kungfoodude

Consistent game winner or consistent Super Bowl winner? The former we can build with a "Jake type QB" the latter is HIGHLY unlikely. I have no idea what we are hoping to build here. I am not sure anyone outside of the organization has any idea what we are doing at this point.

They win every once in a blue moon, usually aided by an unbelievable defense.

You are making a lot of assumptions. You are assuming we fix our offensive line in the draft(history hasn't been kind on this). You are assuming that the QB's available to us are projects. You are assuming that we care about safety(history hasn't been kind here either). This trade being a positive hinges on quite a few things. The first being that 2021 Sam Darnold is better than 2018-2020 Sam Darnold. The second is that we actually DO invest that #8 pick on an OT and finally focus this draft on fixing our cellar-dwelling OL. We'll see how that works out. I am.....kind of skeptical at this point.

Well, the Rivera and Hurney episodes show he is slow to move people on it.

This definitely feels like a "we gotta do something, right?" kind of move. I don't doubt that they did their due diligence but it really does look like the entire offseason the plan was that Teddy wouldn't be starting in 2021. I think that is how you get to where you make a move like that for Darnold.

If they are pining for a "quick fix" solution(which does fit with the QB moves over the past two offseasons), I suspect this may well all end in tears. They wouldn't be the first nor last NFL staff done in by not being able to find a franchise QB.

They are at Target.

His upside is higher than Teddy. I think his floor is lower, unfortunately.

Get your bets in now.

I don't think that is likely, nor would it be wise. Kyle Pitts has the potential to be a great weapon in the NFL, however a TE/WR is of pretty minimal value when you are comparing it to QB or LT. If you have the chance to take Fields/Lance/Sewell/Slater at 8, you jump at it.

I believe all of that is fully guaranteed money(I know this year is all guaranteed). If so we are trading $33 mil in guaranteed money for $23 mil in guaranteed money. I guess that is progress??

If Fields/Lance or Sewell/Slater is available, you would still trade into the second round?

But it is also not very sure, not very safe and not very cheap(especially with his 5th year option). We didn't put all our eggs in one basket, though. We almost had Matthew Stafford before the Watson thing heated up. IMO, this really is our last and most desperate attempt to replace Teddy. It's the desperate part that I am concerned about. I do kind of agree on selling the farm to move up. There isn't much of a farm to sell. The back 40 we'd have to give up is on a 42 acre lot.

Well, snagging the 5th year option was definitely not smart, IMO. Passing on one of the top 4 QB's if they slide to 8 would be much less smart. Both of those decisions back-to-back? Well.....I think we are in for a long decade as Panthers fans.

IMO, "the plan" seems to be that our other options were all gone or too expensive and no one was willing to roll into 2021 with Teddy or JUST Teddy as options. What I will say is that it shows how they really feel about the current situation at QB if we are resorting to this kind of move.

Well, Rhule and Hurney had a pretty poor hit percentage last offseason but did produce some pretty stellar HR's(Robby being one of the biggest). Let's hope we do better with the Rhule/Fitterer combo this offseason. We definitely cannot keep whiffing at such a high rate on these free agency moves and build sustained success. It would be interesting to know what Anderson thought of Darnold off-the-record.

The real question is....would Joe Montana have been Joe Montana without that great 49ers franchise?

I would think that scenario isn't very likely but it also would have us in a "win-win" situation at QB which would be much more valuable than a 3rd round draft pick. I am definitely okay with that result.

Yep. And had we lost to the Redskins and had the #4 pick, we may not have gotten a franchise QB. Had we traded into the top 3, we may not have gotten a franchise QB. You just keep shooting until you hit a bullseye. For historically bad franchises(which we are perilously close to being) it takes a very long time on average.

If Darnold plays well, I would think that we are not very likely to trade him unless whichever rookie on the roster is clearly better(which would make me assume they might be starting towards the end of the season).

I don't think we expended future draft capital as a smokescreen. They believe Darnold could be the guy and they know Teddy cannot, so they made the trade. I sincerely hope that they haven't put all their eggs in the Darnold basket and would pass on one of the top 4 QB's that drops(save them just not liking them as a prospect).

IMO, if Fields or Lance is there, you take them. As someone described in another thread, we are now at "throwing poo at the wall" for QB. Well, time to grab as much poo as possible. Fields and Lance are way, way, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY shinier turds than Darnold.

If we pick up his 5th year option, it's basically Teddy Deal 2.0. One of the most attractive things about Darnold for us is that he is on a cheap, one year deal. Even if the cap jumps, it isn't going to be smart to be toting around an $18.9 mil backup QB or failed starting QB. That's pretty much the situation we are in now. So, you have mostly bad outcomes from picking up his option, with just one good outcome.

There was an absolute floor in regards to the price of the deal. Darnold had compensatory pick value for the Jets. The price might have been lower after the draft, however. I don't think there would be a lot of panic for the teams that whiffed on free agency and the draft.

If Fields or Lance slips(I am assuming that Wilson and Lawrence will not), you take them if you like them as prospects. If not, you take a LT(Sewell/Slater) if available. If none of those are available, evaluate BPA and trade options. The third scenario is likely to net us a good player but not move the bar on helping the franchise in the next couple of seasons. Eventually you have to get QB and OL figured out or the odds of being a Super Bowl champion get pretty slim.