Inside the Carolina Panthers' three seasons of quarterback failure

[Mr. Scot]

What killed the Watson trade...

But the allegations didn't end the Panthers' pursuit as Rhule, Fitterer and Tepper plotted ways to land the former Clemson star.

Watson was scheduled to meet with four teams -- the Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns -- shortly after a grand jury declined to pursue criminal charges against him in March 2022. A source close to Watson said the quarterback thought "super highly of" the Panthers after a meeting with Tepper, Rhule and Fitterer. On the day Watson agreed to a trade to Cleveland that included a market-shattering, fully guaranteed deal of $230 million, ESPN reported the Panthers had balked at Watson's demand for the full guarantee.

A source close to Watson says that doesn't tell the whole story. Carolina was not Watson's first choice, though the Panthers were heavily in the mix at the end. Also, the notion throughout the league that Rhule was on the hot seat was a concern.

"The uncertainty with the coaching staff was a factor," the source said.

[Mr. Scot]

Other considerations...

The Panthers got back to work on QB options, evaluating free agents Marcus Mariota and Mitch Trubisky, the latter a former college star at North Carolina. Front office sources say Fitterer liked Trubisky to compete with Darnold for the starting job, but Trubisky eventually signed a two-year, $14.285 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers -- which offered a clearer path to a starting job.

Former Super Bowl starter Jimmy Garoppolo, who had been granted permission to pursue a trade from the San Francisco 49ers, was also available. Garoppolo led the Niners to the NFC Championship in 2021, but a source close to the quarterback said the Panthers never had extended dialogue with Garoppolo's representatives. Carolina had concerns about when Garoppolo would be ready to participate in camp, a front office source said, as he recovered from offseason shoulder surgery. Matt Ryan, who was being shopped by the Falcons, was briefly discussed but per a front office source, the Panthers thought it unlikely Atlanta would move him within the division.

[Mr. Scot]

The Mayfield deal and the "competition"...

Meanwhile, Watson's presence in Cleveland had rendered former No. 1 pick Mayfield available, and Carolina had been widely viewed among the logical matches for Mayfield's services. Talks between the two sides began before the draft, but on the second night of the event, Fitterer notified Browns GM Andrew Berry that the Panthers needed to hit pause, realizing they wouldn't bridge the financial gap on Mayfield's contract.

Tepper insisted on getting a "great deal" on Mayfield's $18.8 million, fully guaranteed fifth-year option, which a source with direct knowledge of the negotiations believed was due to the financial strain of Darnold's salary. A team source added that Tepper valued "checks and balances," particularly on assets considered depressed. One source with direct knowledge of the deal said Mayfield was, at one point, asked about potentially relinquishing about $7 million of his $18.8 million (coincidentally, the same figure as Darnold's), a nonstarter with the player.

By early July, Mayfield's camp had grown restless.

While Rhule strongly endorsed acquiring Mayfield, a team source said multiple people in the building weren't thrilled with the move. Fitterer was open to it, a front office source said, and also supported the team's third-round selection of Matt Corral, a quick-trigger QB out of Ole Miss, in the 2022 draft.

Tepper gave all parties involved a July 5 deadline to finalize a deal. Everyone was on vacation -- Mayfield's agent, Thomas Mills, in Wisconsin, and Fitterer in The Hamptons for his wedding anniversary -- but worked through texts and calls in order to arrive at a deal. Ultimately, Mayfield agreed to relinquish part of his guarantee -- the Browns would pay $10.5 million, the Panthers $4.858 million plus incentives.

A deal had been struck, but precious time had been lost in getting Mayfield ready for 2022. The continued presence of Darnold, who some team sources believed competed admirably with Mayfield in camp before suffering a high ankle sprain in the preseason, only enhanced the tension. (Darnold's $18.858 million cap number remains the highest on the team for 2022.) Even though multiple sources agree Mayfield pulled away in the competition late in the preseason, those same sources were skeptical as to whether Rhule truly considered an option other than the team's latest acquisition.

"It felt like [Rhule's] plan was anyone but Sam at QB," a team source said.

[Mr. Scot]

The beginning of the end...

In a Week 1 reunion with the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield nearly rewarded Rhule's faith in him, playing well enough to rally the Panthers from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit in a stretch that included an electrifying 75-yard touchdown pass to Robbie Anderson. As the clock ticked south of one minute to play, Carolina held a 24-23 lead, but could not hold on as a 58-yard Cade York field goal doomed the team to a 26-24 home loss.

Three largely nondescript defeats would follow in the next four games. A winnable game on the road against a moderately talented Giants team in Week 2 turned into a 19-16 loss when Mayfield posted a 13.8 QBR on 145 yards passing.

A three-game homestand would follow and would play out as Rhule's version of Waterloo. A shaky 22-14 win over the Saints kept the wolves at bay, but produced few passing game highlights apart from a 67-yard touchdown pass from Mayfield to Laviska Shenault Jr.

It would get uglier. Mayfield committed three turnovers and was loudly booed throughout the second half of a 26-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, finishing the game in a mostly empty Bank of America Stadium.

"I don't care about the fact that our fans are booing, or what's going on," Mayfield said afterward. "When we figure it out and we win, it's still going to be just us in the locker room -- and that's all we care about."

Then came the final, fateful final loss to the 49ers, a game in which a healthy Garoppolo thoroughly outplayed his opposite QB number. Again, Mayfield was booed by an increasingly frustrated Panthers fan base, which by the end was outnumbered by 49ers fans.

The Panthers knew Mayfield had limited time to learn the playbook, and he proved to be a quick learner. But they were surprised by the accuracy issues of a player Rhule considered a difference-maker. As a front office source said, Rhule believed he had built a good team and that Mayfield would "stabilize the quarterback position" -- hopefully once and for all. That the move didn't yield results sealed the coach's fate.

[Mr. Scot]

Rhule's firing and the aftermath...

The day after the 49ers loss, Rhule entered the team meeting room from a side door as coaches and players waited. He began by addressing hopes for that week's game against the Rams -- some players weren't sure where the message was headed, but there was a sense that closure was coming.

Eventually, Rhule delivered the news that he had been let go, attempting to end his tenure on a positive note. He told his team how talented it was, and how he wished he could be there to see them grow and win.

Players were not exactly shocked by the news. Rhule was widely considered a bright football coach but had his challenges in the locker room, with one player saying the building felt "heavy," and teammates didn't always feel like they could be themselves. Though a team source said he did a better job relating to players in his final year, Rhule was hard on his assistants and sometimes clashed with them as a result, according to multiple team sources. And of course, the offensive football was far from good.

As Rhule began to leave, a prominent team member stepped up to address the reeling team in an attempt to galvanize and move forward. The franchise leader was the star running back McCaffrey. It was telling that in this moment leadership would come from neither a coach nor a quarterback. Ten days later, in a move signifying the organization's intention to reset, McCaffrey was dealt to the 49ers.

[Mr. Scot]

The immediate future...

The quarterback slate will have been mostly wiped clean, with the possibilities seemingly endless entering a crucial year for Carolina franchise trajectory. Alabama's Bryce Young, Ohio State's C.J. Stroud, Kentucky's Will Levis, Florida's Anthony Richardson and Tennessee's Hendon Hooker highlight a loaded quarterback class ahead of the 2023 draft, and at 2-5, Carolina figures to be in position to land a talented quarterback, or to move up in the draft to fuel the pursuit. After the way the organization has struck out on veteran QBs, most educated league observers believe the team's preference is to upgrade the position through the draft.

With the Nov. 1 trade deadline looming, Fitterer and the Panthers acquired additional draft capital by trading McCaffrey to the 49ers for second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks on Oct. 20. Linebacker Shaq Thompson and others are also believed to be on the trading block for a team now in the midst of a clear rebuild.

In addition to targeting a QB in the draft, the Panthers might consider signing a veteran for competition and depth purposes, at a minimum.

[Mr. Scot]

Fitterer's position...

Multiple front office sources with rival teams say they believe Fitterer and his well-respected core staff will remain intact, seemingly giving Carolina a strong basis from which to rebuild the team.

But so much still hinges on what Tepper does with the head coach vacancy, a move that will undoubtedly inform the team's future at the quarterback position and beyond.

If the next coach is part of a collective on key decisions instead of being given full personnel control, the outcome could be different, including at quarterback. Whether Tepper views that structure as a core piece of the organization's struggles, or whether he simply believes he picked the wrong coach, remains unknown. Tepper told reporters at a news conference the day of the Rhule firing that "a balance is more appropriate between a head coach and a GM." At the very least, he appears open to a shift in setup.

[Mr. Scot]

Final words...

In a jubilant scene inside the home locker room after the Bucs win, Wilks presented Walker -- who had never started consecutive games amid the Panthers' quarterback chaos, until now -- with a game ball.

As the team prepared to retreat to their lockers, players and staff parted and Tepper, clad in a black zip-up jacket over a Panthers "Intercept Cancer" T-shirt, and wearing a light blue-and-black official team cap, stepped forward and presented Wilks a game ball of his own.

"This is for you, brother," Tepper said. An emotional Wilks cradled the ball in one arm and embraced players with the other. The moment felt profoundly like a highlight of Tepper's four-year reign of ownership. Notably, the jubilation did not feel routine.

[TheSpecialJuan]

Absolute disaster 

[WUnderhill]

Why did the whole article just get copy/pasted?

[Mr. Scot]

20 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

^ Dude the article is linked in the first post.  Its not a paywall.  What are you doing?

Making it easier for people to see and read in parts rather than trying to digest the whole.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, WUnderhill said:

Why did the whole article just get copy/pasted?

It didn't. Several paragraphs were left out (mostly with stuff we already knew).

Splitting it up in parts is to make it easier to read and comment on items within.

Consider it a service to the "TL/DR" crowd.

[Pejorative Miscreant]

The article makes Fitt look weak or at least deferential to Rhule.  Have no idea about the power structure but it sounds like it was Rhule then everybody else.  Wonder if Fitt saw this fustercluck when he came in and then simply kept providing Rhule more rope to hang himself.  He caught a few dings along the way with the Darnold option but he had to know Rhule was going to implode.  

Just my personal conspiracy theory though.  

[TheCasillas]

49 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

He was in on darnold and in on baker when the scouts and others were not.  Thats not good

That is not how I read it at all. The article specifically stated that Rhule wouldnt listen to those around him and was all in on Darnold and Baker. 

47 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

and damn, we kept hurney that last draft and totally didnt listen to him about the first pick

Everyone in the building liked Herbert, they rated him as the second best QB just behind Burrow. It was Rhule who didnt want to give up the picks.

 

Im not sure how you got those two messages from that article, when they specifically point to Rhule for both of those points.