t96

Don't sleep on Fields or Lance. We have plenty of options this year and there's no chance we're going to be in play for Howell.

Every report out there suggests Tepper is going all in on getting a franchise QB, with Watson being the main target for our front office. You can be in denial all you want, and I understand it as I don't agree with crippling the franchise just to go all in on a QB either, but the information that is out there supports the idea that we'll be making competitive offers for Watson. There's no reason to think we won't be players at this point. Does that mean we'll be the ones who get him if he is traded? Absolutely not, there are plenty of factors at play, and it could wind up being a huge bidding war with a ton of egos in the mix and any outcome being possible. But to dismiss it at face value like you've been doing based on some random notion that we are unable to offer enough for him to compete with other offers is completely absurd.

Reading comprehension, my friend... He's basing us making a competitive offer based on how much we offered for Stafford and our aggressive pursuit of a QB, which is very fair reasoning. As to who's in a better position to offer a lot? Frankly, I don't think that comes into play. It just depends on how much we are willing to offer and how much other teams are willing to offer. We have plenty of assets to get it done if we want to be that aggressive. Personally, I don't want to give up too much and hope we don't but I don't see any reason to doubt based on recent developments that we'd be a key player in the discussions if Watson does become available. If Tepper's aggression in wanting an elite franchise QB is as strong as many think it is, we may not hesitate to offer a ton of draft assets in addition to some combo of Burns/McCaffrey/Moore/Chinn/Brown, etc.

How is that reasoning weak?

Obviously, but there's definitely a cutoff point where the value won't make sense. 3 first round picks, Burns and another piece is too much in my eyes, if that's what they want. Burns is worth 2 first round picks easily. 5 first round picks (1 of which is guaranteed to be top 10 in a loaded QB draft) plus more just doesn't make any sense for us, even to get Watson. I'd much rather take a shot on a rookie QB and have him on that cheap contract plus keep the rest of our pieces to build around that guy if the price for Watson is that high.

Rough loss after being up 2-0 but I'm not too concerned. Huberdeau had some incredible individual plays for 2 of their goals, Ned let in a really soft one and their goalie played really well. I don't put much stock into OT/shootout outcomes once you get to that point because there is never a time in the playoffs where that type of play happens (yes you could have 3-3 with 2 penalties on each team, but that's incredibly rare). The team played really hard and solid despite some guys still being a little rusty (looking at you Slavin). And Florida is definitely a good team. Things could change but it's looking like a 3 horse race between us, FL and TB for the division lead. Can't wait until Mrazek is back too.

I get why people have fallen in love with Wilson lately but I really think Fields will wind up being considerably better and a true franchise QB. I'd be thrilled if we can land him without giving up too much in a potential trade up.

Why is McCaffrey even on this? He wasn't even drafted until 2017...

Verge's source is mostly a friend of his who is a pretty high up scout I believe for an AFC franchise and has generally been in the know. That doesn't mean that they're right about Watson as even those that are really connected in the league probably don't know, but Verge has a pretty spot on track record especially with draft related stuff the last several years. I take him much more seriously on draft stuff than I do any other local or national NFL media honestly.

I think it's fair to distinguish between free agency and a trade...

Ehh, I'm not so sure about that. He's begun proving himself as a more than capable route runner and obviously is a huge threat down the field. Imagine him going to KC or GB or somewhere they could feature him. I could see him easily putting up 1200-1500 yards as a starter in those offense with QBs who can get him the ball. GB actually makes a ton of sense, though not sure what their cap situation looks like.

By "defensive starter" what are we talking here? Shaq and Donte would certainly fit that bill I would think, but my guess (fear) is Houston is thinking more along the lines of Chinn, Brown, Burns, etc.

Aho is one of the best centers in the entire league. Necas has a LONG way to go before being on Aho's level if he ever gets there. Love what I've seen from him so far but he definitely has a bunch of development to do on both ends of the ice and strength to build. Great player but let's not get ahead of ourselves with him. Also the transition from wing to center is significant and it's yet to be seen if he can handle that. I'm extremely optimistic and think he can be our long term #2 center in the mold of a David Krejci type, but I hesitate to say he'll get to the level of being a #1B center like Malkin is in Pittsburgh.

I'd be shocked if there aren't atleast some fans allowed at Canes games by then.

I'm starting to think Crowder will be significantly cheaper... Samuel was much better and is young and on the upswing while Crowder is the opposite. Could be a decent vet. replacement for relatively cheap if we can't keep Samuel.

Also, that tweeter account and the initial post on this thread are two different things. The initial post website is what quoted Person. That tweet didn’t quote anyone it just threw out there randomly with no source attached that we’re high on Jones — the opposite of Person’s quote.

It’s fake as in nothing posted on it has any bearing on reality. Just a bunch of random crap. There were a couple threads on here a few months back posting tweets from that account with some kind of big news that wound up being just blatantly wrong.

It’s a fake account with no credibility whatsoever.

Draft board doesn’t exist, but first impressions certainly do and Rhule I’m sure already has an impression of Jones. I highly doubt we’ll be high on him but yeah it’s just Person speculating.

Frustrating one last night but the Spurs are a great team and we were just too short handed without Hayward, PJ and Devonte. At least we put up a good fight. Very encouraged by this team and still think there’s a decent chance we can get the 5 or 6 seed in the east with a winning record and avoid the play in round.

Dzingel just didn’t fit in well here at all. We’d have been no worse off if he were a healthy scratch every night (and he was a fair amount last year). We don’t save much salary but I’m sure that was a part of it. Paquette was a great 4th line C for Tampa for years but has been terrible this year - whether that’s just Ottawa or him declining, I don’t know. But he really doesn’t have any potential. His “potential” is just a 4th line C upgrade who can bring a bit more toughness to the lineup (which I think is the main reason for the move). Paquette definitely should not be in the top 9 at any point, but I do like him as depth more than Dzingel. Galchenyuk is pretty worthless and I doubt he plays much if at all here. He has theoretical upside as a skill player, but he’s been even worse than Dzingel the last couple years and doesn’t offer anything else except a bit of skill — in a Rod Brind’Amour team, that is a recipe for disaster (see Dzingel). Decent move but unlikely to really have much of an impact at all. Certainly doesn’t hurt us. We didn’t give up anything of real value and saved a bit of money, so if that’s all it was too then so be it.

I’d be all over that, but make it a 2022 third rounder.

Pittsburgh. Watt bro’s will dominate there

Agreed. And it’s such a small sample size that it really doesn’t say much at all about what could happen if we do trade up to get a QB this year. If the staff and FO is completely convinced that one of these QBs is our guy and he won’t make it to 8 then by all means, trade up. But don’t trade up out of desperation just to get any QB high this year, I think that is where we could make a huge mistake...

Fields is a really good and rare prospect. If he doesn’t go 2nd overall there will be teams kicking themselves for passing him up or not trading up for him. I don’t want to give up a ton either and prefer we try to get Lance at 8, but would not be upset with giving up future draft capital to get Fields. Trading up for Wilson, on the other hand, would be disappointing (though I’ll ultimately be happy with any promising QB we may acquire this offseason).