trueblade

Not in the sports world, but think about a guy like RDJ and where he was in 2003 (going to jail if you don't remember) versus where he is now (pretty much beloved and doing some awesome things). Watson should pay the civil judgments, and do his suspension (I'm not aware of any criminal charges). Hopefully, Watson learns from this experience, and has a nice bounce back story. Hunt, Hill and Brown were all culpable in their cases. All are still playing football. Even our former DE got a second chance with Dallas. Big Ben was accused of some pretty heinous things. He's got rings too. If Watson needs a fresh start in 2022, I think we could be a good place for it.

It's not that I'd want our leadership to sit around and wait a year on something that might not happen. It's more that right now, our options aren't looking great. The top QBs in the draft are likely going to be gone before we pick, and the FAs and retreads aren't exactly exciting either. We could have just as good or a better record next year and again be on the outside looking in at the best draftable QBs. What I'm saying is that in a year, Watson might have served his time on the Commissioner's List or whatever, and he'd still only 26 years old, probably with a year a minimal wear and tear on his body. He's still be really good at playing football. Kareem Hunt, Tyreek Hill, and Antionio Brown are all still in the league. Two of those guys have rings. I would think the Panthers would take another run at Watson next offseason.

I don't question Jeremiah's evaluation (I find him generally quite good). However; you can't look at this in a vacuum and not consider Darnold's contract situation. Minshew is much cheaper and just as good. I'd rather roll the dice on the 'Stash.

Apologies if this was already said. Kareem Hunt is still playing in the league. Tyreek Hill won a Super Bowl. So did Antonio Brown.

Teddy...

Anyone that steps onto the football field can get injured. Lance could get injured, too, and you're still out the trade up assets and have no QB to show for it. Bengals dealt with that (but without the trade up part). Lance could be great, or he could bust. Any of the rooks could. In a trade up, you're spending your assets to find out. Watson is known to be a top 10 QB in the league. You're spending your assets on a known quantity. Now, if you want to sit at 8 and hope Lance falls, that's a viable strategy, but one that has its own built in risks.

Knowing who the right player or the wrong player is something of an inexact science. Edit: This is why I prefer the known quantity (Watson) even if it costs more.

Ellis weighs in.

Hershel Walker. I'm trying to think of something more recent.

Watson was drafted in 2017. 2017 : 4-12 2018 : 11-5 2019: 10-6 2020: 4-12 People tend to forget they had a big lead on eventual Super Bowl Champion KC Chiefs in the 2019 playoffs before Mahomes did Mahomes things and brought KC back.

Not all of the top four guys (Lawrence, Wilson, Fields, and Lance) are going to pan out, and there's no guarantee they will be on the board still when we pick. That's pretty much a given. So do you take your lottery ticket or do you pay a little extra for a proven player? If it was me, I'd put my money and draft picks into the proven player.

DeAndre Hopkins and AJ Green

McClain has changed his tune.

Not exactly a FA signing but this seems like the best place for it. Jags putting together a team for Trevor.

Slow down.

Fitz won't retire until he's started a game for all 32 teams. He wants to be the new Josh McCown.

"good.. when healthy"?

Gotta wonder what Jonnu Smith is thinking.

The high opinion of Loomis is because he spends his cap on guys who actually perform. He also drafts really well so they have quality depth and are developing future starters to fill holes, or lose them in FA for big contracts and high comp picks. The Panther's GMs have rarely done these things.

Most of those incentives should be classified NLtbE so that $9m won't hit the cap this year.

I'm firmly in the "All 4 QBs gone before 8 camp". The teams ahead of us may change, but Lawrence, Wilson, Fields and Lance are all coming off the board before 8.

This was NOT said in a direct reference to Watson, however; if "we're not one player away" is the sentiment of the team, I would argue it's applicable to how the team may view spending the kind of resources it will take to acquire Watson.