BlitzMonster

It would be a pretty savvy move to take Neal at 1.1, play him as a bone-crunching LG his first year and then let Cam Robinson walk with Neal replacing him in 2023. Then the team just has to find a LG, which is a lot easier. And the Jags OL in 2022 would be beastly.

As a college senior Russell Wilson was far, far more polished than Willis. Wilson had 11,000 yards passing, over 100 TD passes, 4 years of playing experience against Power Five teams and a room full of NCAA awards (ACC ROY, first team BIG10, Griese QB of the Year). Willis only started 23 games and all of them were at Liberty. Only award was a bowl game MVP. The two just can't be compared at this point in their careers. Maybe Willis has some Wilson "traits" but that remains to be seen. He sure hasn't delivered anything close to what Wilson did on the college football field.

OK - reported in yahoo sports

the team could have had a street free-agent at league minimum who performed as well as Thomas did

gotta keep the core of a 5 win team together

I'll look into my crystal ball and take a shot: 1) Ian Thomas contract means the team will play a lot of double TE 2) double TE protects the lousy OL - which means the team isn't planning on adding any new FA or draft picks to help 3) double TE means the team runs a lot more, taking the ball out of Darnold's / Pickett's (tiny) hands. Less emphasis on passing and fewer INT's 4) The Panthers offense is going to be as run-centric as Ohio State circa 1974 and become one of the lowest scoring and least explosive teams in the NFL 5) the Carolina fans will look fondly on those recent 5 win seasons and wish the 2022 squad could be so good

Upon further reflection, I think the best way to understand the Ian Thomas contract is 1) poor player evaluation, 2) blatant favoritism for previous Temple connections and 3) incompetence with the salary cap.

OK - trying to makes some sense out of this move (which is likely a pointless task) Thomas is now paid as if he's a pretty decent TE. And the team also has a new OC Ben McAdoo so a new offense next season. Does all this mean McAdoo wants to run a 2 TE base set ? Provide a really good push for the run game with Thomas as the blocking TE or FB on every play. So Thomas is on the field almost all of the time. Because that's how much he's getting paid.

a free agent who would be horrible because our talent evaluation is so bad The Panthers are playing 4-D chess against themselves . . .

Jones would not have had success with the Panthers last season like he did with NE. Our leaky OL would have exposed his lack of athleticism. But him on the roster with fixing the OL this draft would have worked. We'd then have all the pieces for a decent offense.

I disagree. The best long term interests of the team would be to keep the cap space.

put Deonte Brown at TE and see how good our running game gets

totally agree the quote was from the Tweet

The only sliver of hope I have is that new OC Ben McAdoo sees some type of magic he can do with Thomas (such as a FB as you suggest) which GREATLY increases his value to the team. But that's really grasping at straws . . .

"At $5.5M per year, Ian Thomas becomes the 16th highest average paid TE in football. Strong deal for a primarily blocking TE, especially with plenty of available options on the open market this March." This makes me want to throw up. And cry. Basically cry while throwing up.

In the English Premiere league (soccer) at the end of the season the worst team in the league gets relegated or put down to be replaced by the champion of the second-tier league. That's actually a really good system which ensures franchises are held accountable for their management decisions. Too bad the NFL doesn't have a framework like that . . .

Way, way too much dead cap from impetuous decisions, changing their mind and just poor talent evaluation. It's like a high school kid is in charge of our roster building.

even better I don't know if I can follow a team that keeps doing really stupid things

I would have offered Thomas the league minimum or GTFO.

I have no faith that Rhule could successfully develop a QB prospect. Look at the horrible job he did with Brady Christensen on the OL. And how much Chinn and Derrick Brown regressed after being promising 1st year players.

if Campen can't fix Deonte Brown, nobody can. But I have a lot of confidence that he will and Brown is going to play this season. Why last year Deonte wasn't in every jumbo package for short yardage, I'll never know . . .

Deshaun Watson is now my new favorite NFL player. He single handedly kept the Panthers from committing seppuku.

1) get a lot of NFL experienced staff from day 1 - this is crucial, especially at OC. The Brady hire was not a smart move for a rookie NFL coach. 2) Keep Bridgewater - he's OK as a transition QB. Provides time to build up the rest of your team. Also avoids the big dead money from cutting him 3) Rhule's drafts were fine - I could live with the guys he took. Maybe another OL from rounds 3/4/5 4) Don't move Brady Christensen and Deonte Brown all around the OL. That was idiotic. Pick one position for them to learn. Also have them start the last 6 or 7 games so you actually know if they can play or not. 5) after CMC's first injury, convert him to slot receiver to keep him on the field 6) be conservative with your salary cap - don't buy high on Robbie Anderson after the only 1000 yard season of his career ********************** This team would have more continuity (and likely productivity) on offense, better rookie development (especially on the OL) and a much cleaner salary cap.

With two 5 win seasons, it's pretty clear that Rhule has been a college coach trying to learn on the job. The key thing is whether he's picked up enough so far to change his NFL coaching to become a lot more successful. His off season hires of assistants with NFL experience gives a glimmer of hope that Rhule is starting to "get it". How he handles the 2022 free agency and draft will be a big test as to whether he's actually improving or whether he's just clueless and will keep repeating the same mistakes of the last 2 years.

I also have hope that with just a few smart moves, a turnaround could be achieved. But to do that Rhule has to show that he is fundamentally changing. The experienced coaching hires this offseason were a step in the right direction. Let's see what he does with this free agency and the draft. Will Rhule show that he has learned from his previous mistakes ? If the Rhule of the last 2 years continues (incompetent, tone-deaf), that's pretty much insufferable. The fans will reject the team at that point, and rightfully so.