Official NFL Free Agency Thread

[DelhommesTheMan]

Just because we have $20 mill, does not mean it isn't already allocated.  That's for Norman, Star, KK, and Norwell.  Pretend we have no cap space, because in actuality we don't, it's being reserved for our own stars. That's what happens when u draft really well, and every team would like to be in the same situation. We will sign cheap stop gaps on team friendly deals to fill the rest 

[jdpanther5]

38 minutes ago, Hammerin'Cameron34 said:

Weddle was 100% just fan speculation apparently

And Joe Person speculation. He's still convinced that they were interested and just didn't want to get into a bidding war.

[jdpanther5]

13 minutes ago, DelhommesTheMan said:

Just because we have $20 mill, does not mean it isn't already allocated.  That's for Norman, Star, KK, and Norwell.  Pretend we have no cap space, because in actuality we don't, it's being reserved for our own stars. That's what happens when u draft really well, and every team would like to be in the same situation. We will sign cheap stop gaps on team friendly deals to fill the rest 

Those extensions won't start until next season and thus won't impact the cap this year (unless we sign Norman before he signs his tender, which would potentially save money this year), and Star's could be another two years away. Just 1/5 of signing bonuses would hit the cap this year. 

[Ricky Spanish]

57 minutes ago, Growl said:

1. None of those players are long-term options, few have been here for more than a year as we brought them in, realized they were too old or too insufficient to do the job, and then moved on. Others, like Ted Ginn, have lucked into multiple season because no other respects their value, so they come here and drop passes for us instead. It all come to hedge the season before last, when we fielded a horrid team that got thrust into a tourney that had no business being in thanks to the sheer luck of playing in what was one of the worst divisions in league history.

2. All 3 players mentioned were need picks. Nobody used the word "reach" but you and the illiterate lizard earlier in thread.

3. It cost us seasons because a) it has cost us games. There's this cumulative effect that happens that when you lose enough games, or when you're star players can't overcome the growing deficiencies of the rest of your roster at the worst possible  Blaming officials is fun and I like to dabble in it  myself form time to time- but it's inexcusable if you have players out on the field who couldn't do their job as everyone but the men running their organization knew they couldn't.

4.what point are  even trying to make here

5. going into last season the Panthers had the second oldest roster in the entire league. for all the hypocritical trash talk this board slings out to other teams for "going all in, not prepping for the future" it's this team that is constantly throwing money at aged players, fulfilling the cycle of needing bodies at the exact same positions years in and year out. oh, and we settle for players who aren't very good, there's that too.

6. it's absolutely remarkable how year in and year out this board tries to paint last year's Super Bowl Championship Victor as "the exception, not the rule." 

7. yeah it's gotta be just awful adding a Lombardi to your trophy case with the knowledge that you may have to spend a season or two reloading when you could be on the brink of "maybe next year"  forever and ever

8. many of them can't perform hence the reason they were drafted so low and also hence the reason other teams don't want them. I for one am tired of having Cam have to pen up his frustration at mike remmers for doing something idiotic or watching Luke have to sprint across the field to have to make up for the mistake of the 20(insert a number here) variant of this year's aged wonder at CB

The reason we don't sign big name players in FA under Gettleman's watch has come for a handful of reasons:

1. Like it or not, we've been cap strapped. There's no denying it and up until this offseason we've been pushed against the cap. Throwing big cash at new FA's is a great way to make sure we don't have any money in the future
2. We are signing FA's they just aren't from other teams. We gave out big contracts to Luke, Cam, TD, and Olsen the past few offseasons. Maybe a few more that are escaping me at the moment. While they weren't imminent FA's, their contracts were expiring soon and we locked them up long term. We didn't have to go into someone else's farm system in order to grab them and they are core guys for years to come. We compensated them fairly and were able to set, or get clsoe to the market for their positions. People who pay for FAs don't have that luxury. That's why you have teams like the giants making Olivier Verner the league's highest paid defensive player this coming year. He does not deserve that contract. No way in hell. The giants will feel that sting next year for sure. It's a desperate move from a desperate GM. 
3. You can get contributors for cheap without paying a king's ransom, and that's fine. You don't need a superstar at every position. There are ways to use your strengths to cover your weaknesses. 

More often than not Big contracts for FAs bite you in the ass down the line. I'm not being a sassy bitch here, but show me of a FA that was signed to a new team that lived up to their contract and I'll show you 8 more that didn't. The way we are building our team is the best way to have a team that can consistently contend for the title. We aren't built for a sprint, we're building for a marathon. Think the Patriots and Steelers, not flash in the pan like the Saints. '14 was a step back year, every sane fan knew it was going to happen. We had no money and the guys we brought in overachieved so we could no longer afford them, and the guys that we could afford, ended up sucking. BUT they weren't long term investments so we were able to get rid of them the next year and not worry about the future. There is no win now mode for gettleman. That kind of GMing is for guys trying to save their asses and betting the farm on FA because they don't have the luxury of grooming talent to be good over the next few years. If you draft well, you keep your team together, you pay the core their dues and you build around them. 

[Bartin]

17 minutes ago, DelhommesTheMan said:

Just because we have $20 mill, does not mean it isn't already allocated.  That's for Norman, Star, KK, and Norwell.  Pretend we have no cap space, because in actuality we don't, it's being reserved for our own stars. That's what happens when u draft really well, and every team would like to be in the same situation. We will sign cheap stop gaps on team friendly deals to fill the rest 

We have around $70M in cap space for next year currently projected. That's where the money for those guys is. That number will go down, but we figure to be in the $50-60M range going into next year before extensions.

[walken]

http://www.yardbarker.com/mobile/content/article/s1_12680_20481607

 

Not sure if already posted but an article about the most overpaid free agents

spoiler alert:

it seems our southern friends are attempting to play catch up

[ctrcat]

6 minutes ago, walken said:

http://www.yardbarker.com/mobile/content/article/s1_12680_20481607

 

Not sure if already posted but an article about the most overpaid free agents

spoiler alert:

it seems our southern friends are attempting to play catch up

Desperate times call for desperate measures.  Winning our 3rd straight division  title by 7 games with no end in logical sight will do that do you.  Reminds me of Vegas Vacation, they'd be better off spending half the money, getting kicked in the nuts, and calling it a day.  

 

[O-Ther]

59 minutes ago, jdpanther5 said:

Those extensions won't start until next season and thus won't impact the cap this year (unless we sign Norman before he signs his tender, which would potentially save money this year), and Star's could be another two years away. Just 1/5 of signing bonuses would hit the cap this year. 

More than just Star, KK, Norman, and Norwell to worry about. Here's my view on 2017.

Currently on offense, Unrestricted Free Agents will be Ginn, Whittaker, Oher, Kalil, and Remmers. Restricted Free Agents will be Philly and Norwell. Kalil is listed as being under contract in 2017, but that's a phantom voidable year added to spread out the re-structure, just like Jordan Gross did.

On defense, Unrestricted will be KK, CJ, Addison, Horton, Klein, Coleman, Norman, and McClain. Star could be Unrestricted if we do not exercise our option for his 5th year by the May deadline. If we do, he won't be cheap next year.

Plus special teamers Colin Jones, Teddy Williams, and Ben Jacobs will be Unrestricted.

As of right now, for both our O-line and D-line, we can count on Turner, Williams, Gradkowski, Ealy, and Delaire being here in 2017. That's it.

Benji, Fun-Fun, and Thor will have problems getting open if Ginn and Philly aren't here to take the top off the defense.

Klein has proven he can fill Luke's shoes for a while, and our secondary can only count on Bene and Boston being here in 2017

 

TL;DR  Lots of work to do re-signing who we want, and we'll need every nickel of cap space we can get, but I'm not worried about getting all this done, despite how daunting it looks. However, it did lower my expectations for free agency this year

[The Huddler]

1 hour ago, Handsome Steve said:

 feeling this off  y ldn't be much different, but wit h us having a little more cap and coming off a game that I ne.ed to forget, i was hoping for some good news when it came toree Agency.. 

There is good news..

 

We kept our superbowl Team largly Intact, unlike the broncos. We are retaining all key starters and we are in play to make very good high value high production signings in the 2nd and 3rd week of FA... 

 

A high priced big name splash is like getting drunk  .  seems like a great idea at the time, but soon after largly Regret it.  Half the people who get signed the first week get cut not long after..  Cause of cap problems.. 

 

Trust gman 

[The Lobo]

10 minutes ago, The Huddler said:

There is good news..

 

We kept our superbowl Team largly Intact, unlike the broncos. We are retaining all key starters and we are in play to make very good high value high production signings in the 2nd and 3rd week of FA... 

 

A high priced big name splash is like getting drunk  .  seems like a great idea at the time, but soon after largly Regret it.  Half the people who get signed the first week get cut not long after..  Cause of cap problems.. 

 

Trust gman 

Yup. There are still quality guys out there we can get for cheap. It's going to be fine.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, jdpanther5 said:

And Joe Person speculation. He's still convinced that they were interested and just didn't want to get into a bidding war.

I'm not a big Person fan, but to be fair, that's legitimately possible.

 

[Bartin]

13 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I'm not a big Person fan, but to be fair, that's legitimately possible.

 

Yeah that sounds perfectly reasonable.

If a player like Weddle goes so far as to single out the Panthers as a place that'd he would like to play then you can damn well bet Gettleman at least picked up the phone and asked his agent how much he was looking for. It may not have gone farther than that but you can bet that at the worst Gettleman inquired about him and had mutual interest at the right price. He wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't and if there is one thing that you can say about Gettleman it's that he takes doing his job very seriously and he is extremely thorough. 

[Riverboat Ron]

1 hour ago, walken said:

http://www.yardbarker.com/mobile/content/article/s1_12680_20481607

 

Not sure if already posted but an article about the most overpaid free agents

spoiler alert:

it seems our southern friends are attempting to play catch up

I imagine Dimitroff, Loomis and Licht having a meeting trying to figure out how they'll compete against the Panthers collectively.

 

Our Pros and Cons list:

 

Cons:

1.Can't draft as well as Gettleman.

2.Don't have both an offensive and defensive caliber MVP on roster.

3.Lame mascots.

 

Pros:

1.Lots of money give mid level contracts the below average players!!!! WE ALL WIN THE NFC SOUTH GUYZ!!!!

-Loomis defiantly looks at his negative cap space on his piece of paper and shouts "Fu*k it, going to backload contracts and restructure! It'll work this time!!!"

 

[Mr. Scot]

From Rotoworld:

Falcons re-signed S Charles Godfrey to a one-year, $965,000 contract.

Godfrey yo-yoed on and off the 53-man roster last season, ultimately appearing in eight games. Going on 31, he'll compete for spots as a reserve and special teamer.