signed deals under 6 million per year last spring.  Surely it wouldn't have broken us to sign ONE of them to be competition / backup. 

If you want to develop PJ, fine, whatever.  He's not an NFL QB, but whatever.  Stick him on the practice squad.  But don't walk into the season without SOMETHING behind your starter.

This is definitely something I'll be watching closely this coming spring.

[Mage]

Everyone hated on it at the time, but I kept telling everyone that the smart target would have been Jameis.  Yes, the turnovers were bad... but now we have a keep with the same kind of turnover problems, but not nearly the upside that Winston has displayed throughout his career.

I still don't mind passing on a QB.  I liked Fields, but he had obvious question marks.  I liked Jones, but who knows what his ceiling is.  But we absolutely chose the wrong QB to hedge our bets on.  I tried to give him a fair chance, remained optimistic, but it's clear he doesn't get IT.  Winston has his problems but he's far, far better than Darnold, and it is a shame we didn't try to convince him to leave New Orleans.

[Ricky Spanish]

1 minute ago, Mage said:

Everyone hated on it at the time, but I kept telling everyone that the smart target would have been Jameis.  Yes, the turnovers were bad... but now we have a keep with the same kind of turnover problems, but not nearly the upside that Winston has displayed throughout his career.

I still don't mind passing on a QB.  I liked Fields, but he had obvious question marks.  I liked Jones, but who knows what his ceiling is.  But we absolutely chose the wrong QB to hedge our bets on.  I tried to give him a fair chance, remained optimistic, but it's clear he doesn't get IT.  Winston has his problems but he's far, far better than Darnold, and it is a shame we didn't try to convince him to leave New Orleans.

Winston is exactly what Watson is accused of. 

Keep him far the fug away from my team. 

The Saints WOULD fuging pick him up considering their involvement in covering up catholic church molestation. They deserve each other. 

Would have taken literally anyone else over him. Even Teddy again.

[CanadianCat]

I liked the Darnold trade at the time. I bought into the 'jets ruined him' narrative. That said my first option was Minshew. I think he is really under rated and would have cost significantly less. 

 

There still is a lot of season left.. Im hopeful that Darnold can get past this... 

[joemac]

4 minutes ago, CanadianCat said:

I liked the Darnold trade at the time. I bought into the 'jets ruined him' narrative. That said my first option was Minshew. I think he is really under rated and would have cost significantly less. 

 

There still is a lot of season left.. Im hopeful that Darnold can get past this... 

I liked the Darnold trade originally as well.  Hell I even liked it after the first couple games of the season, but now its crystal clear that CMC was hiding Sams GLARING weaknesses, and hes actually regressed greatly since then.  For some reason, hes so skittish that he cannot even complete a simple 5 yard pass to the RB anymore.  Maybe hes lost all confidence in his O-Line, and the ability of his "weapons" to even catch the ball, but I think most of all hes lost all confidence in himself.  Its painful to watch each week.  Im getting flashbacks of Jimmy Clausen and Vinny Testaverde. 

[Ocpanthertew714]

The Darnold thing does bother me a little bit.  I had such high hopes that he could turn it around.  BUT, now it appears the FO has committed to mediocrity at best.  That is what bothers me.  

[Kuhndog94]

1 minute ago, joemac said:

I liked the Darnold trade originally as well.  Hell I even liked it after the first couple games of the season, but now its crystal clear that CMC was hiding Sams GLARING weaknesses, and hes actually regressed greatly since then.  For some reason, hes so skittish that he cannot even complete a simple 5 yard pass to the RB anymore.  Maybe hes lost all confidence in his O-Line, and the ability of his "weapons" to even catch the ball, but I think most of all hes lost all confidence in himself.  Its painful to watch each week.  Im getting flashbacks of Jimmy Clausen and Vinny Testaverde. 

I've always disliked the Sam trade. 

 

However, I must admit I defended the Teddy signing early last year until it was clear he really was just Teddy checkdown.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Ever since this team cut ties with Anderson, the Panthers have failed to find a viable backup QB.  How long has that been now?   

[kungfoodude]

2 minutes ago, Kuhndog94 said:

I've always disliked the Sam trade. 

 

However, I must admit I defended the Teddy signing early last year until it was clear he really was just Teddy checkdown.

I was down on both signings. The worst part was the size of the Teddy deal and the decision to pick up the 5th year option on Darnold. Those just seemed like such unnecessary financial commitments with little to no reasoning supporting them.

I didn't buy into Grier, I didn't buy into Allen, I didn't buy into Heinicke, or PJ Walker or even Cam when we drafted him!! I didn't even buy into Cam Newton! 

 

Only one time was that doubt wrong. 

[Mage]

8 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

 the decision to pick up the 5th year option on Darnold. 

That right there.

Everyone talks about how important it is to get that QB.  To me, what we gave up for Darnold, even seeing how bad he still is, was worth it to find out if he could be the guy.  It ain't like he lacks the physical skills.  It was worth the shot.

But to pick up that 5th year option never, ever made sense.  He was either going to play well enough to be worth franchise tagging or not play well enough to warrant us attaching ourselves to him for 2022.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, Mage said:

That right there.

Everyone talks about how important it is to get that QB.  To me, what we gave up for Darnold, even seeing how bad he still is, was worth it to find out if he could be the guy.  It ain't like he lacks the physical skills.  It was worth the shot.

But to pick up that 5th year option never, ever made sense.  He was either going to play well enough to be worth franchise tagging or not play well enough to warrant us attaching ourselves to him for 2022.

I could not wrap my head around this decision at all. It showed this wasn't some gamble, it was a flat out all-in move. $19 mil may not sound like much, but it's what we jettisoned Cam for. It's also on a rookie deal which means it is 100% guaranteed money. 

Even worse? We JUST DID THIS SAME poo LAST YEAR WITH TEDDY BRIDGEWATER.

[TheMaulClaw]

Wanna watch a real team?  Canes vs Bruins tonight.

[LinvilleGorge]

I'm not mad at Darnold. He is what he is. It's 100% the fault of the decision makers who somehow convinced themselves that he was something different.

[hepcat]

Trading for Darnold was not a bad idea. Not having a backup plan behind him was an absolutely moronic people should get fired decision