Will Super Mario return?

[WarPanthers89]

He has been extremely solid after we gave him an opportunity to become a starter for us, coming in at 29.5 sacks over the last three years, yet he will be 32 years old this September. Being that this is the last year of his contract, would you re sign him for a 2-3 year deal or do you see this as the last season we have him due to all of the upcoming contracts coming up such as Bradberry, Shaq, Moton, Cam, Samuel, etc. Addison has really has been undervalued by many across the league, 9+ sacks each season is a lot to replace so what do you think will happen? 

[Riverboat Ron]

I loved him in Super Mario Bros 2 on nes!

[WarPanthers89]

[Dex]

Let's see how effective he is in the new scheme first. 

[45catfan]

35 minutes ago, Dex said:

Let's see how effective he is in the new scheme first. 

Agreed, it's a one-year trial run.  Whether or not a single season is 'fair' to assess someone switching to a completely new role this late in their career, that's probably the hand Mario has been dealt..  Hopefully he makes a quick and solid transition.

[WarPanthers89]

53 minutes ago, Dex said:

Let's see how effective he is in the new scheme first. 

I agree, but say he has 9 sacks again. How much do you pay him, or just let him walk with the upcoming contracts? 

[LinvilleGorge]

A lot of it depends not only on his performance but that of the youngsters as well. If they show promise, we may opt to let an aging Mario walk and roll with cheaper youth going forward 

[Harbingers]

Ya. If we keep him. Which we totally should. He’s rounded a corner very nicely and really come into his prime. Unfortunately he’s still been overshadowed. 

[The Huddler]

Maybe he will be even better as a 3-4 OLB

[Ricky Spanish]

Dudes been Charles Johnson 2.0 for us. Solid to above average starter but won't break any records. I've enjoyed his time on the team and hope he continues to play well.

[Peon Awesome]

At 32, I anticipate he won't break the bank. If he has another solid year, maybe he takes the Peppers role as a solid rotational guy with a 3 years, 20 million contract (that turns into effectively a 2 year 14 million deal with an easy opt out after year 2). He definitely outplayed his current contract. Hopefully his last 8 games were an aberration and not the start of his decline. We'll see after this year. If he does decline, hopefully Burns, Miller and Haynes are ready to step up. 

[Verge]

I don't really see a scenario where we keep him, either he does poorly and we let him go for lack of scheme fit, or he blows it out of the water, and we have no desire to retain a 32 year old at a high price. 

[Khyber53]

Mario has been a great story for the Panthers and he's one of those steady performer guys that good teams are built around. He's an older player but relatively low mileage since it took him time to get to a starter's role. He also doesn't have an extensive injury history. From that alone, I'd have to say that he'll get offered a good contract coming out of this season, even if he were to just register six or seven sacks. If he has one of those stellar seasons and breaks off like 12 sacks, I think he'll get treated a little better, but still not get the star player kind of contract, simply because it has to be balanced out with his age.

In truth, it's hard to evaluate what he needs to do, what he can do and what the team wants from him until we see how this new hybrid defense works out for him. In 4-3 sets he's an obvious asset at DE, but in 3-4 sets is he sturdy enough to still play DE, does he have the speed to play edge from an OLB position? And who really knows? The guy's story is one of a fellow who really took in coaching and learned the game, played with a lot of heart and rarely finds himself out of position. That'll serve him well in the defensive change, but that age...

 

[WarPanthers89]

16 minutes ago, stbugs said:

I don’t based on the switch to 3-4 and the additional pieces we added. We need far more on the interior after this year than outside. Burns, Miller and maybe Haynes should definitely be ready for prime time.

If Haynes Burns and Miller step up it will make it an easy decision, but if only one looks good then we may need him if he contributes like he as the last three years