Evil Hurney

Chicago does us a solid and decides to stick with Eberflus. That would have quickly become one of the more attractive openings. Personally, I think if they are planning on going Rookie QB then they are setting themselves up for failure by not also resetting the HC.

1. I'd be open to trading Burns, but I don't think Buffalo is the fit (they are up against the cap as is) 2. I agree that Icky probably needs to get kicked inside. I'd be fine with BC holding down the LT spot for the year. I'd like to see some capital spent on another swing T in the draft. 3. Brown is under contract (5th year option), but I do agree that and extension should be a priority. 4. Agree, considering we aren't contending we should try to game the comp formula. I think it will be hard though since it will be new HC and new GM and they will want to put their stamp on things. I also think it will be hard if a bona-fide WR1 hits FA (e.g. Higgins).

2010 was the worst team. I suspect 2023 will get more votes due to recency bias. That 2010 team had an even worse offense than this 2023 group. I fondly remember watching those games and knowing that the game was over once the other team managed to score 14 (or more). The 2010 group only broke the 20pt barrier twice and never scored 30 (or more). Meanwhile, the 2023 group broke the 20pt barrier 4 times and managed a single 30 point game. Even with 2 shutouts to end the season they still managed more points per game than the 2010 squad.

Reminder: Today (Wednesday, January 10th) is the first day the Panthers can have virtual interviews with candidates employed by other clubs but are NOT participating in Wild Card weekend. That means we might hear about virtual interviews for: Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken The other 6 candidates cannot have virtual interviews until Tuesday of next week. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales Also, the team can interview internal candidates and candidates not employed by an NFL club (Harbaugh and Vrabel) at any time.

Morris seems like 1 of the 2 Rooney Rule interviews. It looks like they will need another unless one of the other 8 candidates is biracial like Mike McDaniel. I don't think Evero or TB would count since they are internal candidates (if they even get interviews).

Understandable. I'm also more intrigued by the GM search at the moment. It was more of a "hey someone wrote a short article pertaining to the Panthers" and I figured it would be good to share before I forgot it existed.

I'd rather keep Jackson and Corbett. I'd happily trade Theilen. I don't think there's going to be a market for Sanders, but I was surprised there was a way to get out of his deal.

Didn't see this article posted elsewhere. Gives a quick summary of the possible cap saving moves the team can make this offseason. CAP CLEARING POSSIBILITIES Trade CB Donte Jackson, freeing up $6M of cap Extend S Xavier Woods, lowering his $7.75M cap hit Extend DT Derrick Brown, lowering his $11.6M cap hit Process a full base salary conversion on DT Shy Tuttle, freeing up $4.3M of cap when factoring in 3 void years. Convert $10M of base salary & a $3M roster bonus from OT Taylor Moton, freeing up $10.4M of cap Designate OL Austin Corbett a Post 6/1 release before March 15th, freeing up $6.25M after June 1st. Process a full base salary plus a $1.5M roster bonus conversion on C Bradley Bozeman, freeing up $3.6M of cap when factoring in 3 void years Process a full base salary plus a $2.15M roster bonus conversion on TE Hayden Hurst, freeing up $5.4M of cap when factoring in 3 void years Release TE Ian Thomas, freeing up $2.35M of cap Process a full base salary plus a $2M roster bonus conversion on WR Adam Thielen, freeing up $5M of cap when factoring in 3 void years Convert Miles Sanders’ $2M roster bonus into signing bonus, then trade his remaining $4.2M salary, freeing up $5.5M of cap

Russini suggests that they didn't want to wait to trade, which suggests (to me) they know who they want and didn't want to risk them getting snatched. The Titans probably want one of those new-fangled offensive-minded Head Coaches as well. A few excerpts from their owner:

While I think Dan will be a good GM. Anointing any internal candidate makes it that much harder to make the hard decisions with this roster.

I'm guessing it's a semantics thing. Basically, checking to see if there is interest before formally requesting so they don't get the headline of a declined interview.

Conflicting reports:

Tepper already leaked that $15M a year story to get the poorer owners like Spanos and Davis out of the Johnson race.

Interesting observation from the previous GM search. Of the 15 interviews mentioned in this article, a majority of the 13 external candidates ended up with GM jobs. It appears that they actually did a good job of identifying promising candidates last time around (at least based on the opinion of the rest of the league). The breakdown: 7 GMs Scott Fitterer (former GM Panthers) Nick Caserio (GM Texans) Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (GM Vikings) Omar Khan (GM Steelers) Monti Ossenfort (GM Cardinals) Ryan Poles (GM Bears) Joe Schoen (GM Giants) 1 Interim GM Champ Kelly (Interim GM Raiders) ... part of current search 5 Additional External Candidates Jeff Ireland Adam Peters Jerry Reese Brandt Tilis ... part of current search Ed Dodds (withdrew) ... part of current search 2 Internal Candidates Pat Stewart (internal) Samir Suleiman (internal) They are also reported to they are trying to interview Nick Matteo from the Ravens who declined an interview last time.

I would absolutely trade him; he is one of the best "when" he plays but shows no signs of wanting to play for this team. Trade him for a day 2 pick or a WR and let some other team pick up his 5th year option.

Nash Jensen

My initial list: Ben Johnson (was the favorite last cycle) Kellen Moore (was a finalist last cycle) Ejiro Evero (young, well regarded, Tepper has already paid him well and complimented his unit) Bobby Slowik (why not steal the primary coach for the OROY) Jim Caldwell (an interesting option if you want to leave the rest of the high-priced coaching staff in place; Ejiro at DC and Thomas at OC) I don't see a DC type other than Evero getting a chance. Basically, any hire will be encouraged to keep Evero (and Tabor) on staff and a defensive type coach would make that redundant. I'm on the fence with Bienemy since he interviewed a few cycles ago; I'm not sure if they would want to bring him back in (not saying they shouldn't).

No idea. But I feel pretty confident that part the early season problems on offense stem from trying to create a playbook by committee instead of it having a singular voice. It'll be interesting to see if the amount of pre-snap motion increases significantly.

My guess is this is to reduce the number of "cooks in the kitchen" and let TB do his thing.

I think his prorated cost would be ~$6M, so we don't even have enough cap space to claim him right now. If we somehow found the money and claimed him, he would cost around $1M in cap per week until he did agree to a new deal.

The Bengals have more (effective) cap space. They have already paid Burrow, so that is accounted for. If they want Higgins at his price tag they can afford him. The only way he hits FA is if they decide he isn't worth "that" contract. It's a similar situation we are in with Burns; we can afford him, but is he worth "that" contract?

Not a fan of shelling out top 10 LB money for a lottery ticket. When he passes through waivers, then I'd be open to bringing him in.

Cincy has more cap space than us over the next 2 seasons. If we can afford Higgins and Burns they can easily afford Higgins and Chase.

Agreed. TE is Hurst and Tremble next season (I expect Ian to get cut). You can maybe grab a cheap vet or a rookie, but we aren't getting out of Hurst's contract until after next season.

T. Higgins, M. Pittman, M. Brown, and C. Ridley will likely be retained by their current teams. A more likely list: Mike Evans (current age 30.2) Tyler Boyd (29.0) Curtis Samuel (27.2) Kendrick Bourne (28.2) Gabe Davis (24.6) KJ Osborn (26.4) DJ Chark (27.1)