Panthers bring back TE Feleipe Franks

[Navy_football]

47 minutes ago, strato said:

Throw all the cheap FA deals and later round picks you want at WR and TE. Most are probably fine with that. 

And, I am okay spending to protect the QB too. And would 100% rather see the spending focused there than on fancy pass catchers.  

I agree with protecting the QB. But you have quite a few that won't let the Hunt and Lewis signings go. It was coming off a ridiculously bad performance by offensive guards in 2023. Morgan did the same in for the interior DL in 2025 when they gave up the most rushing yards ever. And again this season with pass rush when they had the worst pressure rate in the NFL. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

53 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I agree with protecting the QB. But you have quite a few that won't let the Hunt and Lewis signings go. It was coming off a ridiculously bad performance by offensive guards in 2023. Morgan did the same in for the interior DL in 2025 when they gave up the most rushing yards ever. And again this season with pass rush when they had the worst pressure rate in the NFL. 

I'm one of the ones that won't let it go because it didn't solve the problem. We didn't address the center position which was a huge mistake. We were in position to easily take 2 or the top IOL. Instead of drafting JPJ over XL or Frazier over Brooks, we relied on an oft injured guard to center conversion and lo and behold, it failed as predicted. XL looks like a 1 year college wonder and an injured Brooks hasn't even surpassed Eric Shelton. 

Bryce was also benched for poor performance, so the issue that many claimed was solely bad oline play wasn't. It didn't fix him bailing out of tight pockets because of being unable to see the field or him refusing to work on his atrocious footwork. Then there's the $$$. Lewis got a good guard payday. Hunt got a tackle payday. Pay tackles, draft guards, if you can. 

I have no issues addressing problems through FA. It was not addressing C at all that's been the issue and still has been. Ryan Kalil was the anchor of our offensive line. We had years of solid center play and it showed. Now we're still piecemealing the center position with an expensive oline and it's still a shitshow. Why? Because the player responsible for what happens on the line presnap has little to no experience doing it. We did acquire a FA center this year finally. We'll see how much that impacts the line. 

Spending on a center, whether it be through draft or FA is not bad. It's not a position that can have anyone just thrown in with no drop off in performance. A great center lifts the play of the guards on each side. 

I don't like how we've built the line because we've ignored the hinge pin that everyone counts on every play. And the reality of the situation is, it didn't solve the actual problems with Bryce because those have nothing to do with the oline. 

Edited 4 hours ago by SmokinwithWilly

[strato]

26 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I agree with protecting the QB. But you have quite a few that won't let the Hunt and Lewis signings go. It was coming off a ridiculously bad performance by offensive guards in 2023. Morgan did the same in for the interior DL in 2025 when they gave up the most rushing yards ever. And again this season with pass rush when they had the worst pressure rate in the NFL. 

Lot of different agendas dictating opinions. 
I don’t think it was the best use of money with Hunt, specifically, but the concept of OL, I am a fan.

I didn’t complain a ton because I am a believer in winning up front, on both sides of the ball. I’d rather have stout fronts than fancy WRs. I have complained some about Hunt not being worth his deal, after seeing him get pushed around in a game or two. It’s no crusade. And have complained in the context of shorting the defense.  

They have leveled out the FA imbalance with the dual big signings this offseason, and it has always been the draft picks I am most protective of. Anyway The picks are the real imbalance. If you did a trade chart value of the picks we directly gave up for Bryce, and added the support picks invested for skill players, and put that on one side… then put the little 3 3rd rounders and a 2nd that the defense got over three years on the other it would be hugely out of balance. I just want the balance restored. Defense is still owed.  

 

[Navy_football]

1 hour ago, SmokinwithWilly said:

I'm one of the ones that won't let it go because it didn't solve the problem. We didn't address the center position which was a huge mistake. We were in position to easily take 2 or the top IOL. Instead of drafting JPJ over XL or Frazier over Brooks, we relied on an oft injured guard to center conversion and lo and behold, it failed as predicted. XL looks like a 1 year college wonder and an injured Brooks hasn't even surpassed Eric Shelton. 

Bryce was also benched for poor performance, so the issue that many claimed was solely bad oline play wasn't. It didn't fix him bailing out of tight pockets because of being unable to see the field or him refusing to work on his atrocious footwork. Then there's the $$$. Lewis got a good guard payday. Hunt got a tackle payday. Pay tackles, draft guards, if you can. 

I have no issues addressing problems through FA. It was not addressing C at all that's been the issue and still has been. Ryan Kalil was the anchor of our offensive line. We had years of solid center play and it showed. Now we're still piecemealing the center position with an expensive oline and it's still a shitshow. Why? Because the player responsible for what happens on the line presnap has little to no experience doing it. We did acquire a FA center this year finally. We'll see how much that impacts the line. 

Spending on a center, whether it be through draft or FA is not bad. It's not a position that can have anyone just thrown in with no drop off in performance. A great center lifts the play of the guards on each side. 

I don't like how we've built the line because we've ignored the hinge pin that everyone counts on every play. And the reality of the situation is, it didn't solve the actual problems with Bryce because those have nothing to do with the oline. 

I think I agree with everything here. Though I do think something needed to be done with the offensive guards situation from 2023, Hunt and Lewis contracts were overkill. My point was they were not brought in to help fix Bryce Young. They were brought in to help evaluate him and to address a huge glaring hole of a weakness on the team. Every QB's kryptonite is immediate pressure up the middle. Dalton had good numbers against the Seahawks that season, but he was absolutely demolished that game. No way he would have lasted another 3 or 4 games. 

[Jon Snow]

7 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I think I agree with everything here. Though I do think something needed to be done with the offensive guards situation from 2023, Hunt and Lewis contracts were overkill. My point was they were not brought in to help fix Bryce Young. They were brought in to help evaluate him and to address a huge glaring hole of a weakness on the team. Every QB's kryptonite is immediate pressure up the middle. Dalton had good numbers against the Seahawks that season, but he was absolutely demolished that game. No way he would have lasted another 3 or 4 games. 

The tell will be when they start drafting olinemen. Hunt will have to be replaced with a draft pick eventually. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

2 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

I think I agree with everything here. Though I do think something needed to be done with the offensive guards situation from 2023, Hunt and Lewis contracts were overkill. My point was they were not brought in to help fix Bryce Young. They were brought in to help evaluate him and to address a huge glaring hole of a weakness on the team. Every QB's kryptonite is immediate pressure up the middle. Dalton had good numbers against the Seahawks that season, but he was absolutely demolished that game. No way he would have lasted another 3 or 4 games. 

Dalton did have decent numbers that game but he was under immense pressure in Seattle in the rain. If I remember correctly, Zavala gave up 14 QB pressures that game alone. That's inexcusable and the position certainly needed to be addressed. But just think of what we could have done with a center like Frazier, JPJ, Linderbaum, or Humphrey. I realize Dan didn't have the opportunity to draft all these guys. But having a stud in the shortest route to the QB calling protections for the other guys, that's how you build for any QB to run an offense. 

I'm an offensive line guy. It's my favorite group on the field. I call it fat man ballet. It's a combination of quick feet, balance, bend, strength, reflexes and pure grit. Center is your core leadership on the field, tackles are a combination of finesse and strength, and guards, they're angry dudes that get to have way too much fun hitting people. 

[Navy_football]

1 hour ago, strato said:

Lot of different agendas dictating opinions. 
I don’t think it was the best use of money with Hunt, specifically, but the concept of OL, I am a fan.

I didn’t complain a ton because I am a believer in winning up front, on both sides of the ball. I’d rather have stout fronts than fancy WRs. I have complained some about Hunt not being worth his deal, after seeing him get pushed around in a game or two. It’s no crusade. And have complained in the context of shorting the defense.  

They have leveled out the FA imbalance with the dual big signings this offseason, and it has always been the draft picks I am most protective of. Anyway The picks are the real imbalance. If you did a trade chart value of the picks we directly gave up for Bryce, and added the support picks invested for skill players, and put that on one side… then put the little 3 3rd rounders and a 2nd that the defense got over three years on the other it would be hugely out of balance. I just want the balance restored. Defense is still owed.  

 

Sounds good in theory, but in reality rookies are a lot more of a crap shot than vets. They have not leveled out the FA imbalance. The defense has been poured into the last 2 seasons. The offense picked up 2 guards and a RB. The defense has an entire new defensive line sans Derrick Brown, completely new LBs - twice, Moehrig and Mike Jack. They've overhauled and upgraded every position except Derrick Brown, Jaycee and FS. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Navy_football