BrianS

This is why I say it's an interesting problem. Baker's one really bad game this year came against the Vikings - who are the #6 scoring defense in the league. Otherwise he's been fine. He was really good last year. It seems the light finally came on for him. He had passing stats like Kyler Murray, Matt Stafford, Lamar Jackson and David Carr. Carr is making 20 million on a contract signed in 2017. Stafford is also on a 20 million deal from 2017. Jackson and Murray are still on rookie deals. Goff, Cousins and Wentz are making 33 million. Bakers stat line was better than Goff and Wentz, and not that far behind Cousins. What happens there is likely to have a bearing on the entire QB market.

Baker is actually a very interesting problem for Cleveland. He's a good QB. Not a great one, but a good one. Rumor has it he's going to want 40 large per year. That's crazy money. As bad as QB play around the league is, it wouldn't surprise me.

I just realized this a little while ago. He was a risk, and everyone knew it. You can argue whether someone should or should not have accepted that risk, but there was never any question that he was a risk. You know what does bother me? Every other QB on our roster. There was too much opportunity to put another QB on the roster who might be able to complete a pass. Tyrod Taylor, Jacoby Brissett, Joe Flacco and Mitch Trubisky all signed deals under 6 million per year last spring. Surely it wouldn't have broken us to sign ONE of them to be competition / backup. If you want to develop PJ, fine, whatever. He's not an NFL QB, but whatever. Stick him on the practice squad. But don't walk into the season without SOMETHING behind your starter. This is definitely something I'll be watching closely this coming spring.

If you're looking for a silver lining, 2022 free agency may be it. We have a TON of dead money coming off the books this spring so we should be in a much better position to pick up quality players. Next year our dead cap is 7 million or so.

I actually wouldn't have a problem with it . . . But who calls the plays? We don't have any other play calling experience in our staff that I'm aware of.

Actually, they didn't. DJ averaged 13 yards per reception in Cam's last season. He averaged 18 yards per reception with Teddy. Yardage overall nearly identical, but fewer balls meaning fewer hits with Teddy. I know. Weird. But statistically accurate. Also, Cam always, ALWAYS had a habit of throwing high. Not great for DJ.

Setting aside the legal issues for a moment . . . The problem the Texans have is that no trade clause. Deshaun can artificially limit the market, driving his own value (to the Texans) down. It's one thing if the Texans say to the entire league "Deshaun Watson for sale". They'd have tons of suitors. But with the no trade, Deshaun can simply say "Only to teams I choose". That's a big deal, and quite a lever for him to have. I think in the end neither Deshaun nor the Texans come out happy.

Ok, fine, I'll bite. Cam is done. Washed up. As bad as QB play is around the NFL, if anyone thought Cam had a snowballs chance of being just average he'd already have a contract.

Just so you know . . . when you look at the combined stats of the QB's who have left Carolina . . . you get: 385 / 572 (67%), 4106 yards, 27 TD, 13 INT The problem might not be the QB's we trot out, but the team we put around them. I still hope that the new regime can fix it, but there are definitely other issues.

Sigh. Do you watch? Watch him play. Yes, his hands are not great. This can be said for a TON of backs who have successful careers. He's played in six games this season. He's had exactly TWO where is YPC was less than 3.7. Coincidentally, the same number of games Derrick Henry has been below 3.7 YPC. I don't see too many people questioning Derrick Henry's viability. Let's also not minimize just how BAD our line is. They are tragic, especially in the middle where the push for running really starts. Let's say that Chuba is "average". It's pretty widely known that the rushing champion hasn't won the SB since 1998. Is it REALLY that important to be "great" or can you get away with an average RB? Seems pretty easy to argue that you can get away with an average back.

I don't think the players picked Tampa so much as they picked Tom Brady.

Oooo! Pick me! I know this one! Likely because we haven't drafted a single LB. What do I win?

The talk about stacked boxes and scheming are irrelevant. Chuba averages nearly four yards per carry behind a historically terrible offensive line. That's a starter quality average in the NFL. It's as simple as that. It doesn't matter how the defense aligns or schemes, if your RB is getting four yards a pop, you feed him. All day. Imagine what he would look like behind a line like Tennessee. Or the old Denver zone scheme.

I don't think it's bitterness, it's just boring. Yes, Brady is great, the GOAT in fact. No one is denying that. I think that NFL fans as a whole would simply like to see something different. The NFL is just more interesting when a greater number teams and players have a bona fide opportunity to win it all.

That's actually a good point on the compensatory. If you look at it that way, we flipped a 6th for a 3rd.

I don't really have a problem with either the Henderson trade or the Gilmore trade looked at separately. The problem is that we really didn't need both. I get it, a sixth isn't that big a deal. I get it, at the time we looked like a team that might be in the wildcard hunt. The issue with the combination is that the front office bought into the media hype surrounding a very young and still very thin roster. The Gilmore trade is now looking a lot like throwing away a sixth round pick. Again, not a huge deal, but still, I'd like to have the pick in order to roll the dice on someone who might help us for more than 10 games.

I'm not sure this should come as a surprise. Anyone with eyes could see something was wrong in 2018. Do you blame the trainer? I dunno, a little maybe. The trainer is really a guy who focuses on recovery. Getting players ready for the games. Maybe the trainer should have said something along the lines of "Hey, this isn't improving the way it should". Do you blame the doctors? Yea, of course. It's their job to look at the situation, run whatever tests are necessary and diagnose the issue. It's not an easy job, but they are paid well . . . even moreso working for an NFL team with million dollar athletes I'm sure. Do you blame the player? Yea, probably a little. When something doesn't feel right, you really owe it to yourself to get a second opinion. Doctors aren't perfect, and sometimes having a second opinion can open up some avenues of thought that are helpful. Many players DO get second opinions from outside doctors. I haven't read anything to indicate Gano did that. There's blame to go around for the mis-diagnosis for sure. The real blame should fall on the team for getting rid of him. Doesn't matter who made that decision, it was clearly the wrong one. Missed kicks tend to have a much wider impact than is generally accorded them. They can change a lot of decision making in the game, and these decision can really affect the outcome. All I know is it sure would be nice to have him on the team right about now.

Passing numbers make complete sense though. This line is currently competing with 2014 as one of our worst lines ever.

And oldest. Don't forget how old we were. It was bad.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but Darnold is on the books for 18 guaranteed next year. He's gonna be here. The QB draft class next year is looking quite un-inspiring. And here's your 2022 veteran FA's: So, yea. There's that.

I hear you, I really do, but the options weren't there. At guard in the 2021 offseason, there were 16 guys that Walter rated as two star or better FA prospects. Two of them were Panthers: Chris Reed and John Miller. That's a pretty low bar already. Of those 16, 10 of them had clear injury concerns in their history. It's even worse when you say "I want better than what we have". There were only 10 guys who were rated better than Miller. Of those 10, only TWO didn't have injury concerns: Joe Thuney and Kevin Zeitler. We were never in the conversation for Thuney, he went from the Pats to the Chiefs for 16 million per season. At 31 years old, Zeitler went to the Ravens for 7+ per season.

Nope, wrong thinking. When there is interior pressure, it makes it MORE likely a tackle will give up a sack or pressure. The QB cannot step up to allow the tackle to ride his man upfield past the QB. Or even worse, the QB has to take an extra yard back in his drop to account for it. Offensive line play starts in the middle, if that part is bad, your overall line is bad. You can't hide it.

Ah, so we should have spent more than 80 million on an IOL? The guy was a Patriot - part of a perennial winner. He went to the Chiefs, another team that has become a perennial contender. What on EARTH makes anyone think we could have gotten him to come here. For us to sign Thuney, we would have probably needed to offer 18 million a year over 5 years. That's nutso money for IOL. It does point out just how difficult last offseason was. Thuney was really the only guy at guard you could look at and go "Yea, he's a lock to be good".

The problem with this premise is that it assumes there were legit options available with our salary cap constraints. I hear you regarding injuries, I really do. But peruse this list for a bit and be terrified: https://walterfootball.com/freeagents2021G.php I know, Walter football, they suck. But it's just a list. Hard to get that wrong. The point is that as you read thru that list you see a lot of "wouldn't have cut him if he didn't have injury issues" or "dubious injury history" or "coming off a knee injury". And even if Walter isn't that great, they had John Miller - yes, our John Miller - as the 13th rated free agent at Guard. They had Chris Reed - yes, our Chris Reed - as the 15th rated Guard. It was just a scary and awful offseason to need IOL. Look at the list man. Who do you think we should have tried to sign?

Let's tap the brakes there Marty. How many CB's have the Panthers successfully converted to safety? I think this is just a symptom of our traumatized fanbase. We are so accustomed to our secondary being a hot mess that we're still snatching at any opportunity. The truth is, our secondary is pretty darn good these days.