hepcat

Um, when he said he'd "play for free" if Carolina brought him back? SMH

I seem to remember him being interviewed on an ESPN show and saying "back up the Brinks truck" or something to that effect. Obviously he's changed his tune after the whole domestic violence situation but, he will still get paid more on another team over Carolina, no doubt about that.

I'd be happy with a cap friendly one year prove it deal with tons of incentives to motivate him. I still think he's as good as gone but, this is the only way I could see the Panthers willing to bring him back. It's good for both sides if he fugs up again, he's on a cheap one year deal and they definitely WILL let him go. But if he tears it up, he'll get a big deal either here or elsewhere. It's not like other teams are going to give him the deal he could have commanded last year with an impending suspension likely and his past legal issues. Time will tell.

Part of me thinks that fumble against us in the playoffs was intentional.

Basically the Panthers need to spend the money they were paying Hardy and go sign someone who can block him because he could easily sign with Atlanta, Tampa, Seattle, Dallas...or any other host of teams that we play next year. If they trot out Byron Bell to block Greg Hardy I might as well write Cam Newton's obituary now.

If they can just get some talent at the LT position, the line could be very, very good. It all falls apart when your teams blindside protector is getting beat every play.

Would love to see Torrey Smith with the Panthers. Won't break the bank and is a solid #2 with some deep speed. Then draft a speedy WR who can return punts to compete with Philly for the slot role, Cotchery on the bench for depth, cut Bersin, and we're set. As for tackle...that's going to be a tough fix. We might be playing a rookie there next season or worse, re-signing Bell because we can't afford anyone better and no one worthwhile falls to us in the draft.

God it felt so good. I love running. It has gotten me through some tough times.

Today I ran 4 miles non-stop on 8 on the treadmill. I'm usually good for about 2.5 and sometimes 3 miles, but today I was feeling exceptionally depressed. I knew the second I got off that treadmill that I'd have to go back to the real world so I just kept going, until I realized I was crossing over 4 miles. I was exhausted and sore, and as soon as I stepped off I thought I might throw up and then die. But I was so proud of myself that I forgot what I was even depressed about for a few minutes. The high lasted all day!

If there's a better medicine for depression than running 3 miles...I haven't found it.

3 miles on the treadmill today, free weights sets and 15 minutes on the mat. I'm to the point where I don't even get sore anymore, just sweaty and tired.

Greg Hardy misunderstood the meaning of #keeppounding

Eh let's not go overboard...innocent until proven guilty. I really hope this was just a big misunderstanding and the charges get dropped but any way you slice it Hardy is at fault here no matter what happened. This type of poo never has a good reason of happening. But Hardy will definitely play next year - if Ray Rice can knock out his fiance in an elevator and still play in the NFL, Greg Hardy probably won't even get suspended for this.

I mean you bring up some great points - the details of what exactly happened haven't surfaced yet. But many, many NFL players and athletes worldwide have signed huge contracts and never dealt with a charge like this. Why is that? It was his choice to associate with a woman who would do this to him. No matter what happened this is a lapse in judgement on Hardy's part, either by who he associates with or what he did. Time will tell.

Well in terms of sheer numbers, Hardy is not under contract past this season. Johnson is. Either way that Ealy pick looks much better now and regardless of the outcome of the Hardy legal situation, his value for a contract extension just went down.

As long as Cam never does anything like this the Panthers will be fine. Hardy's replacement was just drafted anyway.

This definitely has the makings of a letdown game. They're at home and they are desperate. Panthers have never beat Miami. Sounds about right for the Panthers to win all the tough games, then come out against a mediocre, scandal-ridden Miami team and lay an egg.

I'm just hoping the era of blind loyalty is over. It has been killing the team for the last 5 years or so, all starting after the Panthers lost to Arizona in the playoffs. Jake Delhomme had one of the worst playoff performances in the history of the NFL, but still received a massive contract extension. In the following offseasons they re-signed most of the key players from that 2008 playoff team to massive contracts - Beason, D-Williams, J-Stew, Charles Johnson, among others. The trend has continued to coaches with Richardson keeping John Fox in a lame duck year in 2010, then keeping Rivera for an unnecessary extra season, crippling the team's development each time. Then Rivera not only retained but PROMOTED Shula in a trickle down effect. What's next...another season for Rivera? Breaking the bank to re-sign Brandon LaFell? A bigger contract for Greg Hardy than Charles Johnson got? With Gettleman in place I think player contracts will be more reasonable and cap friendly, but Richardson is still calling the shots as evidenced by Rivera being retained for a third year as head coach, even though he brought in a new GM. It might have been a money thing...since the team was in such bad shape financially after the 2012 season, he might have just mortgaged the season to see if Rivera could finally put it together while Gettleman cleaned up the cap so a new head coach to have some flexibility to bring in some of his own players. Time will tell.

Shut off the game, this one is over. At 1-3, does Rivera last another week?

Only thing I agreed with from that article was the bit about firing Rivera and having Gettleman hire his own coach. Rivera is a terrible HC. So what if the players like him and rallied around him to win some ridiculously easy games at the end of the season last year. That doesn't mean the team is going to win. Not sure he even lasts through the season. Players hate Tom Coughlin but that team wins Superbowls. Rivera is still the same coach that called a timeout to let the other team kick a field goal before half time. I'll never forget that act of pure idiocy.