Soul Rebel

I hope Rambo can make it to the PS.....would like to let him marinate there for a year or two. Agree with OP on the seven mentioned. Zylstra is 29 already and is a good WR4, but I'd prefer the loser of the WR3 battle of TMJ/Higgins there, then Saunders....even Shi above Zylstra for long-term needs. Roberts should be strictly a KR/PR and maybe a bench guy if needed in a game. The Higgins-TMJ competition is going to be fun to watch. Higgins and Baker have chemistry, so I think Higgins wins it out initially. I do believe TMJ will find ways to get involved and four-wide sets won't be an uncommon thing with the talent we have. TMJ is the future and Higgins is only on a 1-yr deal.

Corral will flash in quarters three and four of the preseason games against back-up talent. He'll look promising and a QB to bank on in the future. Corral will look good in practices and have fans and hopefully coaches licking their chops for 2023. Baker v. Darnold will be the true TC and preseason competition. Baker will win it out, Darnold will be QB2 and PJ gets cut.

Dear God that's beautiful.

I'd take Elflein over everyone else at LG. The other four positions are essentially locked.....it's that LG spot up for grabs. Ereck Flowers is still on the market. 28-year old former tackle, that converted to guard and played better there. His cap hit is why WAS cut him, IIRC. Depends on if we want to trust 4/5 OL to hold it down and shuffle the young guys and Elflein at LG vs. adding another FA to our OL. I'm not against Mays/BC/Brown competing over the next year to see if they are the long-term solution. On Sundays though....I only want them rotating in to give the starters a blow.

Tepper beta testing the black helmets to gauge interest. Hopefully the feedback is enough to move forward with this permanently.

Agreed. I feel like lately I'm reading about a lot of former NFL players dead before the age of 50. Some CTE related, but other just random deaths too. So sad.

I think Dunlap is a UFA signing that is just waiting for the unnecessary mini camp reps that vets usually try to avoid happen. This will help the DL rotation. To the OP, our secondary has to be a strength both in traits, and depth. Vets and youngsters. Shaq and Littleton will also pair well in between.

Same same. I would love for Corral to be all that we hope he can be for the future. I love his style of play, his moxy and leadership in the locker room. He has that DNA/blueprint to being a successful NFL QB. Time will tell if he reaches that potential. This is where Mayfield helps. Corral can live in the film room, watch the speed of the NFL up close, but not in a starter role, and ask all the questions he has of the vets.

Baker is a polarizing QB, no doubt. He does give off crybaby vibes at times. I do believe that he has a passion for the game and hatred to lose much like CN1. I think he speaks his mind....sometimes too far much like CN1. I do think Baker should have done more with what he had on paper in Cleveland. I do think he got a raw deal in Cleveland by the front office and people are focusing too much on the '21 season. The guy played for 15 weeks with a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder and eventually, a fractured bone in the same shoulder. Outside of the 1 week with Covid and the bye week, Baker played 13 games when he probably should not have. The amount of stress that front facing shoulder took snap after snap, week after week being punished as QBs do. The mechanical issues that his throwing motion would have suffered because of it are being overlooked. His rookie year and 2020 season were both top-12 overall QB seasons. I don't think Baker is our surefire franchise QB for the next 5-10 years, but I do think he will make a lot of Panthers fans happy in 2022. All indications point to a bounce back year for Mayfield this year with an enoromous chip on his shoulder. If Baker can buy us a year or two (if we franchise him next year) until Corral is ready to take over, it's a win..... and I feel like that's all that Fits is trying to do. Jimmy would've cost more, and we can't roll Darnold/PJ out week one, so let's look at the glass half full. Where Darnold struggled with confidence and passion, Baker thrives. A healthy offseason, a new franchise and in a contract year should offer Mayfield the opportunity to succeed. I for one am psyched for week one against the Browns. This clip of Baker's first NFL start is pretty amazing and indicative of the QB I think we will see in week one.

Baker is QB1 for 2022 Corral projects to be QB1 for 2023 Let the rookie who has room to grow, learn in the film room, under minimal expectations and a year to adjust to the speed of the NFL. We're paying $24M for our starting QB. Not great.....but by no means the worst. Baker is a bit better than Darnold and with a chip on his shoulder, is a win-win for us. If Baker is as awful as everyone thinks, we're barely out any assets, and Rhule is for sure not here beyond 2022.

If this $$ amount is what was reported during the draft, then I say hold off and let that number come down. Makes no sense to wait two months and lose a game of chicken to CLE. If this is a new speculation, then Baker @ $9M on a 1-yr prove-it deal is fine by me. Darnold is a sunken cost from '21 that shouldn't really affect your financial decision making in '22 since we have cap. Hypothetically, if Darnold and his salary wasn't on the books, would you make the deal for Baker at $9M? There's a good chance Robby is part of the deal to CLE and we would get out from under his overpaid salary (and declining attitude). I do hope that if we do grab Baker, that we also still get Dunlap. One deal should not be done that then hampers you from making another very important transaction.

I'm not necessarily a fan of Baker if we're talking long-term nor if it costs us any significant assets. However, Baker in '22 with the chip on his shoulder, in a walk-year, with the current QB room, is a pretty solid move. Is it a "great" move or a "no-brainer".... no. A one-year rental at our weakest position with something to prove...... yes, please. Baker > Sam. Let Corral sit for a year and learn.

This. Competition pushes people to be better. YGM has flashed and has potential, but this is the year he needs to produce consistently. Dunlap is a strong rotational piece, not a three-down DE. It's funny that folks think Burns/YGM/Haynes is a strong defensive end unit and that a 33-yr old FA in late June is a bad thing.

Only ones I've seen so far that seem concrete are: Week 1 vs. CLE and a Thursday nighter hosting the Falcons.

YGM is in year 3 and we need to see if he's part of the defensive core or if he's just a rotational guy. He has the build and tools to compliment Burns well, but has only flashed. Time to see if he can step up and put up starter numbers. I'd rather pass on DEs currently. Not sure where the relationship was at prior to cutting, but bringing Fox back on a cheap deal would satisfy me. With so much in flux from the Coaching staff, down, this year is more of a 'wait-and-see' for me. I see Clowney as a trade you make midseason when you realize your team is a DE away from being special. May of 2022, we ain't there. Check back in November.

Wow. Thank you for sharing this article. Panther or not, this is an amazingly moving read.

Two sides of the coin: 1 - This is from a Twitter account started in March of '22 with only 2k followers 2 - SF has double-dipped early on the east coast in September in the past and they could be anticipating a Jimmy G vs. former team storyline

This was a great podcast.....once you get past a bit of the early warm-up chatter. **TLDR; listen to the Locked On Podcast** Once they jump in on Corral, it's pretty awesome to listen to. Every analyst/fan/alumni will have an opinion on their players, but I enjoyed what he had to say about both positives and negatives. If Corral can correctly translate his skills over (athleticism, release, off-platform throws, passion/leadership), and minimize what won't (outperforming inferior talent, running over people, turnovers, relying on RPO too much), we will be in business. His passion seems to be more Burrow/Hasselbeck than Baker/Rodgers....essentially, he's not a dick. Two items that stuck out from this podcast: How bad his injuries were, while not listening to advice to sit and wanted to play in games during the regular season. Mentioning that he wouldn't be where he was without his Team, so he's going to play through the bowl games, rather than leave them hanging. Whatever he said in the locker room during the George Floyd/America Burning political scene last year. The team asked Corral what he thought since he's QB1 and their leader. Apparently, whatever was said turned the tide and his team ran through a brick wall for him after that players meeting. He stepped up as a leader. Who knows what will come of him or when we see his shine, but I'm here for it. I'm pulling for him. I'm happy we aren't waiting on a boring low-upside Pickett or a guy like Howell. I think Corral could be polarizing to some, but I'll wait to see how he adjusts. He's shown enough up to now to convince me he's worth holding off on judging. His transparency with mental illness and showing vulnerability is not as common as we all would like to think in the NFL. Shows a lot of maturity for a college kid with a lot on the line. The Gretzky altercation in HS seems like there's two sides to the story too. I could see the Gretzky name at a prep school known for affluent heritage names running amuck being an issue for a kid that can't relate. I don't know about his drinking/alcoholism, but I would certainly say that my college years and "alcoholism" aren't that far apart...nor do I think it is for many 19-23 year old kids/students. Maybe alcoholism is a label that could be a stretch, but enjoying alcohol at that age is, IMO, more the norm than the outlier.

Not that I’m aware of. I just like seeing QBs wear that number for some reason.

Great news for all fans that had a Derek Anderson jersey before. Any of those actually exist?? Haha. I am 100% pulling for Corral to sport #11, though I think he’s feeling #9.

Media says we're not interested in Baker....then we're interested in Baker. Media says we're interested in Jimmy G, then we're not...now we supposedly are. McAdoo does not like Baker, but he does fit Jimmy G's skillset. Pickett's our guy!!!! No wait, Panthers have Willis QB1. Corral would be a great fit with Carolina....but wait...how great would Ridder be in Carolina? Oh, Sam Howell is Fitts' new Russ!! Meh.....I'm indifferent at this point. It's obvious we need a QB so every potential option is there, and it's clickbait and analysts trying to be the guy that can say "I knew it!" after Carolina puts JimmyMayCorraHowellRidPickillis under center next year.