How soon after the lockout is resolved...

[Ivan The Awesome]

Give me Aso and Rice and I will be straight PUMPED for this season.

And how much would that cost?

[CarolinaCatBrigade]

And how much would that cost?

GIFSoup

[rayzor]

And how much would that cost?

we'd still have a lot of cap room available.

[Ivan The Awesome]

What was the actual number? 60 mil? Even so, how much would it cost for BOTH of those two? I personally don't care for Rice. He's very injury prone to be honest. But Aso, I'd definitely would want on this team, and I'm afraid that we'd get in a bidding war for him. I sincerely doubt we'd want to spend that much for him anyway.

If the panthers could only get one Free Agent on each side of the ball. Who would be?

Defense I'd want Nnamdi of course.

Offensive I'd seriously want an offensive Guard. Dahl from the falcons to be honest. Or Mike Sims-Walker.

[rayzor]

What was the actual number? 60 mil? Even so, how much would it cost for BOTH of those two? I personally don't care for Rice. He's very injury prone to be honest. But Aso, I'd definitely would want on this team, and I'm afraid that we'd get in a bidding war for him. I sincerely doubt we'd want to spend that much for him anyway.

If the panthers could only get one Free Agent on each side of the ball. Who would be?

Defense I'd want Nnamdi of course.

Offensive I'd seriously want an offensive Guard. Dahl from the falcons to be honest. Or Mike Sims-Walker.

don't know what he actual numbers would be since there is no cap at the moment.

copy and pasting from another thread...

panthers have almost $72mil committed to the cap for the 2011 season. the cap floor in '09 was $112.1mil. given that the floor goes up about 1.2% each year, the floor should be close to $115 mil. that means the team would have to spend at a minimum $43mil next year.

the cap should be somewhere around $140 and with the expanded season it could be near $150. it was $123mil in '09 which i would actually consider a target for the panthers to spend this coming year. if that is the case, they would have $50mil to play around with this year. there is a lot of talent that could be bought for that amount.

i would be looking for the team to spend anywhere from $45-55 mil this year. re-signing core players should only take $25mill...maybe $30 if they decide to front load some of them (which i don't think will happen). even with that, it still will allow a lot of room to bring in a lot of talent. of course, you have to consider cam newton getting paid, but even with that we'll still have a lot of room.

andre johnson signed a 7 year deal worth $62mil. no WR is going to get that big a deal out of FA this year, but broken down the deal was worth about $6-7mil a year for the first few years and then jumps up to $10 and then $11mil for the last couple years. a guy like rice would probably get a deal that was about $4-5mil a year, though. fwiw, boldin is getting $6mil a year in a four year deal. i doubt rice will see that.

darrell revis got a 4 year deal worth $42mil. his contract is about $6-7mil/year as well. asomugha will probably see a deal getting him $7mil/year...maybe 8.

so actual numbers to get those two guys...against the cap they would probably be around 12mil.

we still would need to address DT and Oline. that could probably take another $8-10mil/year to address those.

[rayzor]

fwiw, just because of the amount of help we'd need i'd rather go for a cheaper CB with more of a future than aso. the #2 and #3 FA CBs behind him will probably be looking at around $4-5mil/year max and there are about 4-5 guys who would be a significant upgrade who will be around for more than what aso would considering his age.

[jtm]

I have never understood why people say pro bowl players are only worth 3rd or 4th round picks. There was a study I saw earlier this year that only like 25% of the players drafted in the 3rd or 4th round become starters. So it makes sense to trade Smitty for a 3rd/4th? No way - I would rather have an old Smitty v. an unknown unless he doesn't want to be here. This is the only scenario I would trade him and I would wait around until we could get something better than a 3rd/4th for him unless he starts pulling a Brandon Marshall.

[jramsey4]

Our priorities should go as follows:

1. Undrafted FA of course should be first as they will get signed quick.

2. Sign Newton and Johnson to deals.

3. Work on acquiring FA (especially at DT/CB/WR maybe a Vet QB)

4. If Dwill isn't going to require more then a reasonable 3-4 year deal sign him if not let him walk.

5. Sign TD to a limited 1 year deal with an option to extend 1 year.

6. If at all possible lock up Kalil long term.

[jtm]

Our priorities should go as follows:

1. Undrafted FA of course should be first as they will get signed quick.

2. Sign Newton and Johnson to deals.

3. Work on acquiring FA (especially at DT/CB/WR maybe a Vet QB)

4. If Dwill isn't going to require more then a reasonable 3-4 year deal sign him if not let him walk.

5. Sign TD to a limited 1 year deal with an option to extend 1 year.

6. If at all possible lock up Kalil long term.

They should be able to do all of the above at the same time. Letting one of the top running backs in the league walk would be a crime especially because most NFL contracts are not guaranteed.

I don't get this forum - everyone whined when we let all these players go last year and most here are content to let two of the best players on our team leave because they are older or not worth the $ b/c running backs and elite receivers apparently grow on trees.

[Skew]

If Cam can extend plays with his feet and buy Smith time to uncover, he could be Smitty's best friend next year.

I'm not sure I understand. Smith can't be friends with a QB on a Super bowl contending team?

Smith wants out.

Winning a Super bowl is more important than being friends with Cam. Besides, Smith and Cam can still be friends even if Smith goes to another team.

Smith is gone. Face it. Personally, I'd wish he'd stay. But it's already pretty clear he wants out and will be gone next year. We need to get use to the idea.

[rayzor]

I have never understood why people say pro bowl players are only worth 3rd or 4th round picks. There was a study I saw earlier this year that only like 25% of the players drafted in the 3rd or 4th round become starters. So it makes sense to trade Smitty for a 3rd/4th? No way - I would rather have an old Smitty v. an unknown unless he doesn't want to be here. This is the only scenario I would trade him and I would wait around until we could get something better than a 3rd/4th for him unless he starts pulling a Brandon Marshall.

it's not a matter of what the player is worth...it's what they will sell for and unless it's a really desperate and dumb team doing the buying (like dallas w/ roy williams or chicago w/ cutler) you aren't going to find buyers willing to pay more than that.

one thing you have to remember...smith isn't just any pro-bowler....he's a 30-something year old probowler who has a history of missing games because of injury or discipline issues.

as panther fans, his value is going to be somewhat exaggerated, but you have to look at it from the other side...lots of caution flags that are going to only be getting bigger. compare smith's future (again, laying aside homer goggles) with that of a 3rd rounder...i don't know. you know how good smith has been, but you also know he's wearing down and even in his prime (which he isn't anymore) he was a bit injury prone. that will only get worse.

another thing to consider in the trade value is that the team trading for him is going to have to eat a lot of cap space. that in itself makes his selling value drop a bit. with those cautions, you also have to swallow a 2 year with $14mil left on it.

asking someone to give up a first or second rounder for all of that? meh.....i wouldn't count on it.

[DoWorkBson]

The best option for Smith and the Panthers should be for he and Jerry to come to an agreement that he will stay with us up to the trade deadline. If we are .500 or better and have a chance at the playoffs or Smith is getting the ball and is happy with the new system he stays. If we still suck Jerry trades him to where ever he wants to go. If its really all about a ring for Smith this makes much more sense. He will have a much better feel as to who the top 2 or 3 contenders are then he does right now. If he goes to San Diego week 1 and Rivers tears his ACL he's in the same situation as he is with us minus being the unquestioned fan favorite.

[ElIngeniero]

7-10 days after CBA is signed FA would open up.

then

Our priorities should go as follows:

1. Undrafted FA of course should be first as they will get signed quick.

2. Sign Newton and Johnson to deals.

3. Work on acquiring FA (especially at DT/CB/WR maybe a Vet QB)

4. If Dwill isn't going to require more then a reasonable 3-4 year deal sign him if not let him walk.

5. Sign TD to a limited 1 year deal with an option to extend 1 year.

6. If at all possible lock up Kalil long term.

[jtm]

it's not a matter of what the player is worth...it's what they will sell for and unless it's a really desperate and dumb team doing the buying (like dallas w/ roy williams or chicago w/ cutler) you aren't going to find buyers willing to pay more than that.

one thing you have to remember...smith isn't just any pro-bowler....he's a 30-something year old probowler who has a history of missing games because of injury or discipline issues.

as panther fans, his value is going to be somewhat exaggerated, but you have to look at it from the other side...lots of caution flags that are going to only be getting bigger. compare smith's future (again, laying aside homer goggles) with that of a 3rd rounder...i don't know. you know how good smith has been, but you also know he's wearing down and even in his prime (which he isn't anymore) he was a bit injury prone. that will only get worse.

another thing to consider in the trade value is that the team trading for him is going to have to eat a lot of cap space. that in itself makes his selling value drop a bit. with those cautions, you also have to swallow a 2 year with $14mil left on it.

asking someone to give up a first or second rounder for all of that? meh.....i wouldn't count on it.

I don't disagree and this is why I have been saying all along that Smitty isn't going anywhere. I don't think Carolina will take a 3rd or 4th for him and I don't think a team will offer a 2nd. Only way Smitty is leaving is if he decides to reorganize his contract and take less. Not many players do this so I am going with the odds on this one.