MHS831

While I appreciate those of you who start threads and keep up with the news, I sometimes start a thread because I do not have a clear picture of what Huddlers think about this or that. So, I share my random lunacy with you to get your reactions. Unless I missed something, there has been very little noise in the areas of restructuring, re-signing, rumor mongering, etc. from Panther headquarters. That either means we have a top, triple, pinky-swear secret or two, or we simply are not headed for a big splash. So since I had psychology in college and made a B-, I feel qualified to look at things from Morgan's perspective. First, his primary target last year was to pay Milton Williams a ton of money. When Morgan did not get Williams, he immediately reverted to enter a bidding war with Tershawn Wharton, eventually signing him to a 3-year, $45m contract. Was this impulsive? Everyone pretty much had Williams coming to Carolina, and at the last minute, the Pats, big spenders in 2025, took Williams from under Morgan's nose. The Pats made the Super Bowl and the Panthers reacted by signing a bust. In almost an equal number of snaps, Williams had twice the pressures (seen above) and twice the sacks (4 to 2). And in the aftermath, he signed another DT (Brown III), ultimately spending the same amount of money as Milton Williams cost. These may or may not be related, but in the words of the great Dave Gettleman, "I'd rather have a quarter over two dimes." Is that what happened? You could argue that we had 2 needs, but we did not get an elite player--we did not make that splash--instead, we signed 2 mediocre players. Maybe we signed Moehrig because S is not that coveted position that a losing team in a small market has to overpay to attract. Who really knows? Morgan is still a young executive. So this is what I think he learned: 1. Everyone knew about Carolina and Williams as we entered the tampering period. So did the Patriots, and they walked into the saloon at the last second and bullied him out into the streets. Morgan got embarrassed, I would think, because he gave away leverage, it seems. New England simply waited for Carolina's offer and outbid them. They held all the cards, and they had the cash. They had tons of cap room and Carolina did not, so Morgan had to know better than to raise the stakes vs. the guy at the table behind a huge stack of chips. He folded. That happens. Maybe he should have been more secretive, maybe he should have gone all in. But losing Williams to NE is probably not where he made his biggest error. Immediately chasing Wharton was his biggest error, it seems. 2. Since they were not quiet about it, Morgan reacted quickly, as if to save face and fill this huge need. Then signed Brown III. e grabbed a defensive lineman from the same DL Chris Jones plays on--who do you think got the focus when teams played the Chiefs. Wharton had Brown here, you could argue, but in KC, Wharton had the benefit of knowing that most of the time, the opposition was coming from behind--that makes reads very easy. Wharton had good numbers in a perfect environment. So it looks as though it is possible Morgan made 2 mistakes. He showed his cards with Williams, perhaps, and overpaid for "Plan B" by not reading the fine print. As a result, we got 2 poor to mediocre DL when we could have had a DT to pair with Brown. 3. Morgan settled down in free agency after that act of desperation, agreeing to terms with Moehrig, a S we needed. (3 years, $51m), and Patrick Jones (Edge) to give us pass-rushing depth Behind Gamecocks Clowney and Wonnum. Then the draft came along and he grabbed two rookies. To save cap room, he released Clowney, who went on to get 9 sacks and 40 pressures in Dallas to save about $8m in cap room. He could not have foreseen that, or the Wonnum and Jones II injuries, but one has to wonder how often he regretted that as the season unfolded. One could argue that the defense was better, but how much better would it have been if Morgan had not made some choices that backfired? So for now it is quiet. To me, that could mean that Morgan learned a lot from last year.

Leo Chenal is going to be the guy--I am guessing a 3-year deal for $21m--I am not basing this on anything other than my hunches.

The only way I would trade XL for him is if I was DONE with XL and I thought a new situation might benefit Thomas. In other words, it is better to think you might have a problem in Thomas than to know you have one in XL. They were drafted at the same spot, fwiw, so the contracts are the same, basically.

I love this draft because they picked the right OL. It is possible that we have 2 rookies starting on the OL. I would take Utah's Lomu as well, but for those who think you find the OL in free agency and not the draft, here is all I have to say: We cannot give $110m to the 5 starting OL. We need an infusion of youth on the OL as well. If Ickey returns and can play, I imagine that he takes over for Hunt at RG--in 2027 or so. Currently, our 2 guards and right tackle make up over 20% of the total cap. We have to add 2 starters, but if Cade Mays was too pricey at around (anticipated) $8m, then we plan to draft a C, it seems. I think we draft an OT and C now because we will need a G or 2 and a RT soon. While they were good in 2026, they were not elite. For that kind of $$, we need elite. Is starting a rookie LT and C ideal? Nope. But if we can get better than Nijman and Mays, we should be OK. I think we will pick up an ILB in free agency and add an ILB. Who we draft (Mike or Will) will depend on who we sign. Rodriguez is a favorite of mine, but if Golday is there, Morgan is going to take him. Morgan will love him. I do not think we need to overpopulate the edge position right now because we have 1 edge returning from injury (Jones II), one rookie from last year ready to step up and could be really good (Scourton), and another who could be ready to step into the situational pass rusher role (Princely). 2 hold the edge very well and if we had a situational pass rusher to join Princely, we could be much better. I think rookies at Edge tend to jump considerably from their rookie seasons to years 2 and 3. (Charles Johnson, Mike Rucker, and Greg Hardy were that way-and all became very good in time. Safety seems omitted, but we shall see. That could be another free agent acquisition.

If you bring in a head case (and it sure sounds like that may be Coen's take on Thomas Jr), imagine what that might do to XL. WHen I see drops and a coach complaining about a drop in production, I think we should drop the idea. I see him going to Denver or Baltimore.

If a coach does not want a 23-year old WR who was a first rounder, I might not want him. It suggests the issues were mental and/or attitudinal. Just guessing.

Here is what I found: "Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen and WR Brian Thomas Jr. are facing scrutiny due to Thomas’s "sophomore slump" in 2025, characterized by high drop rates (5+), reduced production, injury issues (wrist/ankle), and apparent hesitancy in 100% contact."

me too--he is 23 and had a 700 yard season

So we are getting rid of our Ginger and possibly bringing in a Howell?

I was thinking Trey Lance (younger than Malik Willis--did anyone know that?). Howell, or Minshew. Then i was thinking they would draft a QB on day 3

Seriously--with Bryce's play and his looming contract, we better have a plan B and that is not a 40-year old Ginger. We need a player who can be developing this season so that we have options. The WORST thing that can happen is we have to give Bryce a big contract because there is no other viable option.

I have considered free agency. LT? Either not good enough or too expensive. Besides, this is a good OT draft. (I would rather have a free agent, mind you, but the Panthers' reality suggests we can't do it without neglecting other positions). What LTs are available in free agency, and what do you expect to pay? Any Ickey-level OT is going to cost over $20m. How much do we already have invested in our OL? I get your point, but I do not think you can spend over $100m per on your OL. We have 2 guards and a right T who pull in about $75m per season. We don't have a center yet. Teams just don't let good LTs hit free agency, and when one does on rare occasion, he is expensive. If you want a third of the Panther cap going to 5 Offensive Linemen, free agency is the way to go. We still need S, ILB, Edge, WR, etc. I think we'd need more than Nijman--and I would understand if we went free agent for a T--but that is putting a TON of your cap at OL--so considering our situation, I do not see that option as preferable. You may disagree. If I was not talking LT on our line and thinking about the cap, I would agree 100%.

good post. this is the season when I get stressed over the cap and then remember, it is not my problem.

I was going to make the same comment--better in coverage, only 27. Jags LB is going to be overpriced.

Great point.

I think Ignoring OT in round 1 or 2 is a mistake.

I wish I could--but I like the guy.

great guy--oozing leadership. I hate the saints, but have always loved him as a player and person

To have all the tools and you still can't get the job done--BUT if the light does come on--and some WRs take time--we could be scary.

Yeah, you have to assume he was not facing many shutdown CBs

he catches everything thrown to him....had 17 targets and 14 receptions for 160 yards. XL has the tools to be really good--not sure about inside the helmet though

Yeah, that is my point--we all are just shootin from the hip.

Jerry Jones has realized that his days are numbered. Supposedly, he is mortgaging the future for a ring today--he mentioned that he only has 1 ring, but that team was not one he built--(did not mention that part). Desperation, ego, and wealth--a dangerous combination. Lets see what he does.

I was expecting to see more cap room moves by now, which may be to suggest that we are not going to be that aggressive. I have mixed emotions about that (because I think we have 3 needs on D and 3 needs on O--starters). If you look to the draft for 3 starters, that is ambitious. We need 6