Jason McCourty: Panthers made NFL's biggest offseason move

[NAS]

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2023/06/07/panthers-offseason-jason-mccourty-frank-reich-bryce-young-jets-aaron-rodgers/
 

After 18 years with one franchise, a four-time Most Valuable Player, four-time First-team All-Pro, 10-time Pro Bowler, Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame quarterback was traded—and to “The Big Apple,” no less. So, that was undoubtedly the biggest move of the offseason, right?

Not according to Jason McCourty, who believes that honor belongs to the Carolina Panthers.

The former safety and current co-host of Good Morning Football was asked if Aaron Rodgers’ trade to the New York Jets will end up being the most impactful acquisition of the spring. While he does love himself some A-Rod, McCourty said the Panthers’ additions of head coach Frank Reich and quarterback Bryce Young will have a greater effect in the grander scheme of things.

“I’m gonna say the Panthers getting Frank Reich and the first overall pick will be the biggest offseason move,” he stated. “You look at the Carolina Panthers a year ago—Matt Rhule’s the head coach. Matt Rhule is fired. Steve Wilks takes over. You remember Robbie Chosen, Robbie Anderson—he gets into a blowout on the sideline, he’s walking into the locker roomduring the game.

“So the Panthers—with where they were last season to where they are now—getting a head coach in Frank Reich, now getting Bryce Young as their quarterback. This, to me, can be the offseason move of the future where you’re just like, ‘My goodness.’ You look at the Panthers over this past year, the trajectory that they’re on, where they’re going to be—this could’ve been the biggest move of the offseason. Them getting that first overall pick so early on and having a head coach to develop their next young quarterback.”

And that, not so coincidentally, was Carolina’s plan all along.

The hiring of Reich, a former quarterback and heralded offensive play caller, was partly inspired by the franchise’s recent woes under center. Plus, powering your way to the top of the draft board to pick any rookie passer you want is a pretty effective way to fix that position as well.

So while Rodgers may make his presence felt more than any newcomer in 2023, it may be Reich and Young who run with the ball for years to come.

[t96]

Bryce will have a better season than Rodgers this year too. Rodgers gonna be like Favre in NY but then have one last great run with the Vikings to finish the parallel.

[rayzor]

it's a shame there's some among even our fanbase that can't see this.

 

[Fright]

I'm glad the days of standing pat with bad decisions are gone.

 

If the coach loses the locker room and shows he just flat out sucks, fire him and bring in a competent coach who will mesh with your roster build. QBs win SB's, if your qb group sucks, make a move to get your future stud. If you lack talent at positions, make free agent moves and draft needs. Tepper has made sure all of this was done and has set us up for a nice foreseeable future. 

[stratocatter]

We can see it was a big move, just fine. Feel free to insult people that aren't guzzling the koolaide, after the issue is resolved. Which it isn't. 

[CamWhoaaCam]

Love the respect, but you can't say we had the biggest offseason move when we hired a HC who was fired.

 

I think our coaching staff as a group is why we will improve. We got some well respected coaches and I expect a big change in the culture of this team.

[WhoKnows]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

it's a shame there's some among even our fanbase that can't see this.

 

I understand the reluctance. I’m ecstatic that we finally got a rookie QB I like after three years of putting lipstick on pigs. I also remember the playoff seeding talk after week 3 in 2021. We weren’t saying fire Rhule after a competitive 2020 (8 of 11 losses by 1 score) without Cam, Luke, Bradberry and CMC for 13 games. I remember people saying Teddy would throw for 4000 and 30.

We’ve won a max 7 games in 5 years even with two 17 game seasons. Some of us are worn down by the losses. Even with a bit of sparks last year, we still choked during the huge Tampa game. Our division sucks so we’ve got a chance but Young’s a rookie so we’ll likely have growing pains.

I think some people do want to be right more than winning, which is odd, but some of us are just being realistic. I don’t think TMJ is going to be the next big thing but if he turns into Chase, lol, I’ll be glad.

[rayzor]

3 minutes ago, WhoKnows said:

I understand the reluctance. I’m ecstatic that we finally got a rookie QB I like after three years of putting lipstick on pigs. I also remember the playoff seeding talk after week 3 in 2021. We weren’t saying fire Rhule after a competitive 2020 (8 of 11 losses by 1 score) without Cam, Luke, Bradberry and CMC for 13 games. I remember people saying Teddy would throw for 4000 and 30.

We’ve won a max 7 games in 5 years even with two 17 game seasons. Some of us are worn down by the losses. Even with a bit of sparks last year, we still choked during the huge Tampa game. Our division sucks so we’ve got a chance but Young’s a rookie so we’ll likely have growing pains.

I think some people do want to be right more than winning, which is odd, but some of us are just being realistic. I don’t think TMJ is going to be the next big thing but if he turns into Chase, lol, I’ll be glad.

we've been in the doldrums for maybe 8 years and this is the first year i think we've actually had an inkling of a reason to be excited and optimistic. i think i'm not alone in being tired of the doldrums and i'm not turning back. not until i'm proved that my optimism is misplaced. 

i'm going to enjoy this feeling good as long as i can and i'm going to milk it for everything it might have. 

[WhoKnows]

12 minutes ago, rayzor said:

we've been in the doldrums for maybe 8 years and this is the first year i think we've actually had an inkling of a reason to be excited and optimistic. i think i'm not alone in being tired of the doldrums and i'm not turning back. not until i'm proved that my optimism is misplaced. 

i'm going to enjoy this feeling good as long as i can and i'm going to milk it for everything it might have. 

My youngest is trying to pick the game or maybe 2 games that I’ll take him to for his birthday and he’s stoked. I’m a bit more subdued but I’m very much liking the direction. Still pissed Tepper didn’t use my tank for Trevor plan, but glad we at least boarded the top rookie QB train. Just would have been nice to not waste 3 years in the process! I mean, what clown thought we’d compete with Teddy, Sam and Baker. Their names even sound like they should be working at Krispy Kreme not QBing our team.

[Gerry Green]

I truly feel sad for those folks who are so afraid of the past, and all the scars associated with it, that they are incapable of allowing the excitement for the future to creep into their fandom.

 

We are supposed to learn from the past, not fear it. The future is bright, whereas the past is dark. Leave the dark behind, and step into the light.

 

With all the negativity over the last few years. You'd think folks would be anxious to grasp on to some excitement and some positivity?

[Jmac]

If the HC and his boys are as good as they look on paper and B.C can play decent....we may be smiling come January......or not.

Edited June 7, 2023 by Jmac

[UnluckyforSome]

Historically, this kind of praise has often been premature, or never fully realized. They haven't even played a snap yet. As a franchise, we have rarely been able to meet the moment. It would be such a nice change if that was to no longer be the case.

[tukafan21]

6 hours ago, t96 said:

Bryce will have a better season than Rodgers this year too. Rodgers gonna be like Favre in NY but then have one last great run with the Vikings to finish the parallel.

No chance, only way that happens is if Rodgers or multiple weapons in that offense are injured for the majority of the season.

You can be as high as you want on Bryce, but he's still a rookie and Rodgers is a year removed from back to back MVPs.  He now goes to a team with legit weapons around him with Wilson, Breece, Hardman, Lazard, Davis and an elite level defense.

The Jets may not win the SB and Rodgers may not win the MVP, but to think Bryce as a rookie is going to have a better season than Rodgers, assuming both are healthy for a full season, is just asinine and/or a bad homer take.

[Shocker]

4 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

Love the respect, but you can't say we had the biggest offseason move when we hired a HC who was fired.

 

I think our coaching staff as a group is why we will improve. We got some well respected coaches and I expect a big change in the culture of this team.

He was fired by a team that then installed a ESPN analyst as head coach who had zero coaching experience.  Yeah, the Colts definitely know what they are doing