Re-Examining the Delhomme Extension

[Squirrel]

We only saved $2 million.

[Mr. Scot]

Just a desperate GM looking for a couple milliion in cap relief.

Discussed in length here:

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/carolina-panthers/11345-delhomme-has-new-deal.html

You don't do 5 years, 42 million just for cap relief.

They genuinely believed he was worth it.

[Phillips86]

To me alot of the blame for alot of moves, or not moves as it turned out all come back to Peppers. His refusal to sign his Franchise tag tender really hamstringed us this last offseason. Yes we gave Jake way to much for way to long. And yes he has played horrible beyond belief. But he would have never pulled anything like Julius Peppers did this offseason. What Peppers did was selfish and inexcusible from a "captain". And sadly theres prob a pretty good chance. That Peppers puts us through it all over agian this offseason..

[Kevin Greene]

You don't do 5 years, 42 million for cap relief.

They genuinely believed he was worth it.

Yeah, you do.

The only thing relevant is the guaranteed money. This was essentially a two year contract giving the Panthers 2 milliion in cap releif. They had zero cap space due to the Peppers debacle. They needed money to sign dradft picks, hell the Panthers couldn't even afford to resign there long time long snapper Jason Kyle and Hurney had to send a draft pick to Green Bay for a cheaper substitute.

$20 million is guaranteed, the 12 million cap figure Jake would have had this year was reduced to 10. It is an $8 million dollar extension, no more. Barring Pro Bowl play you'd be foolish to think Delhomme figured in the Panthers plans past next year.

[MaineManPanther]

Yeah, you do.

The only thing relevant is the guaranteed money. This was essentially a two year contract giving the Panthers 2 milliion in cap releif. They had zero cap space due to the Peppers debacle. They needed money to sign dradft picks, hell the Panthers couldn't even afford to resign there long time long snapper Jason Kyle and Hurney had to send a draft pick to Green Bay for a cheaper substitute.

$20 million is guaranteed, the 12 million cap figure Jake would have had this year was reduced to 10. It is an $8 million dollar extension, no more. Barring Pro Bowl play you'd be foolish to think Delhomme figured in the Panthers plans past next year.

Agreed. Hurney and the FO arent idiots. Jake was 34 coming off what was then his worst season and a horrible meltdown in the playoffs. I seriously doubt they planned on him being the starter for even two more years.

[Mr. Scot]

Yeah, you do.

The only thing relevant is the guaranteed money. This was essentially a two year contract giving the Panthers 2 milliion in cap releif. They had zero cap space due to the Peppers debacle. They needed money to sign dradft picks, hell the Panthers couldn't even afford to resign there long time long snapper Jason Kyle and Hurney had to send a draft pick to Green Bay for a cheaper substitute.

$20 million is guaranteed, the 12 million cap figure Jake would have had this year was reduced to 10. It is an $8 million dollar extension, no more. Barring Pro Bowl play you'd be foolish to think Delhomme figured in the Panthers plans past next year.

I believe in the "shell contract" idea but I haven't seen a breakdown of it anywhere. The 20 million figure has been disputed, so I'm not sure anyone outside of the Panther offices really knows at this point.

Gantt and others have reported that the team braintrust really did believe in Delhomme, at least at the time. Throw in that Fox continually beat the "best chance to win" drum even when Delhomme had awful games and there's plenty of evidence to support it.

They could have gotten more cap relief than 2 million if that's all it was.

[thefuzz]

It was a bad move by our FO plain and simple.

With Gamble, Smith, and Gross gobbling up Cap room, but at least playing at high levels, and Lucas, Pep, and Jake taking up the rest, and not playing at high levels, they screwed the pooch on this one.

[Mr. Scot]

As it was done? Yeah. Doing it could have been wise with better execution.

Part of the point behind this though is something I brought up in another thread.

People throw the phrase "blind loyalty" around a lot when talking about Fox. For my part, I don't buy for a second that it's primarily loyalty to players that's causing these decisions. Could it factor in? Yeah, but I don't believe it's as high in the order of things as others do.

The real culprit here is poor judgment.

Fox really believes in the decisions he's making, whether it's extending Delhomme and/or keeping him as starter or putting Godfrey back in ahead of Sherrod Martin, he honestly thinks that his way is the best way to go.

And that, in my opinion, is a way bigger indictment than just being "too loyal".

[thefuzz]

As it was done? Yeah. Doing it could have been wise with better execution.

Part of the point behind this though is something I brought up in another thread.

People throw the phrase "blind loyalty" around a lot when talking about Fox. For my part, I don't buy for a second that it's primarily loyalty to players that's causing these decisions. Could it factor in? Yeah, but I don't believe it's as high in the order of things as others do.

The real culprit here is poor judgment.

Fox really believes in the decisions he's making, whether it's extending Delhomme and/or keeping him as starter or putting Godfrey back in ahead of Sherrod Martin, he honestly thinks that his way is the best way to go.

And that, in my opinion, is a way bigger indictment than just being "too loyal".

Totally agree.

I don't think for a moment that Fox thinks that he is making bad choices....but he is, and it is hurting this team. That is why he needs to be shown the door. Not so much because of the "game passing him by", or "he's too conservative". It's that he is making bad choices at bad times, and that is what will get him fired.

He knows more about NFL football than all of us combined, all head coaches do, but sometimes a change is called for, and now is the time.

[Mr. Scot]

Totally agree.

I don't think for a moment that Fox thinks that he is making bad choices....but he is, and it is hurting this team. That is why he needs to be shown the door. Not so much because of the "game passing him by", or "he's too conservative". It's that he is making bad choices at bad times, and that is what will get him fired.

He knows more about NFL football than all of us combined, all head coaches do, but sometimes a change is called for, and now is the time.

Knowing more than fans is easy.

Knowing more than other head coaches? Not so much.

There comes a time when even smart guys have to go if they aren't getting it done.

[Mesmer]

And really, if you're Marty Hurney is basically either Jake or no Jake. There was really no replacement this past offseason... despite what some may argue.

[Sam Mills Fan]

How many players would we have had to cut this year just to keep Jake's $12 million salary that he was scheduled to make?

People bitch about Pep's 17 mil this year and the lack of depth... just imagine the outrage over paying Jake 12m for this year's performance.

There were two options: cut him or extend him. Both options were risky.

Oh this is Darin Gantt garbage. They could have restructured his deal for this one season or extended him only through the 2010 season. To suggest that their only option was to give him a 5-year, $20 million guaranteed contract is asinine.

[Sam Mills Fan]

You don't do 5 years, 42 million just for cap relief.

They genuinely believed he was worth it.

Didn't you just say two posts above that the deal was done for cap room? Which one is it?

[Mesmer]

It was a vote of confidence, I think. And, it backfired.