REPORT: Cade Mays will hit the free-agent market

[kungfoodude]

29 minutes ago, Dingo_ate_Babies said:

Considering how expensive our O-line is and how little Cap room we have, I bet they let Mays walk (unless he wants to return on a discount). I’m betting they resign Corbett and Christensen and let them battle Samac for the starting C spot. Also, I think they kick the can down the road again via draft since we have so many needs.

BC is unlikely to be able to sign with us until sometime either very close to the regular season or during it.

He tore his Achilles and he will be unable to pass a physical for a long time.

[frankw]

1 hour ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

Not true. Need factors in. If you have Barry Sanders backed up by Adrian Peterson, you don't draft a RB because he's ranked higher on your board than a position where you have zero starting caliber players. 

Right and RB's now are a dime a dozen you draft them in the later rounds. Not to mention all the money we put into two FA guard signings $153 million. With that much investment in the interior OL you shouldn't need a 2nd round running back anyways let alone one that is already injured. It's wild anyone with a functioning brain is still trying to justify it.

Edited 10 hours ago by frankw

[WhoKnows]

6 hours ago, Khyber53 said:

I think most folks undervalue Centers. Teams that win championships, though, seem to put high draft picks there and then hold onto those guys for a decade.

The problem is that there are only one or two pro-level centers in each draft. If there's a guy who is big enough, strong enough and smart enough, he sticks out and chances are if you don't jump he'll be gone before the next round comes back around to you.

And poaching one from another team via free agency is never cheap and you're often grabbing damaged goods unless that team has found itself in cap hell.

Sadly, I'm not seeing a guy in the draft right now that rings all the bells, but it's early still. James Brockermeyer might be that guy, though, and I hope we're giving him a solid look. He's out of Miami, so big league program, and can't beat the pedigree as his dad, Blake, was a first round draft pick for us in 1995 as a tackle.

Go read some of the Senior Bowl info. They specifically called out a few centers including a G (from Duke?, don’t remember) who looked decent working at C. Seems like some day 2/early day 3 talent.

[strato]

The draftek site has us drafting Connor Lew Auburn at #51. Which according to their rankings makes it a 10 spot reach. 

He is their top rated C. 
 

https://www.drafttek.com/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round-2.asp

I don’t know how to rate draft sites. That one is easy to navigate 

Edited 5 hours ago by strato

[frankw]

18 minutes ago, strato said:

The draftek site has us drafting Connor Lew Auburn at #51. Which according to their rankings makes it a 10 spot reach. 

He is their top rated C. 
 

https://www.drafttek.com/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round-2.asp

I don’t know how to rate draft sites. That one is easy to navigate 

For some reason that link takes you to 2021.

For reference these should work.

https://www.drafttek.com/m/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round1.asp

https://www.drafttek.com/m/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round2.asp

Edited 5 hours ago by frankw

[strato]

2 minutes ago, frankw said:

For some reason that link takes you to 2021.

For reference these should work.

https://www.drafttek.com/m/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round1.asp

https://www.drafttek.com/m/2026-NFL-Mock-Draft-Round2.asp

Thanks. Too late to edit mine.

This is weird. I took it right off the page where that stuff was. 
 

The weirder part is the page looks totally different graphic wise using your link. 

[frankw]

Just now, strato said:

Thanks. Too late to edit mine.

This is weird. I took it right off the page where that stuff was. 
 

The weirder part is the page looks totally different graphic wise using your link. 

Probably just something with their HTML coding.

But anyways. I do like us finally drafting a Center. If it lands that way and we take the best one available I'll accept it as progress.

[strato]

3 hours ago, frankw said:

Probably just something with their HTML coding.

But anyways. I do like us finally drafting a Center. If it lands that way and we take the best one available I'll accept it as progress.

Fwiw I just hit my link and it went to 2026 - but with different graphics than your link. 
Cue that Wayne’s World deal where they make their own sound effects. 

Edited 1 hour ago by strato

[Loyalty4Life]

11 hours ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

Not true. Need factors in. If you have Barry Sanders backed up by Adrian Peterson, you don't draft a RB because he's ranked higher on your board than a position where you have zero starting caliber players. 

Um.  Duh.

Last I checked we didn't have that situation.  In reality it's always going to be a combination of best talent at a position of need but it's a downright cliche to say draft BPA.

Especially, if, hypothetically, you had a much higher grade on one position vs another even if you had more talent on the roster for the position of the higher graded player.

If Brooks had a much higher grade than other players on the board, it makes sense why you would take him over a center at that time.  If he doesn't get reinjured we don't sign Rico or draft Travis and maybe instead sign a FA center.  

In hindsight, picking a center would have been the better move but you don't get do overs in the draft.

[frankw]

The Panthers haven't drafted a center in the first two rounds since Ryan Kalil. Had one there waiting to solidify our OL and we traded up to take an RB with a torn ACL. The only people still rationalizing it are the Panthers FO or their family members I guess.

[SmokinwithWilly]

19 minutes ago, Loyalty4Life said:

Um.  Duh.

Last I checked we didn't have that situation.  In reality it's always going to be a combination of best talent at a position of need but it's a downright cliche to say draft BPA.

Especially, if, hypothetically, you had a much higher grade on one position vs another even if you had more talent on the roster for the position of the higher graded player.

If Brooks had a much higher grade than other players on the board, it makes sense why you would take him over a center at that time.  If he doesn't get reinjured we don't sign Rico or draft Travis and maybe instead sign a FA center.  

In hindsight, picking a center would have been the better move but you don't get do overs in the draft.

We didn't have a healthy staring center. We had Corbett, a guard moving to center coming off a leg injury, BC as a backup role player and Mayes, another backup player.

Chuba was fine and RBs are fairly easy to come by and get results when you have 2 road grading tackles and 2 new IOL. One thing watching other teams that have had high performance backs behind strong offensive lines has shown us is, blocking matters more than the back. When those backs leave to go elsewhere in FA or trade, their production drops off. 

We haven't had a true healthy center since Kalil and it's shown in our blocking. Taking a top end center over an injured RB to be a backup was an easy call to make. Even if we didn't take Frazier, we had too many starting holes on the roster to take a backup, especially one coming off an ACL tear. 

This wasn't a hindsight pick. Said it was stupid then not to take Frazier, and even more stupid to trade up for an injured back just because we though Dallas was going to pick him. By the 2nd round, there's not going to be huge differences in rankings. The blue chips are long gone and you need to start taking players who can start immediately, especially when you have holes all over. An injured RB is a luxury you just can't afford at that point. 

[strato]

Seriously you guys need to wake up and accept some basic stuff about the 2024 draft. 
We had new GM and new HC that were given a mandate. Maximum emphasis must be placed on propping the disaster that was Bryce Young coming off that rookie season. You know, the one got a mostly new coaching staff brought in. 
 

They were not really looking to trust a rookie C to make those calls and at the same time desperately wanted a pass catching RB to bail his scrawny ass out of trouble, with his little outlet throws. His specialty. 
Brooks was supposed to be ready for camp. 
 

However it worked out, wasn’t what had they in mind. It ended up worst case. Oops. But that’s what they had in mind. 

Edited 19 minutes ago by strato

[ProcessBlue2]

2 minutes ago, strato said:

Seriously you guys need to wake up and accept some basic stuff about the 2024 draft. 
We had new GM and new HC that were given a mandate. Maximum emphasis must be placed on propping the disaster that was Bryce Young coming off that rookie season. You know, the one got a mostly new coaching staff brought in. 
 

They were not really looking to trust a rookie C to make those calls and at the same time desperately wanted a pass catching RB to bail his scrawny ass out of trouble, with his little outlet throws. His specialty. 
Brooks was supposed to be ready for camp. 
 

However it worked out, wasn’t what had in mind. Worst case. Oops. But that’s what they had in mind. 

2024 draft was also going a lot off of Fitterers planning and guidance during the 2023 season. Hard to change scouting strategy in February. Dan had all of 2024 to get ready for 2025 draft which I think was much better. 

[strato]

3 minutes ago, ProcessBlue2 said:

2024 draft was also going a lot off of Fitterers planning and guidance during the 2023 season. Hard to change scouting strategy in February. Dan had all of 2024 to get ready for 2025 draft which I think was much better. 

It certainly was much better, and what you cite was part of it too. But they were not thinking long term. They were thinking we have to make this happen now, or we might not be here. 

Edited 17 minutes ago by strato