2013 Carolina Panthers Offseason

[L-TownCat]

First off I would like to say this is my 1000th post. It has been a fun ride with you guys here on the Huddle and I have to say that it truly is a blessing to have found this board with so many true die hard fans of the team I have grown up with.

With that said, we are heading into the most important offseason in team history. The reason that it is the most important is simple and plain, Cam Newton. For the first time in our young franchises history we have "our guy" at the QB position. Retaining Rivera (as unpopular as it is) was and is the right choice. Continuity is quite possibly the most important factor for a young QB. Keeping this same philosophy in place will provide Cam with a certain stability that will payoff in the long run.

Now obviously we were all happy that Hurney got the boot this season, so the focus of the ownership and even more so the fan base is the hire that will be made to fill his vacancy. Mr Scott and a few others have already given us the run down of all the candidates so i wont be doing that. However the choices should be limited to about half(3) of what the organization will actually interview(6) and those people should be Marc Ross, David Gettleman and unfortunately Brandon Beane.

Beane is included in the finalists purely for monetary reasons and the transitional ease that would arise from such a hire. Its not that he is the best candidate or even a serious one that should be considered. The fact is that he will be considered no matter how much we hate it.

Once the GM vacancy is filled, the next step is either a: building a draft approach or b: restructuring or cap numbers for a very limited free agency period.

A) If the new GM chooses to ignore free agency in an attempt to nail his first draft i wouldn't mind all that much considering the Panthers have all but ignored free agency for the last 6 years, in fact, i would probably prefer this method. Make sure we know who we want in the draft, obtain them, then see what is left over in the secondary free agent market a.k.a. undrafted rookies. This excites me for the thought of Ross or Gettleman combing through the undrafteds to find some gems.

B: If the GM is terrified by the Cap numbers and looks to clean house, then we could see some longtime Panthers wearing different uniforms or retiring. As long as Smitty isn't one of those moves i would be OK with anyone being gone. Our roster has no one that has seen success recently therefore they are not safe. I have to take my homer glasses off in order to even think of this scenario, but Gamble, Gross, and Beason could very well not be here in the upcoming season.

So after the GM is hired and the cap is restructured and the players are drafted we head to the dog days of summer where uniform threads and delusions of grandeur will arise and dominate the forum. I, for one, cannot wait to see how our team will look next year or even in just a couple months. It's fun to be excited again, and I hope you all feel the same way.

Thanks to Zod for the forum and to all of you out there pulling for the best thing to ever happen to my home state, The Carolina Panthers!

tl:dr = Offseason important... Need Good GM... 1000th post.... Thank you

[Mr. Scot]

I think anyone would agree that this coming season is likely to be a turning point for the team.

You just have to hope they "turn" in the right direction.

[Bwood]

I'm going to make such an awesome thread when I hit 2k for the second time. Yup.

[C47]

Thanks for the cliff notes!

[Mr. Scot]

I guess I'm in the minority being a guy who never wonders how many posts I've made :lol:

How many words I've written on this site...now that's a number that's be fun to know.

[Bwood]

I was being sarcastic lol. If anything I'm embarrassed of how much I get caught up posting on here.

[C47]

I guess I'm in the minority being a guy who never wonders how many posts I've made :lol:

How many words I've written on this site...now that's a number that's be fun to know.

I'm not sure there's a number for that yet. Maybe if you express it with exponents....

[rayzor]

1001 post count minimum for starting threads, please?

[rayzor]

just kidding and i agree with a lot of that, but it seems like every year since 2010 has been "the most important year" for the franchise.

lot's of turning points. lot's of right turns. keeps getting us back to losing records.

here's hoping that this time they take the left turn at albuquerque.

[rayzor]

I guess I'm in the minority being a guy who never wonders how many posts I've made :lol:

How many words I've written on this site...now that's a number that's be fun to know.

i've been told numerous times by others exactly how many posts i have and broken it down to me to tell how many posts a day its been. last time someone mentioned it i think it was over 20k. not sure where it is now. maybe i should look to see if my life has gotten better. lol

i think that kind of stuff (post count) matters to others more.

[L-TownCat]

just kidding and i agree with a lot of that, but it seems like every year since 2010 has been "the most important year" for the franchise.

lot's of turning points. lot's of right turns. keeps getting us back to losing records.

here's hoping that this time they take the left turn at albuquerque.

Well thank you Rayzor, im glad you agree, and yes these past few years have been very important. This one is a bit different though. We finally got rid of the albatross known as teh hurney. We could really make some headway with the right hire and a good draft. Each of those is dependent on the other.

[Bwood]

Yeah that damn Hurney. Really screwed us over with the Newton/Kuechly picks..

[Mr. Scot]

i've been told numerous times by others exactly how many posts i have and broken it down to me to tell how many posts a day its been. last time someone mentioned it i think it was over 20k. not sure where it is now. maybe i should look to see if my life has gotten better. lol

i think that kind of stuff (post count) matters to others more.

It's a curiosity to me.

I'm probably better off not knowing :lol:

[L-TownCat]

Yeah that damn Hurney. Really screwed us over with the Newton/Kuechly picks..

Helen Keller could have made those two drafts picks and looked like a football guru. Thanks to Hurney for those guys but lets keep it real Bwood. The man did us few, very few favors.