The mistake with Delhomme

[jasonluckydog]

I said this many times Jake was paid chump money when he was tearing it up and after the end of his career the panthers rewarded him...I have no problems with that

[Mr. Scot]

I said this many times Jake was paid chump money when he was tearing it up and after the end of his career the panthers rewarded him...I have no problems with that

I don't have a problem with paying him for what he accomplished, but the timing stunk, especially having it come alongside the Peppers drama of last year.

[OneBadassCat]

I don't think money would have affected Delhomme's play or his desire for the team to win. I think where the FO went wrong was by not bringing QB's that could push him and make him better. I think a lot of Delhomme's downfall was him and the team getting complacent with his play.

[Debil]

The thing about contracts... it takes two parties to agree. So it's not like the Panthers took advantage of Jake. He (and his agent) agreed to the terms - they didn't have to. You can use the argument that Jake is a great guy all you want, but the bottom line is he didn't have to sign anything.

As far as I'm concerned, the only mistake made with any of his contracts was the last one.

[Montsta]

being stupid enough to believe that an average QB like Jake would become the first QB to legitmately return from Tommy John. IMO, that injury ended his career. Maybe a young QB can pull it off.....Delhomme never mentally was able to overcome the changes in his arm imo.

I don't claim to know what happened inside Delhomme that made him totally poo the bed last year, but I'm VERY confident it was NOT lingering effects from Tommy John surgery. Allow me to expand my thoughts...

Jake went down in 2007, and while he was off to a great start, I'm not going to count that season in my argument, because it was way to small of a sample season given the time of the injury. From 2003-2006, Jake Delhomme's averages in a few key areas were as follows:

QB Passer Rating: 84.65

Passing Yards: 3,332

Completion Percentage: 59.65

Yards/Completion: 7.2

In 2008, a year where we went 12-4 immediately following Jake's Tommy John surgery, Jake's numbers were as follows:

QB Passer Rating: 84.7

Passing Yards: 3,288

Completion Percentage: 59.4

Yards/Completion: 7.9

In my humble opinion, that surgery had NOTHING to do with the downfall of Jake Delhomme. I personally believe that Jake simply shat the bed in historic fashion on a huge national stage, and never recovered mentally. Mix that with a new QB coach and over-analyzing everything about what he's doing wrong, and the guy just never had a chance to return to form.

Again, this is purely my opinion and I don't claim to know what happened to the poor guy. Maybe it was the surgery, but I'm not buying that.

[Montie_0123]

Good Post

[JungleCat]

With Jake, I think it was "too much, too late". Matt Moore's been given a chance to turn things around. If he doesn't and there's an NFL lockout in 2011, a one year deal is all he needs.

[Montsta]

Oh, and nice write-up as usual, Mr. Scot.

[pstall]

I don't like the logic of a late extension knowing what happened to Jake. Part of me thinks the FO just let loyalty get in the way of cap shrewdness.

Some of this doesn't add up and I guess we won't know untilf Fox is gone and even that is a longshot.

Great write up

[Kevin Greene]

The thing about contracts... it takes two parties to agree. So it's not like the Panthers took advantage of Jake. He (and his agent) agreed to the terms - they didn't have to. You can use the argument that Jake is a great guy all you want, but the bottom line is he didn't have to sign anything.

As far as I'm concerned, the only mistake made with any of his contracts was the last one.

Exactly, the idea it was all a reward is rubbish. A huge motivation for the move was the cap space needed to survive the 2008 post season signing of Jordan Gross to a long term deal and the ungodly Franchise Tag placed on Julius Peppers. Then, they didn't anticipate just how badly Jake would suck in 2009. Added up with no cap this year it means by by Jake.

Smith said that Delhomme's 2009 contract extension included $12.7 million in guaranteed money due and payable in future years as an alternative to a large signing bonus earned at the time the deal was finalized. The Panthers were facing serious cap issues last year, given that the franchise tag applied to defensive end Julius Peppers and long-term deal paid to tackle Jordan Gross as the Panthers faced the possibility of letting Peppers or Gross hit the open market due to the availability of only one franchise tag.

So the present and future guarantees of $12.7 million were part of a $19 million signing bonus on a five-year deal -- numbers that aren't all that out of line given the overall quarterback market. Smith worked with the Panthers to structure the deal in a manner that gave the team maximum cap space in 2009, and that ensured Delhomme would definitely get the money, in the same way he would have definitely gotten the money if he had received a $19 million signing bonus in 2009 with payments deferred into future years.

The concept is simple. With teams using exotic structures to save cap space, the players should not have been penalized for cooperating.

Thus, the contract was negotiated to simulate a $19 million signing bonus. Hurney and Smith intentionally placed the guarantees into future years, and they intentionally added and omitted terms aimed at ensuring that the money will be paid. For example, the contract fully guaranteed the future payments for injury, skill, and cap, unlike the Julius Peppers deal. And the contract did not include a term allowing the Panthers to derive an offset based on the money he makes elsewhere in 2010 or beyond.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/03/14/the-real-story-on-the-delhomme-deal/