Towelboy

With what picks? We have to overspend to get players because veterans want to be part of consistent winners. We’ve never had back to back winning seasons. Ever. Carolina is where free agents get a chance to play or ride out for retirement. We are not a destination.

I’m a frustrated fan. I dislike the owner - mostly stemming from his arrogance, botched deal with Rock Hill, and reluctance to put grass back in BOA. I dislike the GM because he consistently trades away future assets for mediocre players. I dislike the coach because his gameplan is dated and wont relinquish play calling duties to the up and coming OC. I dislike the QB because he seems lost, lacks confidence, and has average arm strength. I question if there is a clear direction for this team and unfortunately see another few years of bad football in Carolina. This team is consistently inconsistent. This year is ugly and I’m not sure when it will turn around.

Sure would, but I’d also have hope for the future. I’ve never been so down on this team as I am right now…and that’s saying something because I was in the stands during the Pickle year.

If I was a Bears fan, I’d be ecstatic at the thought of two top-5 picks next year. Not sure they are any better than us at the moment, only they have hope in next year’s draft.

I hope you’re right. I really hope he’s the answer.

There was hope of a top pick then. Now that pick is in the hands of another inept franchise.

I DO believe Tepper meddles. He lingers too long at other’s press conferences and interjects when not the primary interviewee. He sits front and center at the draft table. Before you say, “Of course he does. He owns the team.” I don’t remember Richardson doing that. I can only think of one other owner like him - Jerry Jones. And like Jerry Jones, I think he sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong. I don’t think he is willing to sit back and let football people make football decisions. I think Tepper thinks he’s the smartest man in the room when clearly football is not his specialty. This team will tout the company line because Tepper is vindictive and will make their lives miserable. You will not hear what the scouts and front office truly think until they leave the team. And when that happens, I can’t wait to hear how things truly went down.

I think Fitt was so desperate for a GM job, he didn’t mind that Rhule had final roster say. That’s why I think Tepper made the call because Fitt is a “yes man.”

Here’s how I imagine it went down. Tepper was impressed with a smart kid with the smart answers at dinner. He treated it as a job interview for someone to work at his hedge fund. Frank Reich and scouts wanted CJ Stroud because he had all the tools. When the S2 scores came out, Tepper said, “See, I told you he was smart” and began the move to make Young the pick. That would explain the off-season moves to get a bunch of route runners known for intermediate crossing routes - players to offset the flaws of their short, weak-armed QB. They realized they needed a deep threat, so they cheaped out and got the oft-injured Chark. I think Fitterer and Reich are bad at their jobs, but I think they were hamstrung by an owner that was duped in interview settings by a quarterback that does not have the physical traits to succeed in this league. This team has been set back 5+ years due to a poor decision to trade up and draft the wrong guy. At this point, I hope the stands are full of opposing fans and David Tepper has to stomach the fact that he botched this team.

This owner has invested heavily in analytics, but anyone paying attention could see Young is physically limited with no physically elite skills. This team disregarded over 100 years of data because Young is a football savant. However, football is a big man’s game. A QB not only has to make the right reads, but he also must be able to throw all the routes. I don’t believe Young has the skills to do that in the NFL.

And to think, we could have had Brandon Beane.

Teams that would have to make some cap adjustments: BUF: Diggs - their best WR, potentially unhappy but why come to Carolina in this current state? PHI: Brown or Smith, but why would they do it? Their defense is already stacked. JAC: Kirk (3 years left), Ridley (contract year). Ridley is the perfect replacement for DJ Moore.

Here are some potentials from teams with cap space: SEA: Metcalf - I doubt they move him, but if they think Smith-Njigba is his replacement, they could move him. MIA: Waddle - on a cheap two-year deal, but separating him and Cheetah it’s probably not happening. CIN: Higgins - probably going to get in the $18-$20 million a year contract range when he resigns. Wild rather have Chase, but that ain’t happening.

You aren’t wrong. I’m not for trading Burns for a WR, but in this what if scenario, what might our idiot GM consider?

You start it and I’ll get some Cap numbers together.

Interesting. Let’s look at potential suitors that have extra WRs and might make the trade: CIN - Higgins (contract year) LAC - Mike Williams (Bosa and Burns together - oh my, but they don’t have the $) MIA - Waddle (they could use Burns, but Waddle and Cheetah are almost too formidable to separate) JAC - Ridley/Kirk (they would probably rather move Kirk, but I like Ridley - he’s basically DJ Moore)

If they keep him, I expect they will overpay in the $30 million range.

I absolutely agree, but you know Fitts phone is about to blow up over the next 6 weeks.

Yep, par for the course with Fleeced Fitterer.

I’d personally keep Burns, but if our brain trust trades him away, what is he worth?

If you could get our pick back from Chicago, would you send Burns and our 2nd rounder next year?

Fitterer can’t build a roster. He’s in on every trade because the other GMs know he’s easy to fleece. I haven’t seen anything done under him that has given me comfort that he’s the best option at GM. He doesn’t have Rhule to blame anymore. I mean heck, we all knew we were thin at CB (Jackson and Horn are injury prone and Henderson is a liability in coverage) yet he didn’t make a move to improve the position. He overpaid for an over the hill Thielen, still hasn’t closed the deal on our best defender, overpaid for a RB (Sanders), is carrying 5 TEs (who knows why), and is heavy at Safety. At some point someone needs to turn the attention towards Fitt and the poor roster he has assembled. We’re about to find out how good this coaching staff is to gameplan around our roster deficiencies. QB - rookie and solid backup RB - overpaid RB, Rhule’s wife’s pick WR - over the hill WR, injury prone deep threat, unproven third year receiver, rookie WR, returner TE - one receiving TE and four blockers (one we resigned for who know what reason) LT/RT - two starters and nobody else C - starter and nothing else G - two injured last year (and this year), a rookie, and some randoms D Line- two starters for three positions OLB - two great starters and a couple warm bodies MLB - two good starters and journeymen backups CB - injury prone, liability, and nothing else S - solid starters and depth

23-13 NOLA Young throws for 156, 1 TD, 1 INT. Defense gets its first turnover, but Olave scores 2 and Shaheed gets most of the yards and 1 TD. Carr throws for over 300 while we shut down their running game.

Rumor was, and this has not been substantiated, that he didn’t like playing with a short QB.