Bill Barnwell: what Gettleman should do

[Toker Smurf]

I have wanted Stewart gone for a couple of years but at this point, I would rather keep him. Just one more year of that contract and its a clean break. If we draft Fournette, let him learn for one season and save some wear and tear, running behind Stew. If Stewart misses a few games, again, we will have a real backup. Fournette would be ready to take the lead role in year two.

[Darvinsun]

10 hours ago, GoobyPls said:

I agree with basically every thing he said. Stewart is WAY to unproductive to be getting paid that much. Jackson is dream fit for our offense. I would sign Addison over Johnson.

How can he be productive when the line is trash he gets the same pass as Cam does. I believe last yr Stewart was  very productive and if he was not hurt we would have probably won the SB ...I blame Ron because he worked stewart too hard in the beginning of the year instead of giving Cap and Fozzy more carries...continued to use tolbert who wasn't productive all yr...Stewart is good enough to keep but he needs help from the line and maybe some breaks in games. Draft another RB but keep stewart at least 1 more yr.

[juliosantos]

i want 2 tackles in freeagency doesnt have to big big names something like matt kalil or blechum 

[Reebis21]

17 minutes ago, stbugs said:

LOL, god I love how much hate we have for Benjamin. Both Crowder and Benajmin have played 2 years and 1 of KB's years was after missing a year due to an ACL injury.

Crowder

126 - 1451 9 TDs

Benjamin

136 - 1949 16 TDs

Oh, but KB is slow, fat and lazy, but he's averaging 14.3 ypr to Crowder's 11.5 ypc. Well, KB's stats are clearly inflated due to Carolina passing so much. Hmm, Washington 8853 yards passing in Crowder's two years to Carolina's 7196. Well, Djax and Reed is in Washington, so he hampers Crowder's production with 3100 or so yards. Hmm, Olsen all by himself has over 2000 yards in KB's two years. Throw in the other #2 WR Ginn/Cotchery and they had almost 300 more yards than DJax and Reed.

Anyway, so tired of the hate for KB. Oh, he wouldn't even garner a 3rd round pick. Horseshit. I really just hate that we have a young WR averaging almost 1000 yards and 8 TDs even coming off an ACL. I'm sure he's got no chance to get better. Some people don't deserve to be fans if they can't see his potential.

I was definitely hard on KB this year and maybe at times too hard. I get frustrated more by his lack of focus at times and the periodically lazy route running. However, I loved your comment here. I think the hate is wayyy too much. Adding a player like DJax would open up so much more for KB. I guarantee teams would love having KB on their team for size alone.

[grimesgoat]

17 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

1. Franchise DT Kawann Short. Dave Gettleman finally has the cap room to really operate in the free-agent market, but the first thing he needs to do is retain his best pass-rusher. Short has turned into a devastating interior disruptor, leading the team in quarterback knockdowns each of the past two seasons while recording a total of 17 sacks. That's good for third among interior linemen after Geno Atkins and Aaron Donald.

Short is going to be looking for Fletcher Cox money in free agency, and when the Panthers decided to let Josh Norman leave last year, they were likely thinking about budgeting an appropriately sized deal for their Purdue product. Cox got $58.5 million guaranteed over the first three years of his new deal, and Short will try to hit the same sort of ballpark. Chances are that Gettleman will need to franchise Short for just under $13.5 million before using his leverage to find common ground on an extension.

2. Bring back either Mario Addison or Charles Johnson at defensive end. One of the other reasons the Panthers will want to bring back Short is to provide a base for their defensive line from the interior as they rebuild on the edges. Johnson took a massive pay cut to come back to Carolina on a one-year deal but delivered only four sacks; the standout was Addison, a perpetually underrated pass-rusher who produced 9.5 sacks in 13 games. Addison sacked opposing quarterbacks once every 30.9 pass-rush attempts, the fourth-best rate in the league among players with 200 attempts in 2016.

The Panthers started run-first end Wes Horton 10 times despite cutting him in September, and it's probably time for Kony Ealy's workload to grow as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, so Carolina probably wants to consider drafting a defensive end while bringing Addison or Johnson back. Of the two, Addison may be the more productive pass-rusher at this point, given that Johnson has averaged 4.5 sacks over the past three years while struggling to stay healthy.

3. Release RB Jonathan Stewart. A holdover contract from the dying days of the Marty Hurney regime, Stewart's deal has been restructured twice to create more cap space for the Panthers. He had the second-largest cap hit in football among running backs last year at $9.6 million but was essentially uncuttable because of all the restructuring; it would have cost Carolina $13.1 million in dead money to dump their longtime running back.

If the Vikings cut Adrian Peterson this year, Stewart will again have the second-largest cap hit in football among running backs, this time behind LeSean McCoy. The difference is that the Panthers can either choose to pay Stewart $8.3 million to play or eat $3.5 million to move on. Given that Stewart averaged just 3.8 yards per carry last season and hasn't played a full 16-game slate since the 2011 season, it's probably time for the Panthers to cut ties and draft Stewart's long-term replacement.

4. Re-sign G Trai Turner. The strength of Carolina's offensive line is on the interior, with center Ryan Kalil lining up next to Turner at right guard. The LSU product made his second consecutive Pro Bowl in 2016, and as he enters the final season of his rookie deal with a cap hit of $824,950, the Panthers will likely be earmarking a hefty raise for the 2014 second-round pick. Turner could be looking for Kyle Long-level money in free agency (nearly $26 million over the first three years of the deal). The Panthers will hopefully then address the tackle position in the draft.

5. Make a run at WR DeSean Jackson. Ted Ginn Jr. is a free agent and still reliant almost entirely upon his speed. Betting on the wheels of a 32-year-old player seems dangerous, and it's pretty clear that Ginn isn't suddenly going to develop great hands at this point of his career. Gettleman probably wants another deep burner for Cam Newton to target as the Panthers try to rebuild their passing game. Jackson will certainly be more expensive, and he's not that much younger (30), but he would represent a hefty short-term upgrade on the perennially-frustrating Ginn.

Another receiver the Panthers might target -- admittedly for entirely different reasons -- is Bills wideout Robert Woods. Carolina likes tall wideouts who are effective blockers, and the 6-foot-1 USC star is one of the best-blocking wide receivers in the game. He's worth more to the Panthers than he is to many other teams.

Agree with all, except I don't do anything with Stewart if I don't get Fournette in the draft.

Love the idea of Jackson.  Jackson has had success and made big money.  Now its time to get his HOF resume in order.  3-4 years of catching bombs from Cam and hopefully a SB should do it.  With his speed and hands and Cam's arm, I could see at least 3 years of 80 catches for 1400 yrs. and 8 TDs.  Those numbers should get him in Cooperstown.  I can't think of another situation where he would have a better chance to achieve these numbers. 

[Craig Pruitt]

19 minutes ago, stbugs said:

Yeah, there was a great camp and start (the hard-ons in here after the SF game were intense) and a great finish. His penalty against Minnesota, which cost us the game (would have been 17-2) was the start of a poor stretch. I think we forgot that he really was a second year player coming off of an ACL because of the hot start. There is no doubt in my mind he will be better this year not coming off of rehabbing the knee and again, almost 1000 yards and 7 TDs in a second year after an ACL isn't bad. Had we won some of the close games, he wouldn't be looked at as a failure. Fans were looking for scapegoats.

I read an article somewhere at the end of the season it could have even been here) that featured a discussion with Ricky Proehl. He said he was told prior to the season that KB wouldn't be fully healthy until the 2017 season.  Ricky felt he would be 100% by the start of 2016. Proehl said realizes now that the other guy was right.

Benjamin, according to Proehl, went thru a stretch this season with some knee swelling/discomfort. It coincided with his slump during the middle of the season.  As his knee improved, so did his play and statistics.  Even though Proehl is no longer the WR coach, he said he expected Benjamin to be in better physical shape next season. If he is I think we can expect  improvement on his overall play and a better passing game. We needs another threat at WR or slot receiver to open things up for him.

[RumHam]

I see all these posts either assuming Ginn will be back or no one knows he's a WR. we need a speedster and I don't think we bring him back.

[Craig Pruitt]

12 minutes ago, stbugs said:

That's what I thought, but good to hear that. I don't recall hearing that from Proehl, but this is pretty much what I thought happened. I think he had too good of a camp and we assumed he was Adrian Peterson and different that the other 99.9% of players coming off an ACL injury.

I found the article. It was actually written by David Newton over at ESPN. Enjoy.

http://www.espn.in/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/24372/ricky-proehl-was-warned-panthers-wr-kelvin-benjamin-might-not-be-fully-back-to-form-in-2016

Former Carolina Panthers wide receivers coach Ricky Proehl was skeptical in August when strength coach Joe Kenn warned that Kelvin Benjamin, who tore his left ACL during training camp in 2015, probably wouldn't get back to his rookie form until 2017.

He was even more skeptical after the first two games when the 28th pick of the 2014 draft had a combined 13 catches for 199 yards and three touchdowns.

But as the year wore on, Benjamin's left knee became increasingly sore. He went through a five-game stretch with a combined 10 catches for 158 yards and one touchdown.

Against Oakland, Benjamin became so frustrated that he tossed his helmet and yelled at Proehl after being taken out in the second half.

Proehl, who on Tuesday stepped down as the wide receivers coach to spend more time watching his sons play wide receiver in college, finally had to admit Kenn was right.

"Kelvin was limited in what he could do in training camp, so it affected his process as a receiver and coming back from his injury," Proehl said. "He hit a wall a little bit where his leg had a tremendous amount of soreness and swelling, and it affected him in practice to where he couldn't practice.

"Then it started feeling better at the end of the year, and you started seeing glimpses of the Kelvin of his rookie year."

Benjamin caught a combined 10 passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the final two games. He looked more like the receiver that caught 73 passes for 1,008 yards and nine touchdowns as a rookie.

Proehl has no doubt Benjamin will return fully to that form and be even better.

"He realizes he has to lose some weight," Proehl said. "He'll come back in great shape and have a great year next year."

Weight was an issue for Benjamin during the 2015 offseason. The 6-foot-5 receiver had gotten eight to nine pounds heavier than his listed 245 pounds and looked sluggish at times.

He shed that weight before training camp and looked poised for a big year before the knee injury.

Proehl plans to help Benjamin get back to that standard at Proehlific Park, a training facility he began in Greensboro, North Carolina, after 17 years as a player.

Because he no longer falls under the league labor laws as an assistant coach, Proehl can work with Benjamin and other Carolina receivers during the dead period between now and offseason workouts that begin in April.

"I still want to be there for him and realize I can be a resource," Proehl said. "He can come down to the park and he can train and we can get him back to the form he knows he needs to get to."

Proehl said prior to the 2015 season, before Benjamin was injured, that he had every weapon in his arsenal to have one of the league's best group of wide receivers. He still believed that going into last season.

But the passing game struggled for many reasons and the Panthers had 14 fewer touchdown catches than the previous season (35) when quarterback Cam Newton was the league MVP.

"It was a tough year," Proehl said. "We struggled at times at the receiver position. But you've got to struggle sometimes to grow and to learn."

Moving on from veteran Jerricho Cotchery and the leadership he brought was a factor in the group's struggles. Proehl admitted that.

Benjamin admitted late in the season he was trying to become more of a leader; a role he simply wasn't ready for coming out of training camp.

But Proehl insists the nucleus for a solid receiving corps still is in place with Benjamin and 2015 second-round pick Devin Funchess, who caught eight fewer (23) passes than he did as a rookie.

He says they are ready to step up as leaders as well as receivers.

"This was their first time fighting through adversity when things aren't going well," Proehl said. "When you don't have those leaders in the room you struggle with that.

"Now they know what it takes and what they're going to have to do to get back to where we were competing for a Super Bowl championship."

[Ivan The Awesome]

Trai Turner was picked up in the third round. 

[CPF4LIFE]

Sign D Jax and Robert woods

[davos]

I think we need to go back to square one with our DEs. I don't think we give Addison a bigger contract to be a DPR/pass rush specialist. 

Maybe keep CJ for the vet presence but double dip in the draft and a mid tier FA.

so, yes--keep Stewart. Might as well ride him until his contract is done. We've carved enough room elsewhere and can ride it out IMO.

 

 

[GoobyPls]

7 hours ago, Darvinsun said:

How can he be productive when the line is trash he gets the same pass as Cam does. I believe last yr Stewart was  very productive and if he was not hurt we would have probably won the SB ...I blame Ron because he worked stewart too hard in the beginning of the year instead of giving Cap and Fozzy more carries...continued to use tolbert who wasn't productive all yr...Stewart is good enough to keep but he needs help from the line and maybe some breaks in games. Draft another RB but keep stewart at least 1 more yr.

Last year very productive? He had 990 yards at 4.1 ypc that's not really that good. And no we still would have lost the SB with a healthy Stewart. I'm not gonna give a 30 year old unproductive RB the same leeway as Cam. Especially an injury prone one whose already gotten paid handsomely.

[Saca312]

24 minutes ago, GoobyPls said:

Last year very productive? He had 990 yards at 4.1 ypc that's not really that good. And no we still would have lost the SB with a healthy Stewart. I'm not gonna give a 30 year old unproductive RB the same leeway as Cam. Especially an injury prone one whose already gotten paid handsomely.

A healthy stewart provides the best pass protecting RB in the Superbowl, and a solid power run game. 

Now, there's more than just stewart that caused us to lose the game, but you can't act like his presence who instantly upgrades the run game.

[GoobyPls]

20 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

A healthy stewart provides the best pass protecting RB in the Superbowl, and a solid power run game. 

Now, there's more than just stewart that caused us to lose the game, but you can't act like his presence who instantly upgrades the run game.

We still would have lost. It could of been Stewart from 2009 and we still would have lost.

And what does this have to do with next season?