Bill Voth examines this past offseason's moves (and where they went wrong)

[Mr. Scot]

Posted on his 'Black and Blue Review' site (link) breaking down five specific areas...

 

Part 1: The Wide Receivers

 

Throughout 2013, Gettleman had conversations with Steve Smith about the receiver’s prickly attitude. Those talks didn’t change much. Smith couldn’t be trusted to help groom younger wideouts, and his production was no longer at an elite level. So Gettleman decided it was time to cut ties with the best player to ever wear a Panthers’ uniform.

As free agency approached, Gettleman had his eyes on a number of receivers, including Hakeem Nicks, who he knew well through their time together with the Giants. Gettleman was also interested in re-signing Ted Ginn and Brandon LaFell.

Another big piece of the puzzle could come from a draft loaded with talented receivers. Plus, the Panthers were hopeful Tavarres King, Marvin McNutt or Brenton Bersin would stand out if given enough reps.

 

Gettleman underestimated the markets for Nicks, Ginn and LaFell, who were offered bigger deals elsewhere.

The Panthers then went into emergency mode, and Jerricho Cotchery — who was leaning toward re-signing with the Steelers — became a priority. Jason Avant and Tiquan Underwood also wound up on the radar. After signing those three, the Panthers turned their attention to the draft.

They used their first-round pick on Kelvin Benjamin, but they didn’t take any other wideouts.

 

Underwood, King and McNutt were cut before the season began while Bersin earned a roster spot as a contributor at both receiver and on special teams.

Cotchery has been ok, but he has no touchdowns a season after he scored a career-high 10 with the Steelers. Avant has just 21 catches and a Week 2 touchdown.

Perhaps the biggest issue is the group lacks a speedster who can get vertical, a vital cog in an offense that needs to stretch opposing defenses.

Benjamin, while inconsistent, looks like he has a big future ahead of him. But after that, Newton has few true weapons who are not named Greg Olsen.

 

Part 2: The Offensive Line

 

The Panthers had faith Amini Silatolu could return from a torn ACL to replace Wharton at left guard, but Gross left a huge void at left tackle. Right tackle Byron Bell was going to get a chance, but Gettleman was also hopeful he could find a solution in the draft or free agency.

 

At and after the combine, Gettleman grew convinced none of the second-tier tackles were worth a late first-round pick. The guys Gettleman did like, including Taylor Lewan, Zack Martin and Ja’waun James, were snagged before the Panthers were on the clock. Benjamin became the pick, and when Kony Ealy fell, Gettleman grabbed the defensive end as a late second-rounder.

The Panthers did address the line with guard Trai Turner in the third, but their final three picks were safety Tre Boston, cornerback Bené Benwikere and running back Tyler Gaffney.

In the hours immediately after the draft, the Panthers didn’t sign a single undrafted tackle. It’s unclear if they made an offer to a rookie free agent like James Hurst, who landed in Baltimore.

 

So Bell and converted defensive tackle Nate Chandler were left to battle for the two starting tackle jobs, a decision that’s backfired badly. Bell started the season with a couple solid games, but he’s regressed and has had to battle injuries. Chandler hasn’t been good either.

While those two haven’t worked out, at least the Panthers aren’t saddled with a big contract of someone who’s not worth it. It’d be an even bigger problem if they owed someone like Michael Oher or Anthony Collins, who the Panthers never offered despite reports that claimed otherwise.

 

 

Part 3: Cam Newton

 

The Panthers were hopeful Newton, who had been dealing with a troublesome ankle for years, could avoid surgery. But in March, they made the decision to get the procedure done. It wasn’t ideal, but he would be back for the start of training camp.

 

Newton was bothered by twinges of pain throughout training camp, and the Panthers didn’t start opening up the playbook for him until the third preseason game. But in that game, he suffered cracked ribs when a Patriots defender landed on him at the end of a run.

The setback forced Newton out of the season opener in Tampa Bay, but he returned looking like a more refined passer. Yet when the offensive line started having issues, so did Newton.

His ankle and ribs were already sore, and more defenders are coming at him every week. The ultra-competitive Newton has also been trying to do too much, which has led to a bundle of mistakes.

The lingering injuries have taken away much of Newton’s elusiveness, and it’s likely hard for him to trust an offensive line that changes every week.

 

[Mr. Scot]

Part 4: Greg Hardy

 

Gettleman believed the best route to the first back-to-back winning seasons in franchise history was to ride a dominant front seven.

A key cog in that unit was Greg Hardy, but the Panthers were leery of his off-the-field decisions. They never seriously considered giving him a long-term deal, but they felt his talent was worth a one-year rental via the franchise tag. They also hoped one of their younger defensive ends could emerge as a successor to Hardy, who was destined for a big deal elsewhere in 2015.

 

Three months after he received the franchise tag, Hardy was arrested.

The Panthers didn’t want to commit loads of money to a guy they couldn’t trust, but they never fathomed Hardy would be arrested or charged with domestic violence.

 

Neither Wes Horton nor Mario Addison have emerged, and Frank Alexander has been suspended twice.

Gettleman couldn’t have known Hardy was going to be arrested, or that a video of another couple would set off an unprecedented chain of events, but the $13.1 million committed to Hardy left an enormous black hole in the Panthers’ salary cap and on the defensive line.

 

 

Part 5: The Secondary

 

 

Mike Mitchell had a fine season in 2013, but Gettleman wasn’t going to give the safety $5 million a year.

Captain Munnerlyn was also looking for a bigger deal, but the Panthers didn’t want to commit much to one of the shortest starting cornerbacks in the league. They also had little interest in bringing back cornerback Drayton Florence, and safety Quintin Mikell was leaning heavily toward retirement.

So Gettleman planned to bring in new parts to replace the spare parts.

 

Ultimately, without much of a pass rush to worry about, opposing quarterbacks have been able to pick apart the suspect secondary. Harper has been especially slow, and it’s a wonder why the Panthers keep putting him out there. That may say a lot about Boston, who fell behind after undergoing hernia surgery in the spring.

 

Cason made some plays early in the season, but he’s reverted back into the player who was benched by the Chargers and Cardinals.

Benwikere was off to a good start, but he’s been out since Week 5 with a high ankle sprain.

Godfrey was released after he failed trying to replace Benwikere.

Josh Norman, who wound up in the coaches’ doghouse each of his first two seasons, has emerged as the Panthers’ best defensive back.

Gettleman bought Band-Aid brand Band-Aids last year. This season, they’re the generic kind.

 

As always , Voth is a great read.  I strongly encourage you to click over and read the full article.

 

If you're not regularly checking out Black and Blue review, you should be.

[WOW!!]

I totally agree with Voth.

I hope some see the truth about the Collins situation.

[WOW!!]

The fact they keep putting Roman on the field might not be a indictment on Boston. Knowing this coaching staff.

[Mr. Scot]

Thoughts, point by point...

 

THE RECEIVERS

 

Voth has pointed out before that the decision to cut Smith wasn't made overnight.  he was given multiple warnings which he continually ignored.  Smith seemed to feel he could do as he pleased without consequence 9and given history, there was evidence to back that up) but this time it finally caught up with him.

 

That the signings that followed were made in 'emergency mode' after other receivers proved too expensive isn't surprising.  Everyone knew we didn't have the money to go full scale Christmas shopping this season.  What's sad is that the receivers we did end up with haven't looked as good as they did even last year,  Maybe they're not meshing well with Newton's "hardball" throwing style (some receivers just can't catch passes from guys like Newton and Favre all that well).  Newton being unable to work with them due to his offseason surgery plays a role here too.

 

At this point, Bersin does look like a keeper, but likely only as a role player.  Also believe Benjamin will become more consistent as he gets more practice at the pro level.

 

THE OFFENSIVE LINE

 

Voth's story gives some credence to what many of us have suspected.  Specifically that Dave Gettleman wasn't so completely sold on the Bell/Chandler combo, but ended up having to settle for it when nothing else panned out.  He repeats his assertion that they never contacted Anthony Collins (Jonathan Jones says they did) and also - rightly, I think - points out that we didn't wind up saddled with a big contract bust like a lot of teams did this past offseason.

 

That said, when the best thing you can say about a situation is "it could have been worse", that's not a positive.

 

Voth closes the article saying we're going to need to be more aggressive in fixing the line next season, and I agree.

 

CAM NEWTON

 

I've never second guessed the Panthers' decision to proceed with newton's ankle surgery this past offseason, but Voth now has me wondering if maybe I should.

 

Would it have been better to wait and do it earlier in the following offseason?  No way to know now, but it's a question.

 

GREG HARDY

 

Voth repeats here what he's said before, but it bears repeating.  The Panthers never planned to sign Greg Hardy to a long term deal.  The Franchise tag as applied in order to keep him for this season and this season alone.

 

Would that strategy have worked if he hadn't gotten in trouble?  Impossible to know, but you have to believe our defense would be applying far more pressure with Hardy than they are without him.  A point which, of course, leads into the last section.

 

THE SECONDARY

 

We've said before that the secondary as currently constructed might actually have worked if we had the kind of pass rush we had last season.  Voth agrees that we've been exposed in that regard.

 

Rivera and Gettleman both subscribe to the notion that you can get by with an average secondary if you have a dominant pass rush and have stated so (never cared for the idea myself; I prefer to have at least one dominant corner and a great safety).  That strategy came back to bite them on the ass with this year's DL failures.

 

His comments about Tre Turner and Antoine Cason are telling.  Cason sounds like a spoiled brat, and his social media comments a while back support that notion.

[RoaringRiot]

"While those two haven’t worked out, at least the Panthers aren’t saddled with a big contract of someone who’s not worth it. It’d be an even bigger problem if they owed someone like Michael Oher or Anthony Collins, who the Panthers never offered despite reports that claimed otherwise."

 

I couldn't agree more....

[Mr. Scot]

"While those two haven’t worked out, at least the Panthers aren’t saddled with a big contract of someone who’s not worth it. It’d be an even bigger problem if they owed someone like Michael Oher or Anthony Collins, who the Panthers never offered despite reports that claimed otherwise."

 

I couldn't agree more....

 

A lot of teams wound up paying big big money to tackles that are currently sucking ass. 

 

It's a small (probably very small) consolation that at least we're not one of them.

 

I'd like to believe that those mistakes might drive down tackle prices this coming offseason, but free agency pretty much never works that way

 

 

[davos]

Yeah.  It seems like those reports about Collins came out to give him more leverage with the Bucs.  

 

Basically, DG didn't think any of the OTs in FA or in the draft past the first were worth it.  He didn't want to take the risk either pick or $$ wise.  

 

I do believe RT could have been addressed from a pure depth perspective, even if the guy wasn't adequate.  We just needed more bodies outside B, C, Williams and Foucault.  I'll admit LTs are hard to find and they take time to grow unless it's that random instant pro that's rare like a franchise QB.   

 

 

[scarface]

Oline and secondary should be top priorities this offseason. It would be nice to have money to spend like the Raiders. 

[Mr. Scot]

Basically, DG didn't think any of the OTs in FA or in the draft past the first were worth it.  He didn't want to take the risk either pick or $$ wise.

 

And it looks like he was right, honestly.

 

Sad thing though: The list I've seen of next year's free agent tackles wasn't exactly inspiring

 

[Kurb]

Gettleman gained equity last year and spent it this year. Season 3 will ultimately forge most reasonable fans opinion of his quality.

[Ricky Spanish]

So it was basically a perfect shitstorm domino effect...

[SOJA]

perfect summary

[davos]

And it looks like he was right, honestly.

 

Sad thing though: The list I've seen of next year's free agent tackles wasn't exactly inspiring

 

 

I just want serviceable.  Not invisible.  haha