vorbis

it's clear that the front office has seen something in this void years business that makes it just a good move to do in a variety of situations. the Panthers don't even need the cap room given to them by adding 4 void years to Chark's deal. plenty of room to sign all their draft picks and still make more moves in free agency. I don't know if they just see this as the cost of doing business for this off-season specifically, or if they feel this is just a handy way to rig the cap calculations game. but it's clear it's a conscious move on their part, regardless of trying to save up x amount of space.

if this is the most desperate contract the Panthers sign, then they're doing pretty good. they paid what they needed to to get the player. long-term cap implications are minimal. they still have room to fit more free agents under this year's cap and have room for draft picks. I think they paid a premium for a player with the credentials that Thielen has. the choice to sign a veteran WR makes sense given the incoming rookie QB, young WR core with potential draft picks coming there as well. the logic is there. edit just saw this tweet: this front office has really seized on the void year thing. they really must feel confident about the cap continuing to go up. that makes it even more palatable in the meantime, cap-wise.

lol except for the handful of legitimate leaks that have happened on this forum

I love this signing, man

I wouldn't put it past Mike Lombardi to have a bit of an axe to grind with the Panthers after they got rid of his friends and relatives on the staff. It's only human nature. Pat Stewart's gone, Matt Rhule's gone, his son Matt's gone. he was actually a fairly reliable insider for Panthers tidbits while those people were with the Panthers. but now they're gone, and he doesn't have his finger on the pulse of the team right now.

the reality is that, though the price of moving up to the top 3 will sting, and perhaps multiple future 1st round picks will be involved, that price will be well worth it if they can grab one of the top QBs and that QB hits. if that QB hits the ground running--maybe he is starting by the end of the year and showing stable progress--nobody will care about the price paid. even when Jared Goff and Carson Wentz started to flounder towards the end of their tenure with their original teams, I don't think many fans were regretting the price paid by the Rams and Eagles to go up and get them. as far as I am concerned, you won't find a staff better prepared to bring a rookie QB up to speed and ready for a long, successful career than the staff with the Panthers right now. so for me, any price up to and including retail price for a top pick for a QB you target is worth it. Jim Caldwell joined the Colts as QB coach in 2002 after Bruce Arians had left the same role to be an OC with Cleveland, and when Frank Reich joined Caldwell's offensive staff in 2006, they went on to win the Super Bowl with Manning's best record ever. Reich was later instrumental in getting a toolsy, somewhat raw rookie QB up to speed in Carson Wentz in 2016. the following year, they won the Super Bowl. the organization is aligned to help a rookie QB succeed. to that end, it's not a pure gamble to pay up to move up to get a prized rookie QB. it's a strategic choice. and that's why I feel better about the trade up this year than perhaps in any year since 1995. in fact in researching this post I realized: the Panthers have NEVER, to my knowledge, traded UP to make their first pick of the draft. in 27 drafts, not once. they did trade up to make their 2nd 1st round pick in Jeff Otah. they have traded down a few times, with varying success. but never traded up for their first selection. the staff is aligned, the defense and the offensive line are in place, for the most part. the roster is full of young talent. the opportunity is there to build out the offensive playmakers and other roster concerns with free agents during a rookie QB's rookie contract. the time is now. is there a price that is too much to move up? well, yes, of course there is. but this is why you shop your assets to multiple teams. move up twice if you have to make it more palatable for Chicago to drop out of #1. move up to 5 and then move up to 1. all options should be on the table.

it's gonna be a Jeans Friday in the everafter tomorrow

chatter among certain youtube channels who may or may not have inside sources with the Panthers says D'Onte Foreman will re-sign at the start of the league year a 2-3 year contract with good guarantees

both Reich and Fitterer are doing their combine pressers tomorrow. Reich at 1:30 and Fitterer at 2pm.

word. Adrian Wilson and I were in the same class at NCSU. he acquitted himself very well in the league. welcome home A-Dub!

I was so hype for Thomas Brown and then Duce came through and that was one of my favorite Panthers press conferences ever. he's got the juice.

pro-ready Levis over toolsy and instinctive Stroud

drip drip drip

this is fun, you can listen to DeAngelo Hall call Jaycee Horn his #1 breakout receiver for last year at about 2:22 of this video. talks about how he used to come around the facility with his dad when DHall was playing. cool to see.

this is one of those moves that has extremely high upside and minimal downside. worst case scenario he's the worst....assistant defensive backs coach in the league. no big deal. best case scenario is he has a gift for coaching and ascends the ranks within the Panthers or elsewhere, and the Panthers benefit from his expertise in the meantime.

that old synchronized Pelissero and Rapoport twitter extravaganza

this seems a bit like a theft of a well-liked coach in Detroit. he had gotten good production out of a variety of players in his time there. he was the DC for an Offensive-minded head coach in Jacksonville, and led them to two top-5 defenses. Detroit fans seem perplexed that he would leave for a lateral move. either the Evero/Capers/Fitterer/Morgan ties were real, or Tepper dropped another bag on a coach, or whatever. but this feels like a big get. a Jim Caldwell-esque move for the defense.

after the cornhusker guy era of failing time and again to get "rockstar" hires it's nice to have a head coach who is able to target and get the coaches he wants, rockstars, up-and-comers, and otherwise.

Jim Caldwell is just as, if not more likely to advocate for hiring Thomas Brown as he is Jim Bob Cooter. yes, Cooter worked for him, but Caldwell mentioned Brown by name (along with several others) when asked by Vic Carucci about up and coming young black coaches who deserve bigger roles as coordinators and head coaches.

hard to shake the feeling that the Panthers unequivocally made the right hire with Frank Reich. you don't hire two of his competitors for the same head coach position without there being a general sense that he is fit to lead the franchise.

hard to imagine a better "senior assistant" than Caldwell. so that's now 3 of the 9 people who interviewed for the Panthers head coach job who are now on the same staff. boss moves.

holy crap they landed Jim Caldwell!