Mr. Scot

Jerry Richardson never would have gone for this idea. I could see David Tepper doing it.

...according to Dan Hanzus on NFL.com who puts us as the third most likely team behind the Cowboys and the Giants. Story here: Candidates for this year's Hard Knocks I've placed the Panthers in the middle of the pack for now, but they could rise all the way to the top based on how the next couple of months play out. Carolina has an intriguing figure at coach in second-year man Matt Rhule and -- like the Giants -- employ a generational running back looking to rebound after a lost season in Christian McCaffrey . We imagine owner David Tepper is eager to show off the plans and construction progress of the team's new billion-dollar headquarters. Then there's the subject of starting quarterback; armed with a top-10 pick, the Panthers could come out of the draft with a college hotshot. They also make sense as a serious suitor for Deshaun Watson if the Texans actually decide to move their disgruntled franchise star. This is an interesting team with a chance to move into must-see TV status.

For the moment at least, per Rapoport... Pretty interesting clip, especially the part that mentions teams calling about Bridgewater.

For the record, it's being reported that they are still "Washington Football Team" next year. No new mascot till 2022.

Pretty much nobody believes that draft picks alone are going to be enough to make that trade, if Houston even agrees to make it at all (which is not guaranteed).

We tried this formula once already. It didn't go so well. We are not a good enough team to be "just a quarterback away". And the notion that this description applies to every NFL team just isn't factual. I'm all for getting Watson, but if you hamstring yourself from building around him all you've done is make a football version of O Henry's "Gift of the Maji" story.

I saw some posts elsewhere that mentioned an actual girlfriend (the girl in the picture I'm guessing). That, plus he specifically mentioned Christian Mingle

So basically... "Watson is all we need!" "Why haven't they been winning in Houston then?" "Football is a team sport!" When Geoff Schwartz tweeted about Panther fans thinking that just getting Watson made us a championship team, I saw a few people respond "nobody is saying this". Apparently, they were wrong.

Yet the argument I'm having presented to me is that trading for Watson alone makes us winners.

First line of the actual article cited by this Twitter... If the Washington Football Team becomes available, you can count on Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to be one of the suitors to take over as majority owner of the team, according to court documents obtained by Front Office Sports.

We definitely have a big coaching staff.

What was the Texans record last year?

I was thinking Miller might have had some medical condition that made him a risk, so I looked it up. Turns out that wasn't the case. Didn't realize you could be considered high risk because of someone else but I suppose it makes sense.

So essentially, you're one of the people that Geoff Schwartz was addressing.

You could also take a look at the guy that we're actually talking about trading for. What's been one of the big problems hurting him over the last few years? And you want to put him in the same situation here? Same question regarding Russell Wilson...

Family member (link) Miller, a fourth-round pick in 2019 out of Alabama, is considered a high-risk opt out and will earn $350,000 this season. His contract will be paused and all provisions that would have applied in 2020 will be applicable to 2021. Unlike the voluntary opt outs, the stipend for high-risk players is not considered a salary advance.

And others before him. Ron Rivera would approve.

If the trade proposals we were seeing only involved draft picks, this'd be a different conversation.

The kinds of deals that King and Schrager are suggesting are ridiculous. Jonathan Stewart recognized that. In the same vein as Stewart, if we did something like one of those proposals, here's how I picture Watson's arrival at the facilities: "Welcome to the Panthers, Deshaun!" "Yeah, I'm happy to be here. Can't wait to start working with the guys. It's gonna be great to have Christian McCaffrey in the backfield with me. Can I meet with him?" "Ummm...yeah. Sorry to tell you but we had to trade McCaffrey in order to acquire you." "Oh, bummer. I understand though. How about Robbie Anderson? Is he around? "Well see, we kind of had to...you know..." "Ah. Okay, I get it. What about Brian Burns? He reminds me a lot of JJ Watt. Is he in the building?" "..." *I see... Well at the very least, I should say hi to the guys that are gonna be blocking for me. Can I meet some of them?" "Sure, but I should probably let you know we really only have two starters under contract. We're kind of trying to rebuild the offensive line right now." "Understood, But at least you've got some draft picks and some cap space you can use to get some new guys, right?" "We should probably talk."

I'd just as soon trade for Dwayne Haskins. Maybe try and trade for Darnold, Garoppolo or Mariota instead.

Is the first step of that plan making sure that Bill O'Brien gets a GM job again?

Did the Rams or the Bears need to invest in players to protect Khalil Mack or Jalen Ramsey?

No other trades involve an established franchise quarterback in his prime.

I'd say there are two trades that compare. Walker is one. The Bears trade for Jay Cutler is the second. Other examples may have been for great players but didn't involve the kind of compensation package that's being discussed for this trade. For reference, the Walker trade was in 1989, more than thirty years ago, yet people still talk about how huge a mistake it was. Blow a trade of this proportion, and people will be using you as the cautionary tale up through 2051 and beyond.

Guys that look like Willig generally get relegated to playing henchmen, hit men or monsters on sci fi / horror shows. Willig's NCIS character wasn't pigeonholed into one of those molds.