Seltzer

We need to sign and draft someone. Shy Tuttle has been dog poo. One of the biggest needs on a team that could not stop the run over & over & over again even when they knew it was coming.

Hurting our 2nd round pick unfortunately. Darnold letting us down and costing us draft position yet again...

Donte Jackson looks awful out there... I know he's had a pretty good season but this is bad... real bad

Honestly would rather end the season on a high note like we did they endure something like this and miss out on a higher draft pick.

By the end of the year, with basically practice squaders out there they absolutely could. 300 easy. We gave up 200 to almost every team all year

You make some good points. I think we should absolutely try to upgrade the QB2 position this offseason: 1) There are options mentioned in the comments above that would probably be an upgrade over Dalton, maybe significantly given his age. Regardless of how they feel about Andy as a mentor, the NFL season is 17 games, and many if not most QBs miss time due to injury. There is a very good chance your QB is going to have to play at some point. For that reason alone, we should and need to find the very best QB2 we can within the constraints of the rest of the cap. Bryce has been very physically resilient when he has been starter, but just like any player he's one play away from being out for the season. 2) Over the last 5 games, Bryce showed why he was drafted #1 overall. I think the plan should be to continue to build around Bryce with the idea he is going to be your franchise QB going forward. But beyond my first point and back to yours above, part of a championship culture is to have consistent competition at every single position. I don't think Canales would have a quick hook for Bryce going forward, but you need to continue to constantly develop and having a QB ready to lead should disaster happen. Whether that's injury or a guy just not being able to lead effectively like Bryce wasn't able to do for most of his rookie season (mostly not his fault), to the Bryce of the first 2 games this season where it was mostly his fault, poo can happen at any position and you need a backup plan. The Cleveland Browns are case in point. I don't think it will ever be possible for another franchise to top their current streak of QB dysfunction. Andy Dalton reminds me of how Derek Anderson was here. DA went from a great backup who could have probably competed for a starting job somewhere else into a statue who couldn't hit open guys in a couple short years. Not saying Daltons drop-off has been that dramatic, but it's also hard to see him leading this team should Bryce go down.

He's going to get something comparable to Surtain. This team can't preach culture and not resign guys like him & Chuba. Team has already indicated they're going to do it. Horn is absolutely a difference maker

Oh I remember... it was carolina growl when I first signed up

Good point. Campen got a lot of praise, but his results here sucked. The turnaround on the offensive line is the 2nd biggest story of the season (behind BY9 who wouldn't have had his resurgence without them). Dan Morgan deserves a lot of credit for signing Robert Hunt & Damione Lewis. The Oline coaches deserve so much praise... Icky, and also Zavala & Mays too. All 3 of them looked varying degrees of awful last year, and they all have played well this season. And Canales deserves credit too. Last season was the worst offensive dysfunction I've ever seen, and to be able to turn BY9 (and the entire offense) into a formidable unit by the end of the year was impressive. Hopefully we start next year with the level of offense we ended this season

I think you're right... wouldn't it be something if the DC with the statistical worst defense of all time is the 1st coach not to be fired by Mr. "Not Settling for Mediocrity" Tepper

And he's the last vestige of the Reich Era that I want to fully move past. Canales has come up roses with Bryce balling the 2nd half of this year, but him and Dan Morgan are both signing their names in endorsement of Evero... hope it works out.

I don't want to be a Mod, but I willing to help pay for a site update

I'm willing to chip in for an update via Venmo, etc if someone can figure out what's needed. I've definitely enjoyed using this board and want to see it continue

I miss how this place used to be. And I don't want that to be a knock or blame anyone- 7 years of suckage will decimate anything. Hopefully, though, with the team improving it will become a great message board again. I know I've complained some, but it's bc i remember how incredible and widely viewed by Panthers fans this place was. I'm more than willing to chip in for a site update if that's all that is required to make it more usable. If someone (mods) can figure that out with Jeremy, I'll be happy to contribute/Venmo so we can keep this place going

I think backup Tackle is low-key a priority bc Brady Christesen is going to get starter money in FA. I think we spend one of our 4th rounders on one and cut Nijman at final cuts if the rookie (hopefully) beats him out. Nijman would leave some dead cap, but he has been by far the weakest link on the Oline when he's had to play, and his roster spot is somewhere we should try to upgrade and/or add to with BC leaving.

And this was with Derrick Brown having an all-time great season at DT also. Maybe this scheme was done right in Denver, but it hasn't been done right here at all in 2 years, with or without personnel. I'm willing to cut Canales some slack bc he was right in benching Bryce and has helped him develop into what looks like a guy who can be here long-term, and Dan Morgan has vouched for him too, but it's so hard to think about bringing him back after the all-time disaster this year was. Continuity be damned. Hope they are right though. This could be a playoff team with the 2nd Half of the year offense and an even average defense.

Agreed based on age and injury history, but i think Christensen will get starter money from someone and Corbett has already said he knows he will get a prove-it deal and we have Mays

The offensive line coaches have been incredible. Both Cade Mays and Chandler Zavala looked horrendous last year, and they played above-average this year. I'm ok with resigning Mays and Corbett to an incentive deal. I think between that we should have it covered. Maybe a Day 3 pick also. We need to spend most of our draft capital on defense obviously

I agree with you about him wanting top of the market money, but why can't we afford to pay for that? We were paying DJ Moore over $20M a year. And we will have XL & Coker for cheap for at least 2 more years.

You make some good points. I would counter that I think GW is a rare exception that would be worth the cost. GW is a true #1, where i think XL & Coker are best suited to a 2/3 role. Regardless, Dan Morgan did a good job finding 2 solid receivers in this draft. Not everyone, even 1st rounders, have game breaking WR1 ability like GW does. XL & Coker have shown nice flashes, and I'm glad we have both of them, but GW is a guy DCs have to actually game plan for. We truly haven't had a guy like that since Smitty. DJ Moore had flashes of being a #1, but hes not elite the way GW is. I also think we should resign Tremble to go with JT Sanders. I think that is a better TE combo than we have had in years

I agree with you in principle. The only caveat I can add putting on my homer hat is that there is typically much more variance in defensive performance than offensive performance in consecutive years. Meaning we stand a better chance of the defense rebounding to at least average next season based on history. And our offense was playing for the most part at an average to above average level for most of the 2nd half of the season. It's hard to believe a unit that finished this season as one of the very worst in NFL history being elite next year, but history says there is a high probability they will not be nearly this bad. We can certainly hope, but to your original point, I think getting to .500 should be the goal for next year and at least being in the mix for the whole season. Winning the division or anything beyond would be a nice surprise

Giving up a guy like DJ Moore (who wanted to be here) and then effing up not trading Burns (who didn't want to be here) for 2 1sts and then getting the paltry return from the Giants was almost as bad as trading up and gaslighting the fanbase into believing we had a contending roster and were only a rookie QB away from the playoffs. Fitterer ran an absolute masterclass in how to destroy a franchise and fanbase...

I normally would agree, but we have XL & Coker on rookie deals and Theilen is gone after next year. Point being we're not spending a lot on WR at this point and could fit a GW contract The draft compensation is hefty, but this offense needs a true #1 WR and they're not easy to find. GW is proven. Do you think Tmac is a sure enough bet to forego trading for a WR? I haven't watched enough of Tmac to have an educated opinion

Yeah we're looking at the 8th pick and maybe more... Still, I think GW is better than any receiver in the draft and if you're ever going to try to make a move like this, now is the right time. Still highly unlikely unless GW is willing to push this to the limit with the Jets. DM should absolutely inquire, but while this is exciting, very little chance it actually happens IMHO

QB quality in the NFC South seems magnitudes higher than last year at this time