Jump to content
  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

Outside perspective on our offseason


Jackofalltrades

Recommended Posts

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2014/03/22/carolina-panthers-having-trying-offseason/FtEGHoy6pbjyle4bPYXiwM/story.html

Short piece from the Boston Globe that I think is very accurate. The writer doesn't have any of the emotional attachments many of us carry and is able to view the situation in a pure football sense.

Second-year general manager Dave Gettleman, a Dorchester native and longtime scout with the Bills and Giants, has taken heat after making unpopular decisions this offseason. But upon closer examination, there’s solid football and economic reasoning behind most of Gettleman’s moves, and there’s still plenty of reason for optimism in Charlotte.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is some nice journalism.

 

Understanding the beauty of what Gettlemen is doing takes a mature, complex, holistic look at everything we know he has to consider and an understanding that there are things we do not know.  It really pissed me off when people were bashing him because it was stupid on all levels. Yes, even those who support Gettlemen were disappointed and frustrated, but we knew that Gettlemen has not been creating problems, he has been fixing them.  We also knew that Gettlemen has an eye for talent and did some pretty impressive bottom fishing last year.  How do you complain about 12-4 on a budget?  They found a way.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've known this all along, and I'm hoping that in the end, we're younger and better for it. I did not like the letting go of Mitchell, and I loathed the way the Smitty situation was handled.

If you actually paid attention this off season, every team cut older players due to monstrous contracts. The entire League did it, not just a few teams. Want to know why? This is a copycat league and the Seahawks just won the SB and shut down the most productive offense in the history of the league with relatively no name players. What's more, they're like the second youngest team in the NFL behind only the Rams I believe. Sure they have some "big names" now, but Sherman was drafted in the 6th rnd I believe.

Bottom line is, we all need to show some patience throughout this process. Losing Smitty the way we did is why everyone was so rabid, and rightfully so. We just need to regain some perspective. That's hard to do though, especially when you read an article that refers to the Ravens' WR Steve Smith. Maybe I need anger management.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That is some nice journalism.

 

Understanding the beauty of what Gettlemen is doing takes a mature, complex, holistic look at everything we know he has to consider and an understanding that there are things we do not know.  It really pissed me off when people were bashing him because it was stupid on all levels. Yes, even those who support Gettlemen were disappointed and frustrated, but we knew that Gettlemen has not been creating problems, he has been fixing them.  We also knew that Gettlemen has an eye for talent and did some pretty impressive bottom fishing last year.  How do you complain about 12-4 on a budget?  They found a way.

 

The only problem I've had at all with what Gettleman has done is the way in which he cut Smitty. I guess you can call it learning through the experiences, and he needs more time, etc. But he did not handle that the right way at all. And also, if Hardy plays on the tag this year and doesn't get 20+ sacks, I'd be pissed. We need to lock him up long term.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry, but I don't see how the article accurately reflects or even really addresses what made this off-season so "trying", which was really the release of Smitty (which I think that most would agree now really wasn't an economic move, or at least that's what the FO said).  The fan base was really "good" until that happened.  

 

Of course there are fans who believe that tagging Hardy was not the right move, but I feel that most of us would have supported Dave Gettleman either way in reference to tagging Hardy.  Tagging Hardy didn't cause the firestorm in the fan base, and that's what the article is indirectly really speaking to.  But most fans already knew that it was going to be fiscally difficult this off-season (as it will next off-season, perhaps even more so). G-man had a great amount of equity and goodwill due to the 12-4 record last season. Though he abruptly ended the "honeymoon" with the fans by mishandling the Smitty situation, the proof of the pudding of his success is going to be what happens during the season.

 

To me the article is kind of like preaching to the choir at this point.  I just see the article as nothing special, if not a little vanilla. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...

 

To me the article is kind of like preaching to the choir at this point.  I just see the article as nothing special, if not a little vanilla. 

 

I agree to an extent.  It definitely doesn't read as "unbiased" but I agree with most if not all of the points in the article.  But its all things that we've all been discussing for a few days if not weeks by now.

 

Hardy was viewed as one of the key players.  He very well may have been our best player down the stretch arguably.  We wanted to keep the front of the defense intact.

 

The backlash towards the FO stems from how much of a weakness our offense was last year imo.  Fans remember how much we struggled in this department over the last two years.  Now we are seemingly getting weaker.  But I argue we need a youth movement as well as we need to address the Cam contract.  We are doing what we have to do.  Which most of us have known for sometime now.  Thus I read the article with the feeling these points are being rehashed to get some boston globe readers to back a boston guy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • Oh, the high expectations after a draft. Keep your expectations low, people. Darin Gantt's latest "Ask The Old Guy" gives life to one of those lessons about pro football reality as a fan: "Rasheed Walker was a three-year starter at left tackle for the Packers, so Freeling is going to have to work. Hunter's got another big 'un in front of him in Bobby Brown III and a different kind of defensive tackle in Tershawn Wharton. Chris Brazzell II's got a lot of traffic at his position. Zakee Wheatley has to be better than the chronically underappreciated Nick Scott, and Sam Hecht is a fifth-round rookie at the hardest position on the line to play, who probably doesn't have immediate positional flexibility, and a solid free agent addition in Luke Fortner in front of him. "Fans generally love their draft class as soon as it arrives, because there is no evidence to the contrary yet. Once guys get on the field, the reality begins to creep in, and the seasoned among you remember that if you get three or four good players out of a draft, that was an amazing draft." https://www.panthers.com/news/ask-the-old-guy-things-looking-up-after-the-draft-monroe-freeling-luke-kuechly-bryce-young-derrick-brown Don't get crazy. Winning the draft (or the offseason BTW) on paper always leads to good feelings and great expectations, especially when you seemingly succeeded the season before, but let's remember that the Panthers are very much a work in progress. Team building takes time. If we get a couple of starters out of the draft, it's a good draft, but three or four would be an amazing draft, and anything more than that is actually sensational--even if entails a few multiple high end rotational players along with three starters. Moreover, kind of within that same vein, the coaches have to let the kids off the chain. Remember the coach-speak of past coaches about competition that is anything but because coaches have their notions about veteran experience? Not saying that they're necessarily wrong, but sometimes I think their reluctance to put the young guys out there is based somewhat in dogma or possibly fear because big stakes are on the line (e.g., their jobs). It can be frustrating to say the least, but the coaches are supposed to know best. Again, I say all of this so that we can remember to temper expectations and keep them within the realm of reality. It's like telling your mind to think of it as something akin to under-promising and over-delivering. Leave room to be pleasantly surprised for the best case scenario, but be cognizant that that rarely happens. I would think at this point, most of us should be able to recognize growth when we see it, and sometimes that growth doesn't manifest itself in the form of immediate supremacy, but a setting of the stage for long term dominance for years to come. It seems like we're on track for an emergence by 2028 or 2029. We still have huge questions, but by 2029, hopefully we will take our seat at the table of the perennial contenders in the NFL.  
    • You’re playing madden we’re talking real football stuff…. He does have you seen his special on internet he def thinks he’s getting paid 
    • Without the team having an identity kinda hard to predict what they value.  They either are really trying to build a balanced team, or preparing for another swing at qb if Bryce doesn’t pan out. Seems like we value the o line but the $ spent there has been underwhelming besides Lewis, you could say it’s because of injuries but still hasn’t been worth the investment. as already stated, the whole handling of Bryce young as a whole has been ass backwards, we spent the years we’re supposed to take advantage of having a qb with a lower cap hit, building the team up to be adequate. now It appears, key word appears, the saints have done it correctly, which is painful to even think about. Regardless, I hope the front office has paid attention to qb contracts recently, such as Tua, Kyler, Daniel jones(pre colts) and don’t settle for subpar qb play at franchise qb rates    
×
×
  • Create New...