Evil Hurney

With a head start on the playbook Sam will begin camp as the #1 and take the symbolic 1st snap. A focus will be placed on getting Baker ready enough play in preseason games 1 and 2 against the other teams 1s and 2s. Something like Sam gets Game 1 Q1, Baker gets Game 1 Q2, PJ gets Q3, and Corral gets Q4. Then Baker gets Game 2 Q1 and part of Q2 while Sam gets the other part of Q2 and Q3, Corral again gets Q4. A starter is chosen after preseason game 2. The "they are close" option will swing in Bakers favor since Baker was just traded for and Sam has the better mental makeup to play off the bench. Game #3 is mostly Corral's to get him some actual reps before he settles in on the bench for the regular season, however if Baker is the preferred choice he may get another Q1 before handing things over to Corral. Panthers keep Baker, Sam, Corral on the 53 man roster. Corral is mostly redshirting (which I think is a good plan). PJ is waived and put on the practice squad unless Cheek surprises.

The cap is real. The issue is viewing as a 1-year limit when it's really you have X cap over Y years. For example, if you assume $200M cap for the next 5 seasons then you can spend up to $1B ($200M x 5) on players this season as long as you are comfortable they will all be on your roster in year 5.

womp womp

Nice writeup. I think PJ will end up being stashed on the practice squad. He is on a vet min contract and would have made far more if the team felt like they needed to go the RFA route to keep him. It seems both he and the team understand his role.

9 bass you say Do you believe in coincidences?

It's odd that the networks think a big name calling games matters more than the quality of the person calling the game. There are a LOT of NFL names that are utter sh!t in the booth. Case and point, Brees for all his on-field ability was pretty rough on NBC last season. I wish they'd just hire dudes that played and are actually good at announcing (like Olsen). All Fox did was spend a lot of money on a marketing gimmick (i.e. Brady eventually calling games). I think a lot of networks are trying to find their own Romo.

There is a certain team we all care about in the top 10. This is based on the following depth chart from Ourlads

Yup. Sounds like the Browns also thought the Panthers would be desperate enough to pay a good chuck of the salary. They got greedy and instead lost the trade and a good deal of leverage (they won't have the Panthers as the other team). The Browns are basically stuck waiting and "hoping" a QB vacancy happens via injury or suspension. I don't think they'll cut him unless they need the roster spot. In their minds they probably assume they can get at least a comp pick out of him; Mariotta and Trubisky were roughly worth 5th/6th rounders this year in terms of comp picks.

I think this part of the reasoning has been underrated. This was an abnormally deep draft class. If you don't like a QB enough to take them in the 1st you probably don't like them enough to skip drafting another starting caliber player in the 2nd. Other reasons: Better QB class projected for 2023 Not many teams that "need" a QB Baker + Jimmy being available means you have a semi-known cost for a viable QB option

What makes you think we are forgoing "the best talent" in lieu of some favor to Rhule?

Did y'all see that the Eagles gave Carson Strong $320k guaranteed? This seems like an area that a team with an ultra wealthy owner would be able to just outspend the competition like certain teams do in baseball.

Malik falling is actually a good thing for his long-term prospects

Falcons will likely have a shot at the top 2 QBs next season. Why waste a 2nd rounder on a backup QB?

Also if you "need" a QB there are better day 1 options on the trade block

If the WR market was logical right now, sure. But in a world where Hollywood Brown is worth a 1st and Christian Kirk is worth $18M a year, I can see Robby being dealt for a 3rd or 4th.

The very start of the Tepper presser gave me the impression that Rhule was asked to change some things and has followed through (at least on some parts). Paraphrased: "I want to thank Matt for assembling a new staff that brings a lot more experience" I wouldn't be surprised if he was also asked to let Scott do his job.

Robbie and Cam Erving would be my choices. Robbie should have some value to teams like GB and Bal right now. Erving likely has more value during the preseason; remember last season when Fitterer couldn't find anyone willing to move a Tackle?

I do as well.

They better not! Those are Baker's picks

Even if we stay put tonight I think at least one of the next 3 picks (4.32, 5.1, 5.6) are moved as they are all really really close together. Basically if the team has a clump of similarly rated guys on the board is sounds like they are willing to turn one pick into two since they have picks coming up soon to get one of the guys in their (current) top group.

At the start of the 2022 NFL draft the Carolina Panthers have 6 picks total: Round 1, pick 6 Round 4, pick 32 Round 5, pick 1 Round 5, pick 6 Round 6, pick 21 Round 7, pick 21

DELETE Already asked.

Some football nuggets, but a lot of local reporters wanting some nuggets on Rock Hill and TSE in general. Here's my football related summary: