AU-panther

Does it matter? Does he drop? Would you be ok spending pick 6 on a guy that has to be an exception?

my guess is Ron still gets fired and good chance we still end up with Rhule. What do you think would have happened?

Even if nobody trades in front of us we lose nothing by pretending we want a QB.

Just based on some quick searching, seems like his foundation is WCO: Can Ben McAdoo Fix the Panthers Offense? - Sports Illustrated Carolina Panthers News, Analysis and More How Ben McAdoo’s New Offense Will Fly | PFF News & Analysis | PFF Do Panthers, Ben McAdoo have a potential fit in Jimmy Garoppolo? (usatoday.com) Might just be some coach speak by Rhule, its not like a coach is going to admit we want to run sideways. Coaches have a habit of telling fans what they want to hear. If we do end up going to more of a power based running attack, that might actually lower Linderbaum down our draft board. A lot of the reports I've seen on him is that he is more suited for zone. He definitely doesn't fit the "bigger" profile.

Everyone keeps referring to the top 3 tackles as they are all worthy of the 6th pick. There is a very good chance the teams don't view them that way. That is why Jeremiah says we might reach for someone like Penning. He actually has Cross mocked 22nd. To the fans' Cross isn't a reach but to Jeremiah or the teams he could be. It's very possible the us, or any team, could have OT1 and OT2 in a totally different tier then OT3 and OT4. That is why I would not be surprised at all if OT1 and OT2 are gone we don't consider another position. I could easily see the top of our board looking something like OT1, OT2, DE1, DE2, CB1, S1 in no particular order. If one of those top tier talents are there, they might not be willing to pass to draft a lower tier talent even if it is at position of "great" need such as most think LT is. At that point they might decide to make due with BC. Personally, I think there is a very good chance at least 2 of the OTs are off the board by the time we pick, Jags, Giants, Texans are all in play, how high we view OT3 will go a long way in deciding what we draft.

He is probably talking about Penning or Cross being reaches. https://www.nfl.com/_amp/daniel-jeremiah-2022-nfl-mock-draft-2-0-bills-land-another-playmaking-wr-for-jos Not everyone is as high on Cross, he has him mocked 22,and has us drafting Penning.

If that is true it isn't crazy to think that Rhule consulted (off the record) with him some in the search that resulted with Rhule. What his opinion of Rhule was we will never know.

So, we decided to go with Darnold because "he cares about ball" and he is young? Did we factor in how he had actually played the previous 3 years? As fans we will probably really never know but was anyone in the building against the move? Also, I think we might have got a bit greedy on the draft picks, to us the draft picks we gave up for Sam seem like a lot, but at the time I think they viewed those picks as giving up a lot less than if we had spent our 1st on a QB. Basically, if they trade for Sam, they get to keep the 1st to use on a different position. It's easy to bash Rhule right now, and yes, he has final say, but I have serious doubts he is making all of calls entirely by himself. Same with the Ian Thomas extension, I'm sure Rhule decided he wanted to try and keep Thomas, but I doubt he is coming up with the contract terms on his own. If Tepper would have fired Rhule this year I think there would have been a greater chance of him leaving some of the front office as opposed to if he ends up firing Rhule next year.

people need to give up on this idea Why would a coach, and maybe GM, who are on the hot seat, go into the season and not change the most important position on the field that happened to be one of the worst in the league last year? Only way that happens is if the owner steps in.

what's an extra $6m at this point?

Sad part is we didn't find Teddy Bridgewater at a reasonable price either, $30m for one year of play. If we keep Sam this year the total 3 year cost of Teddy and Sam will be: $56m ($30m for Teddy, $20.6m for Sam) a 2nd, 4th, and 6th. (I didn't even include the potential 3rd round comp pick we lost out on by signing Teddy) Scary part is the tab isn't closed yet. If we add another QB this year you can add that to the 3-year total.

going the rookie route might buy you a mulligan, I"ve said for a while that is a possibility, but if you use pick 6 on a QB then you aren't using it on a LT. If he doesn't improve the line much then whatever rookie QB you draft might look so bad you don't even get the mulligan. Honestly the option that is probably the safest for saving Rhule's job is to use pick 6 on a LT then go and trade for Cousins. Not sure if that is the long term answer us fans want but if I was in Rhule's shoes that is probably the route i would go, seems like the best chance to win 9 games or so and maybe be in the playoff hunt in the short term.

Fans seem to be grouping Neal, Cross, and Ekwonu pretty close together but it isn't crazy to think some teams might have a gap between OT 2 and OT 3. Of the 3, I've seen a few reports of Cross being viewed lower. I could actually see a scenario where OT1, OT2, DE1 and DE2 are all gone by the time we pick and us not being as high on OT3. If that was to happen, I could actually see Hamilton come into play and dare I say CB1, if we aren't able to trade down. I think sometimes at the very top of the draft teams have a hard time passing on "elite" prospects to chase need.

I agree that our safest bet is probably going LT this year, but people need to be carefull with this idea of next year being a better option for QBs just because on paper it's a better class. What if we are a bit more competitive like you stated and end up winning 8 games. If we are drafting 13th it might not matter if the overall QB class is stronger next year. At 6 this year we might get QB1, at 12-13 next year you might end up with QB 4 or 5. At the end of the day there is risk either way, like you, barring a trade down, I'm leaning towards taking the best LT at 6, but i can see arguments on both sides.

My only point was they don't have to trade him because they can't get under the cap any other way. They could get under the cap without even losing those key players. I agree that he should go for less than what people think. I just hope we are patient and don't give the Vikings an easy out. I would be shocked if he signed an extension. With the $35m guaranteed there is no reason for him to sign any type of deal unless it's a premium and I can't see them wanting to give out a 3yr/100m type of deal. I don't see them taking Darnold and just swapping picks though. In a vacuum that might sound good but you have to remember there are other teams out there that might offer something. If you are the Vikings would you take Darnold and 1st round pick swap (6 spots) or a 2nd round pick from someone else? I might like that 2nd rounder more because I save $18m I don't have to pay Darnold and I still have my 1st rounder that I can draft my QB. So pick 6 + Darnold or pick 12 + $18m + 2nd rounder? The question becomes is there another team out there what would offer at least a 2nd?

Their cap situation is overstated. They have a good bit of flexibility in some of their other contracts. They could release or trade one player, Hunter, and save $20m and be under the cap. Release or trade Kendricks save another $9.5. Restructure Thielen, they could free up $10m more. Thats just a start, there have several more contracts that could easily present substantial cap savings if cut, traded, or restructured. They don't have to do anything with Cousins financially, they might want to, they might decide that is too much to pay him for one year but financially they don't absolutely have to. Also they could give Cousins an extension and greatly decrease his cap hit this year. Problem with an extension though is Cousins has all of the leverage. He knows he has a guaranteed $35m for one year. He can always turn down their offer and just play for one year. I'm guessing for him to sign an extension they would have to overpay on a long term deal.

You do have to wonder about him based on that. I'm curious to where you found that list, I found a list based on record vs teams with a winning record, he is pretty bad in that also, although from a few years ago. NFL Quarterback records against winning teams | Sports & Fitness Digest (sportsandfitnessdigest.com) Good thing Rams didn't' go off of that list since Stafford was even worse.

But do you feel like he did better than you expected him to?

Maybe somewhere in the middle? I think "7 top coaches" might be a bit of a stretch but even you Mr Scot, have to admit he probably did better than a lot of us thought going into it. He definitely addressed what most felt was the biggest weakness of his previous coaches, lack of NFL experience. I know McAdoo wasn't a sexy pick but overall, if I take my feelings about Rhule out of the equation, he seemed to add some quality coaches. He definitely didn't go the buddy, buddy route that so many of you predicted going into it. On a side note I'm actually really excited about the Campen hire, I'm a firm believer that a good O-line coach can make a substantial difference. There is a reason that certain teams have quality O-lines year after year.

There are 32 starting QBs in the league, of which there might be 10 or so that fans consider good. Of those 32 some have been in the league 10, 15, 20 years. Every draft season fans talk themselves into 3-5 QBs that they think will have success at the next level. The math just doesn't add up. Fact is every year in the draft most of the QBs are going to be terrible. If one or two are anywhere close to above average you have had a good class.

With Rhule on the hot seat I really don't see him having the discipline to play the comp pick game. Even if he did that would be next year's comp pick and another coach might get to use it. I was mostly presenting the question in regard to general team building and which choice helps the team overall and long term, with the situation we are in we probably won't be making decisions with that in mind. My guess is we resign Reddick and worry about Burns next year because our whole staff knows they might not be here. I'm actually a bit nervous that we are not only going to overpay other free agents but our own since it has to be viewed a make-or-break year.

With the offseason upon us everyone is starting to make their wish list of free agents. Here is a top 200 list by PFF. It is in a very long format but they do writeups about each one, everything from scheme fit to injury history. They also include a project contract cost, which is interesting, although I'm sure real numbers will vary. For instance, for our free agents, they have: Gilmore 2years / $28m Reddick 3 years/ $35m Jackson 2 years / $20m Jackson's numbers seemed lower than I first expected but between his size and some injury's he might not command as much on the open market as he is probably thinking. As far as free agents to add goes, there are defiantly some LT types at the top of the list. I'm sure they will be very expensive and very sought after. If we go LT in the draft a #6 some of the IOL on the list are very tempting, such as Scherff and Tomlinson. Later on the list there are guys like Williams and Corbett. If we have a rookie LT it might not be a bad idea to spend some cap on at least one of the guard spots.

Not so much which one is better, but which one makes the most sense to resign. This discussion could actually apply to general team building and whether you should resign your own players or trade them before they become expensive (and get picks) and use that money to sign free agents. Our choices, and we will assume we don't want to spend the cap to resign both, although I actually think we might. Let Reddick walk this year, hope to get a 3rd round comp pick (although we haven't shown a propensity to chase comp picks yet under Rhule) and resign Burns next year for $20m a year. I know $20m sounds high, and some are down on Burns, but in this league if you can get to a QB teams will pay. or Sign Reddick for $14m a year and trade Burns for a 1st round pick or maybe some combination of later picks. Here again I think he would get more on the trade market than some realize. You always have to factor in the player's contract when accessing their value. You don't trade a player, you trade their contract and his is really good right now. He has one year left on a cheap rookie deal and then the 5th year option. Should a team consider trading their own players a year early, to get picks and then use the money saved to spend on free agents that really don't cost them a pick outside of the potential compensatory pick. We could apply this same logic to Moore. Should the team pay him $18m a year or trade him for picks and use that $18m for someone like Allen Robinson or Chris Godwin? If you decide to make a habit a resigning your own players, you should at least play the comp pick game somewhat.

what about Orlando Brown? Proven LT for 20m and 1st round CB or proven cb for 17m and 1st round LT. If people really cared about the LT position as much as they claim you would go with the sure thing.

If we don't resign Gilmore and Jackson then CB is a need and there looks like there will be good value where we pick. What if we were to let Gilmore and Jackson walk, draft a CB, then use the cap saved to sign a LT like Armstead? Would that be ok?