BrisbanePanther

I don't know how significant that is though...a star Alabama defensive player brought in by a defensive coach who was also a star Alabama defensive player. It may have been more surprising if Demeco didn't bring him in.

Fair enough--just tried to edit it but couldn't (maybe it's been too long). So yes, credit to you for starting the topic--I just wanted to give it its own home. Oh, and I also realize I should have made the title "Best Carolinas city". If mods can fix, please do.

Plus, I'm pretty sure that Herbert, Peyton, Brady, and Mahomes never won anything. Neither did Brees. On the other hand, Matt Leinart and Vince Young won. So did Jameis Winston and Charlotte's own Chris Leak. In fact I remember Leak carving Ohio State up in the championship game like it was nothing...and then that's exactly what he ended up doing in the NFL...nothing.

Just curious what "get out of the way and let the football people work" looks like to Huddleville. I mean it seems like anything besides making sure the checks don't bounce incurs Huddle Wrath and fears of Jerry Jones. Not trying to take up for him but hopefully the Huddlers who are bosses/managers are just as hands off with their employees as they hope Tepper is with his.

Figured that I would place this here since a Stroud thread is basically turned into a Charlotte vs Raleigh discussion. My vote is for Charlotte and it's not even close...then again I prefer bigger cities.

Sorry, Raleigh and Charlotte are not even in the same league. Charlotte is a now bona fide American-style big city (as opposed to global big cities), complete with big city advantages and disadvantages. Raleigh is a medium-sized city that some people prefer to Charlotte because it's not as big yet. Raleigh will someday be as big as Charlotte is today, and the same people that prefer it to Charlotte today will just move to Greensboro. And by that time, Charlotte may be the size of Dallas or Houston, and people who are vocal will like it less but the numbers won't lie.

I thought the same thing with them trying to jettison Corral...it frees up #9.

Sometimes you can do too much and the simplest answer is the correct one. Just make the pick.

I don't know about conference contenders yet, but with the right QB and Nuk (or any other reasonable #1 WR), I agree that Carolina should be the favorite to win the division despite all the changes. The NFC South is not going to good this year, either. Derek Carr won't make a difference in New Orleans, and they'd be the only real challenge. My source? The 2022 Carolina Panthers almost won a putrid division by rolling out an offense that could easily have been auditioning for a re-make of The Replacements.

Tepper? May as well make it a clean sweep for Charlotte.

Suns sold for like $4b.

I was Young first, then ok with Stroud after the Georgia game...but hearing the other day that Young would call two plays in the huddle and then pick one as part of his pre-snap read when he saw what the D was doing sews it up for me. Take Bryce. He had an NFL coach from the Belichick tree as his OC, and he surely has much more awareness and smarts to avoid hits than we have worries about him getting injured. A tell-tale sign of his views about himself is his insurance policy. If it's for an obscene number, then we know that he believes the NFL is high-risk. But if it's a typical policy, then we know he isn't worried and neither should we. I could still change though if it's proven that Stroud has done the same.

I had been pro trading for #1 from the beginning. Once Lovie won that game, I would have called Poles before the Texans were in the locker room. Chicago was always the ideal partner. They're already a young team with a ton of cap room. Having a million more picks was never going to be more valuable to them than a bona fide player, which was confirmed via reports that we tried to give the 2025 #1 and they insisted on DJ instead. Carolina was never going to have to mortgage away the future. Instead they'll now get to secure it.

Turns out Chicago is in love with him again too. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/bears-fans-lovie-smith-trade-panthers-draft/t7zlcenk3615qop6vv8tcz5z

Also, remember Deebo was trying to force his way out last year. I don't think anything has changed, so if we see a replay of last year he may also be easier to acquire now that they have CMC. I think we should try it before Houston does.

I think Nuk will come cheaper than everyone thinks. IIRC he's not in the best place with AZ. He could probably be had for a 3rd and a 4th, two 3rds at the most.

We owe Lovie Smith big time.

I just find the company we're keeping interesting. Three mostly moribund franchises whose fanbases likely cherish draft picks because they like to play the odds...still manage to miss opportunities for more picks.

That could be, but I also think that messages getting out publicly don't change the calculus much because they're all insiders. All the teams know what the other is likely to do. I think that's one reason why Seattle signed Geno--they know what Carolina (maybe others) are likely doing and it's too rich for their blood.

I like where this thread is going...patience is being emphasized and restraint is being employed before judging draft picks after one year. Just curious on how long to give them before they're confirmed as busts or not? Is it less than three years?

?? Not sure where I said anyone here had influence, because anyone who does probably should be getting paid by the team and not shooting the breeze with us. But I did say if it were left to the forum it would never happen and I stand by that. I also never said that I knew who the franchise QB was, but I'd surely want to see the team do what it took to get one that didn't involve grabbing a piece of coal and hoping it turns into a diamond. And almost all of us would happily take Tepper's money if he was offering it in exchange for getting it right.

This is mystifying. I'm convinced that if left up to this board we'd never set our sights on a franchise QB on purpose, but would hope to strike lotto with one that we found in the clearance aisle. Let's be honest, the special place Jake has in everyone's heart is a lot smaller if he was a 1st rounder rather than an undrafted bargain bin find on the Saints bench. The Carolina Panthers have never traded up or used 1st round capital of any kind to acquire a QB. The Carolina Panthers have also never had back-to-back winning seasons, and in fact have had winning seasons only like 25% of the time since it was a twinkle in Jerry's eye. There are Carolinians going into middle school who are too young to remember their team ever having a winning season. And yet we argue to do the same as if it's been a consistently winning formula. Gambling for Young or Stroud at 1 is really not a big deal for a middling (at best) franchise--I could see if we had a legacy of winning and missing on them puts us in some sort purgatory that's a fear of the unknown, but we know the downside risk all too well already and haven't earned the history to be against a swing for the fences.

Except yhe half-billion dollar man says hi--without Hill--and they'll be in the thick of it again next year barring injury.

Especially when you consider that many who advocate for next are probably also anti-tankers.

This is not hard. Trade up (yes, even if it's 3 #1s). Take Stroud or Young and let's go. Worst outcome--they're a bust and we also can't draft a 1st rounder in '24 and '25. So what? We've been bad for years. If missing 1sts in '24 and '25 (so two players) is enough for us go from bad to putrid, then we have structural franchise issues that those two picks wouldn't fix anyway. This also ignores that the draft isn't the only way to build a team.