Peon Awesome

ESPN free agency The article is a compilation of opinions from ESPN NFL experts recapping free agency. Naturally I tried to seek out relevant Panthers references. Which is the most improved team after free agency? Jeremy Fowler, national NFL reporter: The Carolina Panthers. Carolina's defense was the league's thinnest last season, so the front office aggressively pursued quality starters and depth. Most teams agreed that Tre'von Moehrig played better than any other free agent safety in 2024. The Panthers secured him for three years as a dynamic player in the secondary. They missed on Milton Williams but got two interior rushers -- Tershawn Wharton and Bobby Brown III -- for a combined $22 million per year, less than what Williams got on his own ($26 million). Couple that with some quality adds at other positions, and Carolina is much better positioned for success than it was a year ago. What was the best bargain signing of free agency? Moody: The Panthers signing running back Rico Dowdle. The Panthers needed another proven running back behind starter Chuba Hubbard, especially with 2024 second-round pick Jonathon Brooks still rehabbing from ACL surgery on the same right knee he injured in college. It was impressive for the Panthers to land Dowdle on a one-year, $3 million deal (up to $6.5 million); he shined for the Cowboys after Week 11 with 22 touches and 108.0 total yards per game. There was also notably a section on most head scratching free agent move. Panthers weren't mentioned at all. I worried maybe someone would bring up how much we paid Wharton but instead, they brought up deals for Grady Jarrett and Javon Kinlaw so I guess in a market where DTs were getting a king's ransom, the Wharton deal is comparatively less egregious.

The contract isn't quite atrocious. At the very least, there's a simple out after year 2. We're basically on the hook for 2 years, $30 million with the option to keep him on for a 3rd year at $15 million if he actually plays up to the contract. And in 2027, $15 million will probably be average starting DT salary.

I don't see that there's a player likely to be there that we would be racing up to the podium to draft at 8. I think there's probably 5 or 6 guys we'd feel pretty good about taking. And with that being the case, I think the ideal scenario would be trading back into the 13-16 range for perhaps an extra 3rd and taking whoever is available between: Warren, McMillian, Jalon Walker, or Will Johnson. Could also be ok with Membou or Will Campbell as an heir apparent to Moton if either of them are still on the board and the others are gone. If we trade back a little further, I'd add Emmanwori to the list as well. Then we could package the extra 3rd to move our 2nd towards the top of the 2nd and draft either Schwesinger (assuming we don't take Walker) or Malaki Starks (assuming we don't take Emmanwori). Then our defense would more or less feel set.

One more caveat to keep in mind. If I'm reading the report correctly, this is an extension on top of the 5th year option. So either you can look at it as a 5 year, $112.5 million contract (22.5 million average), or a 4 year contract starting in 2026 when the cap will be even higher and he'll inevitably be paid less than a couple other corners signing extensions by then. It still seems like a lot given his injury issues but I can at least understand it, particularly with the cap savings this year. If, and obviously a big if, he can stay reasonably healthy, it will end up a very solid deal.

I still think we overpaid but he's not getting paid 8 million per year. It's $5.25 million. Again, a little rich in my opinion but not quite as egregious. Since you quote spotrac, here are the spotrac details: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/_/id/72463/tommy-tremble Also interestingly enough, spotrac suggests the contract is fair value. They have a suggested market value contract as 2 years, $11.5 million, suggesting we actually got a slight discount in their estimation. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/market-value/_/id/72463/tommy-tremble

The cheapest tender is over $3 million. Of course we weren't going to tender Blackshear. Y'all are overanalyzing this. It doesn't rule out the Panthers bringing him back on a minimum free agent salary.

I definitely think there is a propensity to overvalue offense and neglect defense, but Philadelphia is a really complete team. They have arguably the best offensive line in the NFL (detroit maybe the only other team with a case), #1 RB, top WR duo, top 10 TE and a pro bowl QB. Their defense is mostly made up of fantastic draft picks and bargain free agents. But to your general point, you can't be myopic. You have to build an entire team. I hope the Panthers front office didn't need to wait till the super bowl to figure that out. Having the worst defense in nfl history this past year should be enough motivation to start investing more in the defense.

The hall of fame has shown they value being the best at what you do, even for a short period of time, more than being great for a very long time. That's how you see players like Calvin Johnson get in first ballot while someone like Torry Holt or Reggie Wayne have been on the outside looking in for years. Kuechly was the best linebacker in the NFL in the 2010s and one of the best defensive players overall. I don't think he has to wait long. The competition is steep so I won't be surprised, just disappointed, if he's not first ballot.

Since you're the expert, I'm willing to be sold on him. My main hesitation in fully endorsing the pick is that our offensive looked really solid the last several weeks with who we have now and I believe with how young the offense is, they have good potential to get even better. Meanwhile, the defense was historically bad and there are few people on it that you look at it and say, yeah with a little more reps, they can grow into decent players (maybe Chau Smith-Wade and Trevin Wallace, and that's it). Not to mention 3/4 of our secondary are free agents. I guess if you truly invest every penny in free agency and the rest of the draft in defense, it could work.

I don't see what's so bad about this coaching cycle on paper, although only time will truly tell. You've got Vrabel who was immensely successful, fired as a scapegoat more or less, only to see Tennnessee plunge into the depths of the worst teams in the NFL soon after he's gone. I think he was a no-brainer for New England. Glenn and Johnson are 2 of the best coordinators of the past several years. Definitely seem more poised to jump into coaching than a lot of other hires recently. If nothing else for Johnson, he's a monumental upgrade from an offensive mind standpoint over what Chicago has had for years. Carroll is old but has been a steady winner, including super bowl win, and transformed Seattle even when he was in his 60s. He seems reasonable as a guy that can help right the ship before turning it over in a few years to someone younger. Cohen succeeded Canales in Tampa and took their offense to even greater heights. Definitely reasonable to be intrigued by where he could lead Lawrence. Not sold on Schottenheimer but they say Dak pulled for him. You might as well see where he and your franchise QB can take the team and if it's not to success, you can move on from both. Inevitably some will fail, some will flourish. We'll see.

It's great to see the list filled with some of our young guys. It feels like this team was incapable of actually developing players for a while which is a big reason why we'd been terrible. Another reason we can start having some hope for the future

I doubt that was a dealbreaker. He's only making about $3.5 million more per year than Josey Jewell. We could have just paid him instead of Jewell and did some minor contract adjustments and easily have fit him in. I might buy what others have said in him wanting a fresh start elsewhere.

I would have paid that in a heart beat for Luvu.

I know, stupid Bryce, how could he give up 38 points to that crap Falcons team? He should have been plugging those A gaps and stopping Bijan from effortlessly chugging away 6-8 yards every carry. Or at the very least he could've locked down Drake London so he wasn't putting up nearly 200 yards and 2 TDs on us. Maybe if he even feined a little resistance on defense, we could have won in regulation instead of skirting by in overtime. Like seriously, Bryce, what a pathetic loser! Or maybe you mean he could only muster up a measly 44 points to beat them. It doesn't matter that 44 points was the most any team has scored against the Falcons all year. A competent QB should have put up at least 60 and completely put the Falcons away regardless of how bad the defense was playing. What a horrific excuse for a QB. I'm with you man. What a bunch of deluded homers! *high five!*

That was a hell of a play by the chargers defender to knock it out. Also the Texans are definitely not a 10 win caliber team but some of that has to be attributed to the decline in Stroud's play. They have pro bowlers at WR, RB and LT, a 1st team all pro cornerback and arguably the best 1,2 duo of edge rushers in the NFL. They're no slouches. If Stroud was playing at 90% of his level last year, nobody would be complaining of the lack of talent on that team.