Mr. Scot

Jeremiah Mock Draft 3.0 Five quarterbacks go in the top seven (Lance to the Falcons, Fields to the Lions or a team that trades up with them). Bengals take Kyle Pitts. Sewell and Slater both available to the Panthers at 8, Panthers take Slater. Sewell goes to the Broncos at 9.

Darnold already earned it. Bridgewater's not competing for anything here.

Ouch

To the public, maybe. People he's coached and people that have worked for him characterize him as a hard ass.

Daniel Jeremiah did this same exercise and had him behind only Lawrence and Wilson.

Riddick seems to have become a big Matt Rhule fan.

There are some former Panthers, and one likely soon to be former Panther, who might disagree with you.

"Aggressively shopping him", eh?

"The organization" isn't Marty Hurney and Ron Rivera anymore. Fitterer and Rhule are just getting started. They have zero track record together at this point.

Fitterer said in his presser today that he wanted to use the draft to build on both sides of the line and at corner. I'd say we're significantly better on the defensive line than on the offensive side right now, so I'm hoping the draft concentration is there.

I'd expect he was part of the discussion. Rhule and Fitterer are also both on record as being Darnold fans.

I believe this is the right thing to do regardless of whether Darnold works out or not.

If Sewell or Slater is available at number eight, that's who I'll want.

I prefer "if you build it, they will be knocked on their asses trying to get to him".

No, I'm not talking about immigration. I would agree that this absolutely should be our next step. You traded for a young quarterback. Now do whatever is necessary to protect him.

I'm not convinced it's a smart move. I'm convinced I don't know what kind of move it is yet.

Watched Fitterer's press conference. Turns out he's a pretty big fan of Darnold too. Liked him a lot coming out of college. I'd guess they were both in agreement on this trade.

To be fair, you also tried to tell us how bad Justin Herbert was going to be. Darnold certainly isn't my first choice, but I don't hate it. I'm willing to wait and see how it turns out.

All indications are that we will.

Rhule didn't have to be convinced. He was already a big fan of Darnold from having met with him when he was interviewing for the Jets head coaching job. I'd expect Rhule and Fitterer were equally on board with the idea.

Turns out we've been talking to the Jets since mid-February.

I seriously doubt we'll get better compensation for Bridgewater than the Jets got from us for Darnold.

It sure as hell keeps us from trading up for one. And given that a lot of other teams have talked about trading up, I'm not sure I'd bet on one of the top four or five quarterbacks dropping all the way to number eight.

His skill set does fit the offense we run. He's definitely not a dual threat QB, but he's no statue either. Fitterer's comment on what they liked about him indicated that he fit all the characteristics both he and Rhule were looking for in a quarterback.

And what happens next... The first piece of fallout here for the Panthers concerns the decision they’ll have to make on Darnold’s fifth-year option, which I’d expect them to pick up. It’s set at $18.858 million and will be fully guaranteed upon being exercised. Which is pricey, to be sure. But the Panthers could also just restructure Darnold, with the $4.604 million due this year folded in, and spread the total of $23.462 million over the next two years as they see fit. The APY on that, by the way, would be a very reasonable $11.731 million. The second piece is Teddy Bridgewater, who is due a $17 million base, in addition to $750,000 in per-game roster bonuses and a $250,000 workout bonus this year. The final $17 million of that base became fully guaranteed in March ($10 million was fully guaranteed at signing) and that number has made Bridgewater virtually untradeable (the Panthers have been trying to trade Bridgewater for weeks, to no avail). So, barring someone suddenly having to scramble for a starter on the fly, it looks like that money is sunk and Carolina’s best play may be just to let Bridgewater compete with Darnold for the job.