Captain Morgan

Joe Person @josephperson · 5m No Robby Anderson, who was excused from Friday’s practice for a family matter. Alaina Getzenberg @agetzenberg · 5m Practice has begun, but WR Robby Anderson is not out on the field. He was excused from Friday’s practice due to a family matter. Alaina Getzenberg @agetzenberg · 25m A few transactions for the Panthers this morning before practice: -Undrafted OL David Moore has been waived -DE Austin Larkin has been waived/injured - Former Seahawks S LaDarius Wiley and DE Kendall Donnerson have been added to the roster. Alaina Getzenberg @agetzenberg · 23m Larkin was carted off the field during practice last week.

Joe Person @josephperson · 19m Panthers are down to one David Moore. They waived the off. lineman David Moore and waved/injured DE Austin Larkin (groin). Signed defensive end Kendall Donnerson and defensive back LaDarius Wiley.

Joe Person @josephperson · 1m A bunch of guys in red jerseys, but Shaq Thompson is not one of them. The veteran linebacker is back after missing a week.

He's the only coach we've had that makes me feel optimistic for the future. When we were healthy last year, we were dangerous. We are still a couple of years away, but we have some young talented players who are improving. Just need a big, a solid backup pg, and time to develop. A lot of what we've done recently is for future depth. JB has done well with what he's had to work with.

an article making slant boy look bad while praising the Saints organization. https://www.nola.com/sports/article_3a4eb1ec-f785-11eb-85ea-1fb31b4bf87c.html "Because the personnel grouping doesn’t happen if the Saints star wide receiver had taken care of his business this summer. By now, you know that Thomas is sidelined indefinitely while recovering from ankle surgery in June. What you might not know is what led to this odd, unfortunate situation. How did something this important slip through the cracks of an offseason? Why did months go by without the team’s best receiver addressing the ankle he injured last season? The answer is complicated. But in the end, the blame falls squarely on Thomas. Plain and simple, the most talented receiver in Saints history dropped the ball. Here’s how it went down, according to multiple people familiar with the situation: After the 2020 season, the Saints medical staff examined Thomas’ injured left ankle and advised him to undergo surgery to repair ligament damage in the joint. Thomas, though, wanted a second opinion, a common step in such high-profile cases. The second doctor suggested a conservative approach that would allow the injury to heal on its own through rehab and therapy. In March, Thomas elected to take the conservative approach and bypass surgery, a decision the Saints supported. A rehabilitation plan was collectively agreed upon, and Thomas was given progressive benchmarks to hit over the next three months of his recovery while training at his offseason home in California. This is where things inexplicably went awry. For unknown reasons, Thomas fell out of communication with the Saints. He did not return multiple calls over the next three months. Then-Saints trainer Beau Lowery, wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson and head coach Sean Payton all tried to reach Thomas. None of their calls were taken or returned. When Thomas returned to the team in June, it was discovered that his ankle was still not right, and he was forced to undergo surgery to repair the damaged ligaments in the joint. The 10-to-12-week rehabilitation is expected to sideline him for the start of the regular season. The loss of Thomas created a domino effect on the Saints roster. To bolster the wide receiver corps, the Saints signed Hogan and moved Montgomery to receiver from his running back spot. They then signed veteran running back Devonta Freeman to replace Montgomery in the backfield. All of this roster shuffling could have and should have been avoided, if Thomas had just followed the plan set forth earlier in the offseason. Whether Thomas was being obstinate, negligent or both is irrelevant. One Saints source said Thomas simply thought his ankle was doing fine and that he was on track in his recovery. Regardless, his decision to ghost his superiors was inexplicable and unacceptable. Quite frankly, he’s fortunate the team didn’t fine him for insubordination. If this were an isolated incident it would be easier to dismiss. But this was Thomas’ second transgression in the past year, following his one-game suspension for a practice fight with teammate C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Payton in October. The fight was one thing. Players can snap in emotional, highly competitive environments. It happens. But this was something altogether different, a pattern of behavior over an extended period of time. Clearly it never should have reached the point it did, and now the Saints – and Thomas -- must deal with the consequences. “It’s disappointing,” Payton said last week when asked about the situation. “We would have liked (the surgery) to have happened earlier rather than later. And quite honestly, it should have.” Payton has a good relationship with Thomas, but the star receiver has tested the patience of his head coach with this latest mistake. By all accounts, Thomas has been a good soldier since the incident and is on the road to recovery. And the Saints remain high on their young receiver corps, in particular Marquez Calloway, who has been the breakout star of training camp. There’s a belief inside the building that the offense will be just fine without Thomas. Time will tell. It’s certainly not the way you want to start your first training camp of the post-Drew Brees era. These kinds of things just don’t happen to the Saints. Communication has always been an organizational strength, especially in the football operation. When the Saints thought they might be in position to select Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 NFL Draft, Payton made sure Brees was apprised of the situation before the Saints got on the clock. He did not want his franchise quarterback to be surprised if the Saints pulled the trigger on a quarterback in Round 1. “From Day One, Sean tells the players, we’re going to treat you like men, and we’re going to treat you that way until you give us a reason not to,” said Zach Strief, the Saints’ assistant offensive line coach, who played for the Saints from 2006 to 2017. “That honesty permeates the building. Even outside the building, the perception is that the Saints take care of their guys.” Hopefully, Thomas starts to understand and appreciate the situation he has in New Orleans. Because if he doesn’t, he won’t be in the building much longer." much more at the link, which is behind a paywall. Saints fans are pretty mad at their best player, especially that he pulled all this after getting paid. eta, a quote from a Saints fan "Finding exceptional Wideouts that don’t come with ego baggage is like hitting powerball. "

we really need LaMelo to stay healthy. Gonna miss DG, I felt pretty good when he came in the game. I feel we need a 3rd pg, and I feel we need to upgrade the position, but probably won't be able to at this stage.

The Charlotte Hornets organization has confirmed the details of multiple transactions which we were made aware of during the free agency moratorium. Let’s start from the top. Friday, the Mason Plumlee trade was made official and as a result, the Hornets signed JT Thor to his rookie scale contract and he will now be on the Summer League roster. This was a smaller and expected transaction, but Charlotte renounced the rights to Bismack Biyombo to clear cap space Friday afternoon per Spotrac’s Keith Smith. Saturday morning, the Devonte’ Graham sign-and-trade with the New Orleans Pelicans was finalized, becoming part of a three-team deal with the Memphis Grizzlies, Hornets and Pelicans. The Hornets acquire Wes Iwundu, a protected 2022 first-round draft pick and cash considerations from the Pelicans along with the draft rights to Tyler Harvey from the Grizzlies in exchange for sending Graham to New Orleans. The 2022 first-round draft pick via New Orleans will convey to the Hornets if the Pelicans make the playoffs this season; if not, it becomes a second-round pick in 2022 and 2024. About an hour and a half after the Hornets acquired Iwundu — putting the number of guaranteed contracts on the roster at 17 — the team announced it was waiving Caleb Martin. Even with Martin being waived, the Hornets must get rid of one more player to get down to the maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts. Cody Martin and Jalen McDaniels both have non-guaranteed deals for next season and Nick Richards could be a candidate to be traded due to his low salary and position on the depth chart. To cap off the Saturday morning roster shuffle, the Hornets officially inked Kelly Oubre Jr. to a two-year contract per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes. A $25 million contract over two seasons with no options is quite a reasonable deal for Oubre Jr., who provides needed athleticism, defense and depth on the wing. The Hornets now have multiple high-level rotation players under team control to go along with their budding young core. Guards: LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Ish Smith Wings: Gordon Hayward, Kelly Oubre Jr., James Bouknight, Wesley Iwundu, Jalen McDaniels/Cody Martin* Forwards: Miles Bridges, PJ Washington, JT Thor Centers: Mason Plumlee, Vernon Carey Jr., Kai Jones, Nick Richards* Two-Way players: Arnoldas Kulboka, Scottie Lewis *denotes a roster casualty; a trade candidate or player with a non-guaranteed contract. more at the link https://www.atthehive.com/2021/8/7/22614424/charlotte-hornets-makes-devonte-graham-pelicans-trade-kelly-oubre-signing-official-caleb-martin

And we have a leader in the "Best New Poster" category. what a fantastic write up, especially with the videos. Thanks so much. Don't be a stranger.

perhaps when the music ends, and the real practice begins we'll get a stream

if you go to the link, click on the logo to take you to the main page, there is a watch live button in the top right corner. No guarantee it will be there tonight, but I'll be trying.

Cannon is who I'm pulling for...he can play RB and WR, and has flashed in camp. Shi Smith didn't return punts in college and muffed his first one in practice. Maybe later, but I'd be nervous starting our with him there. Let him get some more reps in practice.

Kyle Bailey @KyleBaileyClub · 15m Still fully behind this move. Markkanen + Plumlee is a clear front court upgrade over last season. Get it done, Mitch.

At The Hive @At_The_Hive · 3m Hornets preparing offer sheet for Lauri Markkanen

well if we're going to lose him, best to get something in return. However, weren't we like 3rd in the division this year before melo got injured, and with Biz and Zeller as our centers? If the team suddenly comes together, and we feel we can make a deep playoff run, it might be worth keeping him. Any team that trades for him will have to sign him to a contract he agrees to, so it's not like we'll get a huge return.

one good part of it is the Steelers have been one of the best organizations in the league. So we get to go against good teams, hopefully making our team better. Which is why I was sad to see the Colts lose their QB...I really wanted our young secondary to get as much time against better offenses before the season.

Jerry Richardson made that agreement with the Steelers because he was closed to Rooney family. I'm guessing Tepper is sticking with it because he is also close to the Rooney family.

meanwhile in New Orleans... Saints fans claiming Jameis was doing that as a joke...

Alaina Getzenberg @agetzenberg · 11m CB A.J. Bouye and WR Keith Kirkwood both wearing red jerseys down to practice. LB Denzel Perryman doesn’t appear to be participating either.

Alaina Getzenberg @agetzenberg · 3m The Panthers punting competition is down to one, at least for now. Oscar Draguicevic has been waived. Joe Charlton is the only punter on the roster.

· 8h "Talks are heating up between Eagles and Texans on a Deshaun Watson trade," per @ChrisTrapasso .