Should Panthers keep all 3 current tight ends?

[KatsAzz]

With 2010 being an uncapped season,Jeff King will be a RFA,so my question is should we try to keep him if he gets another offer and should we also keep Rosario and Barnidge if we could trade one or pick up a cheaper free agent of equal or better talent.

Tight ends Dante Rosario, Jeff King and Gary Barnidge combined to total 63 receptions for 755 yards and five touchdowns in 2009. Rosario paced the trio with 26 catches for 313 yards and two touchdowns. Of his 50 career receptions, 35 (70.0 percent) have yielded a first down or touchdown. The steady King made 25 catches for 200 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Over the last three seasons, he has started 46 games. Second-year pro Barnidge averaged 20.2 yards per catch on 12 receptions for 242 yards with a long of 55.

I like Barnidge out of all TE we currently have. I see a Tony Gonzalez type in him, goods hands, does not go down easy and a decent blocker. But I think all our TE are expendable/replaceable due to the fact that our offense does not use the TE as much in the passing game.

[Jackofalltrades]

I wouldn't mind letting King walk and picking up a more athletic TE like the other two. King has had some good catches and is a good blocker, but I don't think replacing him would be very difficult.

[HSCBandit07]

It's not like we will get any picks or good trade value for them. Keep all three, they are solid for our system.

[Kettle]

the TE needs to be used more than for just blocking. the guys have the talent. jake just rarely chose to use them. matt on the other hand....

[jasonluckydog]

All 3 bring something different to the table so it would be foolish to let any walk and they don't cost alot to keep. Rosairo is clutch and s/t

[rayzor]

keep all three. no reason that we shouldn't.

[panthers55]

Without a cap you bring all three back and pick up one or two more. At the end of camp and the preseason you let the chips fall where they may.

[unicar15]

Let King go...

[panthers55]

Let King go...

You give him the lowest tender. If someone bites, you get compensation, if they don't you still get him for pretty cheap.

[Razzy]

Keep all 3 if the price is right. Let King go and teach Rosario to block. I like King and I think if he goes somewhere else he will be successful, but it isn't worth throwing money at. King is just like an upgraded version of Kris Mangum haha.

[rico6]

We kept 3 kickers, Why not?

[Vagrant]

Let King go...

Right. Because being part of an offensive line that blocked for two 1,100 yard rushers is something everybody has done. And make no mistake about it, the TE in our system is essentially another tackle on most plays. We run out of a lot of strong formations and King is by FAR the best we have in terms of blocking. His hands are also decent enough to play first team snaps.

We did a lot of running last year behind King and Otah on the right side with Moose over there as well. Holes exploded open. Fortunately for the short attention span crowd, our coaches are able to identify valuable blocking on tape. It seems like some folks here think that a 40 yard pass reception is just as valuable as grinding out a 200 yard day on the ground and that the only guy that gets credit for making a play is the guy that gets the yardage.

I have said this many times. Go ask Double Trouble who they want at starting TE on most plays. That will create your definitive answer right there. I would bet dimes to donuts they would say Jeff King is the best guy for the job.

Gary Barnidge is a glorified WR at the TE position. In fact, they should try him out of the slot against nickel corners and see how he does. Rosario is the best pure receiving TE of the bunch, but he is also a below average blocker.

King

Rosario

Barnidge

That is the depth chart and how it should stay until we convert into a pass first offense, if we ever do.

[PantherDude]

jake just rarely chose to use them. matt on the other hand....

Really? Jake rarely chose to use them?? Then how did King & Rosario have more TDs than Smitty in the first few games of the season this year then? Yeah, he rarely chose to use them.

And we need to keep all 3 TEs. They're very serviceable for us, so we should keep them as long as we can. And they're quite cheap too. :thumbsup:

[Lonestar13]

let them all go and keep extra lineman in there place, not since Walls has the TE position been a factor

of any of the 3, I'd keep King, Barnidge is no Walls and Rosario other than the SD catch last season is mediocre at best jmo