Mr. Scot

He's correct. Players aren't signed for what they've done, but for what it's believed they will do. Past success can be used as a gauge but NFL executives know the phrase "past performance does not guarantee of future success" very well. New contracts aren't a reward, they're an investment.

All while not playing full seasons...

His neck's not long enough.

I'd be good with that...

I'm not sure they'd need him to. They've got Morgan, Caldwell, Brown, Capers and several other voices on staff more qualified to offer input than Tepper.

Social services may be paying you a visit

I'd probably give that job to Ekwonu or Bozeman.

To be fair, that describes a pretty good number of quarterbacks in the league right now.

From what I've read, the conditions are that the Niners pick has to be higher and Gonzalez has to meet some kind of performance requirement (unknown, but could be as simple as being on their roster for the 25 season)

Are they seriously asking this?

Young would have an easier time hiding behind a fullback though

Is Stroud really that great an athlete though? Based on what I've seen, I don't really think anybody is mistaking him for Michael Vick

There is a certain physical element to that debate, but it's not about athleticism. It's about durability. Young is as good a quarterback as I've seen in a long time. Stroud has the intelligence, accuracy and processing ability that I look for too, though. The difference id I don't feel like I'd be holding my breath every time Stroud took a hit.

In the past, we've had a fairly vocal crowd supporting the idea of "take the superior athlete and teach him how to quarterback" (maybe because people were big fans of Cam Newton) but it feels like that crowd has either lost some members or simply grown silent. I've always been in the "take the guy with the superior quarterbacking skills regardless of whether he's the best athlete" camp myself. Most signs seem to point to the Panthers going that route with their QB pick, so I'm certainly not complaining. There are definitely some sports fans who'd rather lose an exciting game than win a slow and steady one. That's the bunch that continuously calls on the team to make big moves and swing for the fences every time. And yes, that might be a lot of fun to watch... ...but it's not always the smart play.

In the vast majority of successful NFL franchises, this is exactly how it works. And yeah, it does sound like Tepper wound up eating a healthy dose of humble pie after his first few years in the league.

Quoting for the sheer irony of it

I honestly think they're telling the truth. This is an extremely careful bunch. They're not going to jump to conclusions. The eise thing is to wring every ounce of information they can out of the process before coming down on a final decision. I'd guess they have leanings (Breer mentioned that) but the final decision is yet to come. And I've got no issue with that. It's a smart way to go.

Sheena Quick appearing on The Pat McAfee Show... Basically, football decisions are being made by football people. We had previously thought that was most likely the way things were going to be run post Matt Rhule, but it's good to hear confirmation.

From the latest MMQB (Link) The Panthers’ traveling party does have one more stop on its quarterbacking tour, and that’ll happen with owners David and Nicole Tepper leading a group from Phoenix to Gainesvlle on Wednesday. I’d expect, like they did for the other three pro days, for the Teppers, GM Scott Fitterer, coach Frank Reich, and the rest of them to have dinner with Richardson on Wednesday night ahead of his throwing session Friday at UF. And, honestly, I think this is part of the benefit you get in doing the deal to move up early if you’re the Panthers. There’s no hiding your intentions. You just send everyone and get everyone’s opinion on each of the quarterbacks—with the Teppers bringing a different perspective to the conversation than, say, Fitterer or Reich would. This is a massive decision for the franchise, the kind where a GM and coach get their job security tethered to the fortunes of a single player. So this, in my mind, is how it should look. All hands on deck. While we’re here, I would say the consensus I’ve gotten from teams, and guys who were on the ground at the pro days, is it looks like Young and Stroud are, for now, on one tier, with Levis and Richardson, who don’t have the tape that the other two do and need more work mechanically, on another. “In my opinion, it’s a real tough choice between Bryce and C.J.,” says one coach who was at all three pro days. “They’re both outstanding. If you’re concerned about size, C.J.’s probably a safer pick? And Will looked fine, [but] I think he’s a notch or two below the others. … The other two are more natural throwers and have put better stuff on tape.” “Stroud’s personality came out more interacting with his teammates, and his natural arm strength was tremendous,” says another coach. “Young’s performance was as good as it gets, and he’s such a natural in front of everyone. His accuracy, anticipation, along with throwing catchable balls, as good as it gets.”

Sheena Quick says they don't. With one pro day and all four prospect visits yet to come, she's probably right.

That movie was absolute rhino sh-t

I get the feeling it more likely means nobody (specifically the Texans) is offering much of anything.

There has yet to be any market for him whatsoever. He's trying to create one.

Birthday was late last week so Lady Cowboy Fan took Friday off and we made a long weekend of it. Did I miss anything?

To be fair, that's an awfully tough thing to do at the NFL level.