Okay gentlemen, REAL talk...

[rebelrouser]

There are several options for BY:

1. Cut him now and incur a 12M cap hit=no.

2. Keep him for 2026 and risk (.0001%) him balling out and leaving in FA=no.

3. Wait until April 23 for the draft to see if we get a qb=yes.

4. Decide before May 1 whether to exercise the fifth year, which would cost us 26M in '07=yes.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, CRA said:

We have the 25th ranked pass attack. 185 per game average

That means about as much to me as our having the supposed #2 defense in the league under Phil Snow.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, csx said:

I think this thread got attention on Jstews podcast. They were commenting about fans online discussing coach and QB contracts during an exciting game. 

Couldn't be this thread. It wasn't posted until the game was over.

[Mr. Scot]

7 minutes ago, rebelrouser said:

There are several options for BY:

1. Cut him now and incur a 12M cap hit=no.

2. Keep him for 2026 and risk (.0001%) him balling out and leaving in FA=no.

3. Wait until April 23 for the draft to see if we get a qb=yes.

4. Decide before May 1 whether to exercise the fifth year, which would cost us 26M in '07=yes.

#1 - Yeah...that's not gonna happen

#2 - Very much doubt it

#3 - If we draft a QB, it probably won't be in the higher rounds

#4 - I believe he gets the fifth year

#5 - Yes, there is another path, and it's to sign him to an extension this year

Number four seems the most realistic to me. 

Number five seems...unlikely, but I've seen this team so a lot of weird things over the years

[PanthersATL]

Big Picture thoughts:

at the end of last year, we were pretty happy with how Bryce was playing and our finish at 5-12. We didn't expect to get that many wins based on the previous year and how the season started.  We were on an upswing, and even though 5 wins is typically not worth celebrating, we were feeling good. We showed what we had the potential to do.

This year was a big of a rollercoaster, and here we are having serious conversations about playoffs. And, depending on how these last 4 games go, we could end up with a winning 9-7 record (or even 10-6) and not make the playoffs at all.

If we have that winning record but miss the playoffs, should we be an angry fanbase about what we could have done, or should we be a happy fanbase because we achieved what nobody thought was possible this year?

I'm leaning towards happy. Bryce setting records (both team and personally). Dave getting recognition for turning the locker room around and getting the players PLAYING. Dan for what is looking to be solid off-season and in-season player management.  And (dare I say) Tepper continuing to keep his hands off the team decision making.   

Can't hate any of this if we end up with a winning record at the end.

[Mr. Scot]

13 minutes ago, PanthersATL said:

Big Picture thoughts:

at the end of last year, we were pretty happy with how Bryce was playing and our finish at 5-12. We didn't expect to get that many wins based on the previous year and how the season started.  We were on an upswing, and even though 5 wins is typically not worth celebrating, we were feeling good. We showed what we had the potential to do.

This year was a big of a rollercoaster, and here we are having serious conversations about playoffs. And, depending on how these last 4 games go, we could end up with a winning 9-7 record (or even 10-6) and not make the playoffs at all.

If we have that winning record but miss the playoffs, should we be an angry fanbase about what we could have done, or should we be a happy fanbase because we achieved what nobody thought was possible this year?

I'm leaning towards happy. Bryce setting records (both team and personally). Dave getting recognition for turning the locker room around and getting the players PLAYING. Dan for what is looking to be solid off-season and in-season player management.  And (dare I say) Tepper continuing to keep his hands off the team decision making.   

Can't hate any of this if we end up with a winning record at the end.

That's all pretty rational. 

I feel like people have forgotten what the end of last season felt like. To me, there were genuine reasons to feel hopeful, the kind we hadn't experienced in a long long time. 

[Khyber53]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

This matters...

More than people, myself included, want to acknowledge.

It's not just a coach that players need to want to run through a wall for.

[Mr. Scot]

12 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

More than people, myself included, want to acknowledge.

It's not just a coach that players need to want to run through a wall for.

We signed a damaged Jake Delhomme to a big contract extension as much as anything because his teammates would have followed him through the gates of hell.

It may not necessarily always lead to the best choices but yeah, it matters. 

[CRA]

57 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

That means about as much to me as our having the supposed #2 defense in the league under Phil Snow.

Well, the care….is about having a weak pass attack in the modern NFL.  Which we have.   And being weak there is largely going to make you overall irrelevant outside of some quirky season. 

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, CRA said:

Well, the care….is about having a weak pass attack in the modern NFL.  Which we have.   And being weak there is largely going to make you overall irrelevant outside of some quirky season. 

Quirky doesn't even begin to cover it. 

I went to the best AI portal available and asking to explain the 2025 Panthers. It's response was "Look dude, I'm just a computer"

I'm not a Bryce believer, but I can't discount or explain away wins. Making an effort to do so just ends up being nonsensical.

It's chaos, but as long as it favors us...

[DeAngelo Beason]

I think Bryce gets the 5th year option picked up, but I do not think that means the team doesn't pursue an upgrade at the QB position through the draft or free agency.

[Navy_football]

I just don't understand how we want a third year QB to "ball out" with a rookie WR as his #1, a rookie TE as his #1 TE, 2 sophomore WRs (one is a 1st rounder that is being outplayed by the other who is an UDFA), a sophomore TE that struggles with blocking, and Tommy Tremble. 

And all of that with what's now a 2nd year HC, who's calling plays for his third time - ever!

This is a super young team that is outperforming expectations right now. The Panthers are winning games against better teams and the QB is a big reason why. You have to give Bryce, TMac, Legette, Coker, Evans, Sanders and Canales time. 

Otherwise we could just be the Browns or the Jets. No one wants that anymore. If they were going backwards, then yes, blow it up again. They aren't. They're getting better. They look like an actual competent NFL team. They're wildly inconsistent because they're incredibly young and inexperienced. All of them. Not just Bryce. But they're arrow is pointing up, so we should be patient and ride it out. It could be alot worse. A lot worse. 

[Shotgun]

4 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I just don't understand how we want a third year QB to "ball out" with a rookie WR as his #1, a rookie TE as his #1 TE, 2 sophomore WRs (one is a 1st rounder that is being outplayed by the other who is an UDFA), a sophomore TE that struggles with blocking, and Tommy Tremble. 

And all of that with what's now a 2nd year HC, who's calling plays for his third time - ever!

This is a super young team that is outperforming expectations right now. The Panthers are winning games against better teams and the QB is a big reason why. You have to give Bryce, TMac, Legette, Coker, Evans, Sanders and Canales time. 

Otherwise we could just be the Browns or the Jets. No one wants that anymore. If they were going backwards, then yes, blow it up again. They aren't. They're getting better. They look like an actual competent NFL team. They're wildly inconsistent because they're incredibly young and inexperienced. All of them. Not just Bryce. But they're arrow is pointing up, so we should be patient and ride it out. It could be alot worse. A lot worse. 

I agree about giving them time. The Panthers would be foolish to go into next year with Young penciled in as the starter though. Go get a vet and draft a qb next year and I will be much more hopeful about the future of this franchise. 

[CRA]

12 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Quirky doesn't even begin to cover it. 

I went to the best AI portal available and asking to explain the 2025 Panthers. It's response was "Look dude, I'm just a computer"

I'm not a Bryce believer, but I can't discount or explain away wins. Making an effort to do so just ends up being nonsensical.

It's chaos, but as long as it favors us...

I don't think it's discounting wins if you look at your team that manages to overachieve and point out what they are overcoming.     People generally are cool w/ that mostly.  It's basically cherry picked when you can and can't do it by fans. 

This season is really weird.  It's not discounting wins to point out how weird it is and that there really isn't some formula we are executing each week.  It's just a collection of sort of oddities. 

Some seasons you just have weirdly good or bad luck.  It's in our favor this year.  The hope is you get the good juju in a year you also happen to be a good football team.