grimesgoat

That's a double win. Picking up an extra 3rd and sticking them with Sanders. If we had an extra 3rd, I would not be so stressed about getting an edge in the first. Get Warren, then pick up an edge, wr, and s in rounds 2-3. Depth t, cb, dt, and lb in rounds 4-5 and we're ready to roll.

If they move up for anyone, I bet its Warren. Jones and Warren could be something.

What would it take for us to move back to 9 and let NO get their guy and prevent someone like Indy from jumping them? Would you do it for a 3rd or insist on the 2nd?

We could move back to 10, 11, or 12 (Chi, SF, or DAL) and get an extra 3rd. The only team I could see willing to give up a 2nd is Seattle, who have 50 and 52. That would drop us back to 18. Still lots of really good guys back there and that extra 2nd would be sweet.

campbell? I like him.

I think you are right. 1. E Walker 2. WR Noel 3. OT (MBow or Trapilo) 4. S (Sanker) 4. CB (Riley or Strong) A solid draft with 1 potential superstar in Walker. All of these should be starters/solid contributors by 2026. I think they use their 5ths to move around a bit to get their targets. They walk away with the players above plus a few other late round selections at TE, LB, RB and DT.

If we are stuck at 8, I'd go with Warren or Walker. Closest to best available that fits our needs. In my mind, we need future starters at Edge, OT, S, and WR/TE from this draft. So we need to find another second rounder. Seattle and Chicago each have two. I'm targeting Seattle with 50 and 52. So my preference would be to move back to 18 and pick up 52 and 92. At 18, the following would probably still be around - Emmanwori, Mykel Williams, Pearce, Starks, Grant, Barron, Eziuraku. Lots to choose from. 52 and 57 are great spots to grab starter-level players at S, Edge, or WR/TE. 74 should be a good spot for our future RT. 92 can be used to move up a bit if necessary. Use the rest of the draft for depth/backups - CB, LB, DT, TE, RB.

I think it was 3 picks. We gave away 3 but got one back. According to Linville, the 2 extra 5ths were just dart throws anyway. I, for one, was ok spending a high pick on RB. It was a shallow draft at RB and we needed a good one. At the time, Chubba was ok (3.8 ypc) with questionable hands. Sanders was not good. So we drafted the consensus best RB in a shallow class (i.e. not as many good choices as usual). This is a deep RB draft. My understanding is that means there are a lot of good NFL-level RBs. But has the need for RBs increased significantly from last year to this year league-wide? If not, it makes sense some some really good RBs will fall and may not even get drafted. Its just supply and demand.

If the choice is a top 15-20 corner and a RB that will be either 3rd or 4th on the depth chart, my choice is CB. We have 2 good corners and 3 average backups. The CB will get reps and play special teams. I felt differently before we signed Dowdle. After the draft, we should be able to grab someone to field punts and kickoffs and with some upside for the practice squad.

Just a thought, but if RB is super deep - there should be some that fall out. Why not just wait until after the draft and grab one? Use the draft to grab the depth where there is a more limited supply.

I like the guys Morgan picked. And his first draft isn't over. He's still got the 2025 second rounder he picked up last year.

I'd rather draft Warren. He can play TE, FB, and Wildcat QB.

I think First Round goes something like 1. Ten - Ward or Carter 2. Cle - Ward or Carter 3. NYG - Hunter 4. NE - Tet 5. Jax - Graham 6. LV - Jeanty 7. NYJ - Sanders or Edge 8. Car- Got to be Warren. I'd love to trade back because 10. Chi, 11. SF, and 13. MIA all need OTs, but if we drop below NO at 9, they will snag Warren.

I don't think defense is a must-have at 8. There are other ways to help a defense besides adding a rotational edge. Panthers want to run. They want to burn clock and sustain drives. Keep the defense fresh. One way to do this is to run 2 TE sets. Adding a guy like Warren could be the key. We could run more. He's a great pass-catcher and safety valve to keep drives going. And he can run wildcat near the goal line. If Graham is gone (and he is not likely to get past Jacksonville at 5), then my dream scenario would be to move back a few spots to 11 (SF) and swap 2nds with them and pick up an extra 5th. SF (11), Chi (10), and MIA (13) all need OTs and we will be in prime position for a move back for the best offer. Take the SF 2nd (#43) and grab Ezeiruaku. Then go DT in the third and S in the 4th. Grab Stuttsmann with the 5th you just picked up and all of a sudden your defense is vastly improved (on paper).

this is the way.

The huddle consensus is to let everyone know who they wanted after a year or two.

I'd offer Keenan Allen a 2 year, $15 million contract to finish his career right here in his home state. He is smart, reliable, and runs great routes. I think he would be perfect for Bryce and would not break the bank. Then we can use the draft for mostly defense (at least rounds 1-3).

I get what you are saying, but there is a mental part of the game that is difficult to measure. If you walk out and expect to lose (because you always do), chances are pretty good you will lose. However if you win, it builds confidence. You learn what it takes to win and you go about doing those things. Winning breeds winning. If you've played competitive team sports, you understand these things. I don't mind if a young team such as ours loses an individual game, as long as we are improving and not quitting. And I'm not seeing anyone quit out there. The real problem I have is the people who say things like 'typical Panthers, winning a meaningless game and messing up their draft position. They can't even tank right'. Those guys are losers.

Good luck getting your answers. My hope is that Panthers play hard and young guys get lots of reps. Build chemistry on the line and between Bryce and receivers. If we are underdogs and we lose, I won't lose any sleep. But if we are favored, like this week vs. Dallas, I will be disappointed if we lose. Draft status be damned.

Not sure I agree with all of this, but i love the out-of-the-box thinking. Great post.

I don't think our roster is that talent deficient. Other than Sanders and maybe Wonnum, no one looks grossly overpaid. The Moton cap hit is bad, but that is from all the restructures. But our line is decent and mostly intact for 2025 (other than Corbett). We're just drafted an RB, TE, and WR that we need to develop - maybe there is some talent there? On defense we will still have Horn, Brown, Robinson, and Clowney, who are all above average. I think the idea is to build through the draft anyway. Those are low-cost additions. Draft another edge in round 1 and a WR in round 2, and developing them. I, for one, don't really care that we don't have 100m to spend because I like the organic growth path they seem to be on. If you have to spend money, put it in the trenches. Our recent impatience has hurt us tremendously and put us in this hole. I'm giving it a good 2 years to see what Morgan/Cannales can come up with.

Can't agree here. We're showing 42m in cap space in 2025. Cutting Sanders clears 5m more. horn extension clears another 6-8. Cutting Wonnum gets us another 7.5. The cap will probably go up another 10-20 like it always does. And this is without any major restructures. It is a fallacy that it costs a lot of money to sign your draft class. 7 draftees come onto the roster to count against the cap and 7 guys leave that will no longer count against the cap. Its usually close to a wash. We have a full complement of draft picks for the first time in a while. We have very little dead money in 2025. We have our answer on BY (he sux), so we don't have that hanging over our head. Maybe we can convert that into a pick or two. And everyone's favorite whipping boy, Ian Thomas, will probably not be re-signed. I think the future is the brightest its been in 4-5 years. I am optimistic.

He was picked in the 6th round. He's a backup basically making the minimum. He played in 15 games last year. What were your expectations?

That's the confusing part. I always thought it accelerated in the current year too, but sportrac has it spread into 2025 and 2026. It would probably be impossible to absorb an additional 12m in the current season meaning they will have to hang on to him through this year, then try to move him in 2025, when they can spread the dead cap over 2025/2026 if they want.

his 2024 prorated 6m bonus is already counting in the salary cap. converting it to dead money does not change that. We call it dead money when the guy is gone, but before that we just call it signing bonus hitting the cap. sportrac seems to suggest an in-season trade would not immediately accelerate the balance of dead money. instead that would hit as dead money in 2025. The rest of the guaranteed money is on his new team.