Person looks at Mayfield, Rhule and "revisionist history"

[Mr. Scot]

...in his latest Athletic article.

Mayfield the latest Matt Rhule choice to leave

Excerpts:

As Matt Rhule conducted his Revisionist History Campaign last week from his new Nebraska office, one of his contentions was that he didn’t really have final roster say with the Panthers, despite what his contract said to the contrary.

And no, Rhule didn’t make every draft pick or orchestrate every personnel move. There was collaboration with the two general managers he worked with — Marty Hurney and Scott Fitterer.

But when Rhule really wanted a player, he let it be known. And one of those guys Rhule coveted — quarterback Baker Mayfield — just followed his former coach out the door.

...

Rhule’s failure to get the quarterback position right was his undoing. He passed on quarterbacks in the first round of the draft — Mac Jones and Justin Fields in 2021, Kenny Pickett this year — in favor of a dart-throwing approach in the hopes he’d hit on a QB via trade or free agency.

Teddy Bridgewater begot Sam Darnold, who begot Mayfield — with a Cam Newton redux and failed pursuits of Matthew Stafford and Deshaun Watson in the middle of that timeline, as well. As to Rhule’s comments that he would have tried to make a big trade or splash signing if he knew he wasn’t on a Jay-Z seven-year plan, well, how would he characterize the Panthers making a run at Stafford and Watson?

...

After the Panthers balked at guaranteeing all of Watson’s contract — not that Watson would have necessarily picked them anyway — Rhule turned his sights to Mayfield, who wanted out of Cleveland after the Browns landed Watson.

Not all of the Panthers’ decision-makers were initially on board, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the situation. But Rhule was persistent and eventually got his man.

...

But taking a flier on Mayfield wasn’t the worst idea. The No. 1 pick in 2018 had his moments in Cleveland, and the Panthers got him on the cheap after the Browns agreed to pick up $10.5 million of Mayfield’s salary. When Mayfield reluctantly OK’d a $3.5 million pay cut — the Panthers originally wanted him to take a $7 million cut — that left David Tepper on the hook for only $4.86 million.

Even the draft pick compensation was mild compared to what the Panthers gave up for Darnold. The conditional fifth-round pick will remain a fifth-rounder (instead of a fourth-rounder) because Mayfield didn’t play 70 percent of the offensive snaps.

...

Much like Robbie Anderson, Mayfield lost an advocate in Charlotte when Rhule was fired. Mayfield started only one game after interim coach Steve Wilks took over, and that was due to injuries to Darnold and P.J. Walker.

So when Wilks told Mayfield on Monday morning the now-healthy Walker would back up Darnold this week, Mayfield asked to be released. He’ll be subject to waivers, where he could be claimed by a quarterback-needy team such as San Francisco.

“I wouldn’t say that he failed,” Wilks said later. “I would say that it just didn’t work out. He’s still a good football player. Just like coaches, just like players, sometimes they just need a change. And I wish him all the best.”

[Waldo]

I'm fine with passing on Jones and Pickett, no real loss there. Watson was a real scare. 

Rhule's problem was always Rhule. His mouth being an endless pit of BS that he can't shut was an issue and his complete lack of meaningful ability, skill or understanding led to his failure. It just showed in how he handled the QB position in his time here. 

[kungfoodude]

It will be fun to see how much more behind the curtain we get to see as a result of Rhule frantically trying to change the narratives about his tenure here. So much would have just stayed behind the scenes and now it is going to be public because he crossed so many people.

[hepcat]

Faker is gone, knew he’d be a failure from the beginning. He’s a coward and he showed it on the football field.

[Mr. Scot]

42 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

It will be fun to see how much more behind the curtain we get to see as a result of Rhule frantically trying to change the narratives about his tenure here. So much would have just stayed behind the scenes and now it is going to be public because he crossed so many people.

I don't know whether Person already knew all this stuff (sounds like he might have) or if any of it was "mysteriously leaked" to him.

And yeah, more of that wouldn't surprise me.

[Mr. Scot]

31 minutes ago, stbugs said:

That’s why I take everything after someone leaves with a grain of salt. Heck, it happens in every business. The person who left gets thrown under the bus to make the current folks look good. We saw all the wow the Panthers are all of a sudden tough now, which lasted a couple days before Cincy took us to the woodshed.

Not saying Rhule didn’t suck, just that the current staff has the local reporters ears and those reporters will likely say whatever they are told and no chance it will it be bad news about the current staff.

I just ignore these snippets because I’ve seen it even in my line of work where the people that left get blamed for things they did and things some people want other people to believe they did. Some truth, some under the bus throwing and we’ll likely never really know because we weren’t there.

Difference here is they weren't saying anything at all, and still might not be. Person may have already known all this.

Rhule could have kept quiet too, but he chose to shoot his mouth off.

So if there are any further revelations, it'll be his own fault.

[AU-panther]

So whose idea was it to get Sam? 

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, AU-panther said:

So whose idea was it to get Sam? 

Phil Snow's...

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, stbugs said:

May have, that’s my point. I know you despise Rhule but he’s gone, time to stop dwelling. I’m sure you’ve worked at jobs where people left, especially not on great terms. Stories and throwing people under the bus was common, especially by folks who wanted to look better and the folks who wanted to look better can disseminate their story. The people who left don’t have the same mouth pieces (local reporters here). There are truths because there’s reasons why they left and there are blame games to get the bad moves on someone else’s resume.

If Person knew before, why not make it a story early on when Mayfield is floundering. I remember more than a few people in here giving kudos to Fitterer for Mayfield and making more decisions this year, including you. Now that Mayfield is a bust, he’s hooked to Rhule who’s already gone and to be honest, unless we have a recording of it, we’ll never know the truth, which is probably something lame like a joint decision.

Now you're revising history.

So apparently the real reason for your skepticism is it contradicts your narrative.

[Smohn Jith]

6 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Phil Snow's...

correct.

https://www.nfl.com/news/matt-rhule-on-why-panthers-didn-t-pick-qb-in-draft-i-just-believe-in-sam-darnold

 

"We were sitting there one day on defense, and I can't remember (exactly) what we were watching, we were watching a cut up, and Sam was playing on the other side of the ball, and a couple times he made some throws, and Phil Snow, our defensive coordinator, was like, 'Man, that kid looks like Matt Stafford.' And so, we put a couple games on – and this is the defensive staff -- and they were all like, 'You know what, every game we watch, he makes a couple of big-time plays, and there has to be some meat on the bone there,' "

[ThPantherFan]

6 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

behind the scenes and now it is going to be public because he crossed so many people.

Haa, haa, haa.  I'm so glad he's gone.  

[Panthercougar68]

4 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Now you're revising history.

So apparently the real reason for your skepticism is it contradicts your narrative.

lol 

[Ivan The Awesome]

Thanks Baker for sucking so bad that it got Rhule canned. Hope he catches on elsewhere.

[top dawg]

So many people were so wrong about Baker, and it wasn't just Rhule. I think that it would behoove many to just let the Revisionist History Express ride on by.