Panthers veteran players that may be on the bubble

[Toker Smurf]

Agree with all, even Tolbert. I'm always tempted to grab Jalston Fowler in the 6th or 7th when mock drafting.

Edited March 25, 2015 by Cam El

[stirs]

You can bet we take a DT in this draft.  He will probably be the 3rd or 4th round pick as we will be grooming him to take Cole or Edwards place as a backup

[Ruff]

I fully expect Tolbert won't be on the team next year.

[Panthro]

Bersin. Cut. Him.

[WesleyM]

I think tolbert stays this year and mabye one more and retires. He is a home town guy and coencidence or not the team was better when he was on it last year. Plus he is a fan and apparently locker room favorite from what Zod has said. I think that would be a hard sell, at least this year with no viable replacement

[KSpan]

I could have sworn I read somewhere that Harper is EXTREME prideful in the fact that he has started at his position every year for the longest time(I forgot his total, maybe since coming into the league?) and his benchmark goal would be reached if he started this year. I'm sure this has been expressed to the staff when he was brought in via his agent. If we did draft Collins in the first and Roman is not cut I'm pretty sure he will be asked to be released. Which I wouldn't be 100% opposed to however we do need the depth.

If Jennings is inked you can kiss Cotch goodbye. Although my expectations for Greg wouldn't be extremely high but his route running would match perfect with Cam esp. in timing routes. As far as overall yardage, assuming Olsen and Kelvin maintain 1k yards a piece + Ginn giving us shorter field position opposed to Bersin and on top of a Shula Offense, I think 600-700 yards would be realistic.

Our DT rotation is solid but Cole and Dwan are both up there in age so I'd think DT is a strong possibility in the later rounds along with OLB. We need more depth there also. I'm not too sold on Glanton. I don't think either gets cut unless we double dipped again.

Tolbert activated opened up the offense ...if he would have stayed healthy the entire season you could possibly argue Dickson would have had over 400 yards of production. If we can find a blocking machine Tolbert could be a casualty. Mike Tolbert from last season wasn't nearly as effective as Pro Bowl Tolbert from the year before but you could blame that on the injuries, oline, confidence, etc I guess. And speaking of oline, as far as cuts go, I could see Amini and Chandler being let go to make room.

The issue with Harper as depth is that the backup safeties are usually on ST, and he doesn't seem like a great fit for that type of role.

[SurvivalSloth]

Tolbert isn't gonna get cut. This offense is built around running the football and we're just plain better at it when he is in the lineup. I think people forget the man's leg was fractured...and he STILL came back to finish the season.

 

The Human Bowling Ball will be back and better than ever....trucking over the Eric Reid's of the league.

[phone]

Ugh, I wish. Some Rivera quotes always make me really worry though...

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Rivera-raves-about-offense/958abea1-d165-412c-b056-b71a5d093301

The two will be the back-ups. I'm fine with that.

[imminent rogaine]

Still don't think we ever used Tolbert the right way. If he goes, I'd like to bring in an actual full back... not just a fat running back.

[rmoneyg35]

I defiantly see Cotchery gone unless we don't sign or draft a WR. I guess the same could be said of Cole and Harper but I don't see them being cut unless we draft a solid replacement. Harper did play well in the second half of the season and finished in the upper half of safeties according to pff. So do we keep him and just use him part time? Tolbert would save a lot of money but we don't have a solid vet would could replace him. I would love for us to sign James Casey as his replacement. He can play TE and can play the H-back role while being an above average blocker. Loosing Tolbert would take away some of our toughness.

[CarolinaNCSU]

I love having Tolbert solely for short yardage plays...though he struggled in that role compared to 2014 immensely. Granted, some OL issues were partly to blame.

 

I don't think I'm willing to risk a Stewart injury on 4th and 1 or 2...or Cam for that matter no more than we have to. Tolbert stays this year IMO.

 

 

 

As for Cotch? Could be a camp casulaty, if we bring in Jennings. I also don't see Harper being cut considering his mentor role for the still young secondary.

[Paa Langfart]

Stewart

 

 

JStew was a beast for us last year.

[MHS831]

A few notes for clarity:

 

I have not read all of the thread.  Apologies. I read a few pages. 

 

Tolbert is a charismatic leader on this team. He was very good in 2013.  In 2014, he was not.  A 5'9" back carrying 255lbs is not going to last forever.  Most backs start their decline between their 26th and 27th birthdays.  I would not accept Tolbert as a player who will return to 2013 form.  I do, however, have a problem cutting him, but that is the business.

 

Harper became one of Rivera's boys quickly.  He is like that brown-nosing guy in the office who everyone hates but the boss loves.  How much of the late season resurgence was centered around his leadership?  If you think so, I would ask, "Where was the impact on DeCoud and Cason?"  I would have to think Harper is expendable.

 

A few others who could be cut:

Silatolu and Kugbila.  Silatolu would be a great backup at G, but he would be somewhat expensive as a second rounder.  He may want to be released to prove something somewhere else because nobody wants to lose a starting spot during a contract year.  Kugbila was always a project, so we shall see what we have during the 2015 unveiling.  If you are worried about depth, both could be cut if Chandler is moved back inside to guard.

 

Brockel.  He does the little things and is a good blocker, but if we drafted a true FB (Tolbert is not that) and if Ed Dickson grows into his role, Brockel could be the victim.

 

 

 

 

[philw5289]

didn't cole just sign an extension? he's good but 34 is too old IMO