Re-Examining the Delhomme Extension

[Mr. Scot]

Taking a look back at the reasons behind it in light of what we know now:

Team Chemistry: This was probably the biggest factor. Delhomme's teammates still believed in him (I had posted that they wouldn't, but they did). Can't honestly blame them. They had been to war with him before and won. That kind of loyalty doesn't just go away easily.

The Verdict: Loyalty is a good thing, but it's not an objective thing, and sometimes it leads you to make the wrong decision. A little more objectivity would have been wise here on the part of the coaching staff. Players can afford to be loyal. Coaches have to be careful about letting it affect their judgment.

Possible Aberration: Even good QBs sometimes have bad playoff games, so it wasn't a huge stretch to think that this game might have been an aberration.

The Verdict: Turns out it wasn't, but there realistically wasn't any way to know that back then. You could argue the team could have put more effort into contingency plans just in case it wasn't, but that'll be discussed below.

The Season Record: Delhomme had been at the helm for a 12-4 season and had more good games than bad. The really bad games came after weeks off with no activity. That was fixable.

The Verdict: This is really just the flipside of the previous point. Again, it was a valid possibility but turned out to be wrong.

Cap Savings: Extending Delhomme would give the team a small amount of cap room. Depending on the numbers, possibly even enough for the rookie pool since there would be no first rounder.

The Verdict: There was a cap savings, but not a huge one. And the numbers made clear that this was not strictly for cap relief. Cap savings was really more side effect than direct result. The front office really believed Delhomme had four or five good years left in him. Of course, we know now that this belief was in error.

Slim Pickings: The replacement options from free agency and the draft didn't offer anything that was a sure bet to be an improvement. The team wasn't going to use a high pick on a QB because they fear the 'bust factor' too much. And the trade and free agent options were lousy.

The Verdict: This was probably the strongest point of the bunch, and arguably even stronger now that we've seen how fan obsessions like Jay Cutler and Matt Cassel have turned out. It just wasn't a good year for free agent QB shopping. Sadly, next year doesn't look much better. It can rightly be said though that had we traded the kind of high and/or multiple picks it would have taken to get the other guys, we could be in an even worse spot than we are now.

...........................................................................................................

Based on these arguments, and what we knew at the time, extending Delhomme for a couple of years at a mid-range salary was reasonable.

Unfortunately, that isn't what actually happened

When the contract numbers came out, I blinked a couple of times just to make sure my eyes were working. While I agreed with the extension, the length and the money were surprising. At the time, I figured it could be one of those contracts where there was a smaller base figure in the middle and the rest was fluff (and it may indeed be, but we'll not likely know that anytime soon).

Before this happened, there was a period where I firmly believed Delhomme would be a June 1st cut and the team would go with McCown as starter, but then the stories that came out started saying otherwise. I decided to be cautiously optimistic and hope for the best.

That lasted until week one, and then I was right back to where I'd been after the Cardinals game. And in fairness the Josh McCown injury - and subsequent bad decision to IR him and sign A J Feeley - probably makes this whole event worse than it ever would have been.

It's very possible McCown was the contingency plan, that the team figured if Jake went sour again they could pull him for Josh and not miss a beat. It's also quite possible that had McCown not been hurt, Delhomme might have been benched at some point rather than playing till injury forced him out.

We'll never know.

So in the end: Decent idea, with some logic to back it up, but poorly executed (too long and too much money) and too many of the reasons behind it turned out to be incorrect. Add in that the resultant problems were exacerbated by an injury to the backup plan.

What do we learn here? Simply that a wise idea executed in a foolish manner ceases to be a wise idea.

[PhillyB]

if it works, fox looks like a genius. in this case it didn't and now everyone wants his head. it wasn't a foolish gamble, honestly, based on the factors your brought up; but at the end of the day, the decision was fox's and it'll probably cost him his job.

[Mr. Scot]

You'll get some who say they predicted the crash and burn. Only problem with that is a lot of them also predicted it last year before the team went 12-4 (and the year before, and the year before, and...you get it).

This is why I generally try to stay away from predictions. Nobody really knows, and the person who sounds like a genius with one prediction can sound like a moron with another.

As old Mora Sr once said, "You think you know, but you don't know."

Sometimes you can make a decision based on perfectly logical reasons, and find out that despite everything you thought you knew it was the worst call you could have made.

(that's probably the story of a lot of marriages) :sosp:

[Bigdaddy8523]

I would have kept Delhomme after last season true enough he had some bad games last yr but the 12-4 record even though we were a predominately running team had some to do with Delhomme, cause even though Moore played Ok in 07 we really couldn't afford to have another Carr or Testeverde leading us after a 12-4 record and Jake did absolutely nothing to lose his job until that Arizona game. He had a few games off but most Qbs do even the great ones. So I agree with keeping Jake the Peppers decision is up for debate but I probably would have kept him.

[Matt Foley]

I love Jake. Every time I ever asked him to do something, he didn't hesitate to say yes, and he took the ball and ran with it.

But when I was driving through Charlotte and listening to the morning show on 610 when they announced that signing, I almost swerved off the road. My first thought was "Marty and John have lost their minds."

I wanted Jake to come back and be a good quarterback again, but it seemed like the Panthers were trying to pay him into being confident again. Crazy gamble.

That being said, if the Panthers release Delhomme, I hope my Rams pick him up. He can play on my team any day.

[Zod]

That being said, if the Panthers release Delhomme, I hope my Rams pick him up. He can play on my team any day.

Yeah, but on the Rams, would anyone notice?

[Khyber53]

Well said, Meat.

Delhomme has washed out this year, but I'm not sure that he is washed up. I still think this is a case of the yips more than anything, but the yips can be fatal in professional sports.

And any time you list a McCown brother (any of them) as the best choice for a franchise, you know that the pickings must be mighty slim.

[thejimmy]

I agreed with extending Jake, not at the amount they gave him though. I agree with M.S., considering all the factors, and the information they had at the time, it was probably the right thing to do.

Yet, it turned out to be a terrible decision, and yep, it will probably cost Fox his job. People are screaming for Cowher or other coaching options, and that's annoying b/c until we get a quarterback, no coach will be successful.

I do disgree about the QB options this year. We don't have a first rounder but i think there are some viable options that will be around when we pick...if we decide to draft one.

[thefuzz]

Jake has always been average, and every once in a while good.

I blame Hurney for never trying to get a Qb on the team that could truly push Jake, and or take over for him.

[Squirrel]

There was no logic behind the extension any way you look at it it was a bad deal.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Everybody in this thread has forgotten the key point: Jake had just one year left on his contract and could have been cut loose after this season without anyone paying him a dime. It was inexcusable to resign him in the manner that they did when they could have just let him walk.

[Jase]

Everybody in this thread has forgotten the key point: Jake had just one year left on his contract and could have been cut loose after this season without anyone paying him a dime. It was inexcusable to resign him in the manner that they did when they could have just let him walk.

How many players would we have had to cut this year just to keep Jake's $12 million salary that he was scheduled to make?

People bitch about Pep's 17 mil this year and the lack of depth... just imagine the outrage over paying Jake 12m for this year's performance.

There were two options: cut him or extend him. Both options were risky.

[Mr. Scot]

How many players would we have had to cut this year just to keep Jake's $12 million salary that he was scheduled to make?

People bitch about Pep's 17 mil this year and the lack of depth... just imagine the outrage over paying Jake 12m for this year's performance.

There were two options: cut him or extend him. Both options were risky.

Pretty much. And given the injury parade that started early, the cap room was badly needed.

[Kevin Greene]

Everybody in this thread has forgotten the key point: Jake had just one year left on his contract and could have been cut loose after this season without anyone paying him a dime. It was inexcusable to resign him in the manner that they did when they could have just let him walk.

Just a desperate GM looking for a couple milliion in cap relief.

Discussed in length here:

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/11345-delhomme-has-new-deal.html