10 Players to watch and Johnson making the Panthers pay

[jayflip]

CJ, at only 24 and just coming into his own, will be worth the money. Sure he's only had one great season, but in limited playing time his other seasons, he still dominated when given the chance. As for the argument of "now teams know who he is" or whatever, they knew last season too. To borrow an old and hopefully extinct expression from Carolina coaching, "the other team practices too", and you can bet they accounted for CJ on Sundays... Hopefully we can re-sign this guy and hopefully EB and Hardy can step up opposite of him. I wish we had a The Principal type DE still to come off the bench and bust spleens... Hopefully we ink CJ and some FA DT (I hope you are right NJPanther) so our line can be dominant once again.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, I think CJ and Hardy could end up being a very good pair of DE's for the next few years. Hopefully they can stay healthy.

[carpanfan96]

He needs to put a couple of double digit sack seasons before he gets all big headed. We're gonna have to see how he does when teams start putting the double on him if he's gonna expect a superstar

contract.

Its going to take around 10 million a season to sign him if he's Unrestricted and hits the FA market.

[ncmonzta]

Its going to take around 10 million a season to sign him if he's Unrestricted and hits the FA market.

You're right, but he doesn't quite deserve it YET if you ask me. I have no problem with him getting paid as long as he delivers.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Of the top of my head, I am not sure of a team looking for a defensive end and at least Johnson is somewhat unknown to the NFL as most people wouldn't even know who you are talking about outside of the NFC South Fans. I think CJ being underated may be to the Panthers benefit. However, I think the Panthers will be able to get him for $8 mil a season with incentives (sack's per season to see if he really is becoming the Panthers next Julius Peppers without all of the inconsistency) putting him around the $10 million dollar range or someone like the Giants, Eagles, or Raiders come along and offer him $12 million.

[panthers55]

The tag for offensive linemen was 10.7 million, the tag for DE was 12.4 million. So to say we should have tagged Johnson over Kalil is pretty stupid. If we tagged him we would have to pay him 12 million anyway. So getting him for 5 years at an average of 10 million per year will actually be cheap given the tag will likely be closer to 15 million by the time his contract expires. That is about what a top 10 DE will make in 2011 and based on last year, he is top 10. To protect ourselves we can make things incentive laden but honestly if we try and go cheap I can think of one head coach in Denver who will snap him up in a heart beat.

Plus in McDermott's system he is going to get more sacks than he did last year. He is worth it at this point.

[Fiz]

Of the top of my head, I am not sure of a team looking for a defensive end and at least Johnson is somewhat unknown to the NFL .

Thankfully there's not a team in the state he played college ball desperate for a defensive end.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Thankfully there's not a team in the state he played college ball desperate for a defensive end.

Can't really tell if you are being serious or not...

So the Falcons are or are not interested in a DE?

[panthers55]

Can't really tell if you are being serious or not...

So the Falcons are or are not interested in a DE?

Yes they are and have mentioned him by name to replace Abraham.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Oh, well that sucks.

[Urrymonster]

Johnson has played well in each season with us, it's just that this is his first season as a full time starter and thus some people have only just realised he is on the roster.

[Darth Bobo]

Charles Johnson's stats per play were better than average last year, but so were those of our multiple other DE's. They all looked fresh on individual plays. Secondly, less DT tackles = more DE tackles.

Compare CJ in other areas though, is he a ball hawk, does he have quickness and does he cause a lot of forced fumbles, blocked passes, blocked kicks, and has scooped one up for a TD? Those types of things are what segregate a competent DE from a play making DE.

Put simply, 10m is too much. We have no emergency at DE.

[panthers55]

Johnson has played well in each season with us, it's just that this is his first season as a full time starter and thus some people have only just realised he is on the roster.

WHen we drafted him as a junior in the third round he was seen as a project who needed to get bigger and more physical as well as work on his hand technique, footwork and quickness off the line. It has taken him time to work on those skills and he has developed over the past several years. In the last 2 years he has increased his strength and power ten fold as well as continued to develop his moves and his ability to play the run. The reason that he is a full time starter is that he is now the complete package and the best DE on the team. He didn't play well when he got here and had significant deficits in his game but not anymore.

As such he is now worth big bucks and needs to be paid. He is a stud right now and worth every penny.

[4Corners]

Let me introduce you to the 2012 Carolina Panthers starting defensive line:

DE: Greg Hardy

DT: Sione Fua

DT: Derek Landri

DE: Everette Brown

Not to self: Start a RB (maybe even the backup) in fantasy when they play the Panthers defense.