What a change of philosophy...

[I AM]

In a year without a cap and a potential lockout on the horizon, the Panthers have quite possibly made more noise in 24 hours than they have in their entire existence as an NFL franchise...

Is this a sign of true change in John Fox and Marty Hurney, or is it more of an indicator that Jerry Richardson means business?

Personally, I feel it is more of the latter...

Cutting Jake Delhomme cost us nearly $13 Million. Cutting Kemo and Lewis nearly saved us $15 Million. Add this to the near $20 Million we didn't spend by franchising Peppers, and you have about $22 Million in free money that we normally wouldn't have.

I am not sure, at this point, if that is a good thing. With such drastic changes coming so swiftly, one has to wonder what is going on behind the scenes.

I don't question the intentions, nor the ability to make great moves, of the Panthers front office, but they are in a way completely resurfacing the team.

In the past we tried to pretty much stick to our guns (see Jake Delhomme) and often showed tremendous loyalty in situations where we might end up spending a little more money, but kept the guys we liked. So far this season, we have let a premier defensive star simply walk away, cut ties with the only QB ever to lead us to the Super Bowl, and severed ties with two seemingly solid DT's.

Next season, those players will be replaced with guys that have one thing in common. They are young guys that have slid under the radar a bit, be it Everette Brown who lasted longer in the NFL Draft than most people thought he would a year ago, or Matt Moore, an undrafted QB who is now our starter.

Would I call this a youth movement? Sure... But does it also boil down to money and setting an internal spending limit? That is quite possible too...

The only way we'll be able to tell is how the next month or so play out. The Panthers were once thought not to be so active in Free Agency this year simply because there aren't a lot of players out there that match our needs (which at this point seems to have youth as a prerequisite). Will this belief hold true now that we have even more people to replace than we did just 48 hours ago?

What I am starting to fear most is what else we have in our plans. There have been rumors here that the Panthers would trade DeAngelo Williams to the Lions. Do we have plans to do this or a similar deal for real, in hopes of getting someone in the draft like Suh or one of the top QBs? I feel like our identity is based on having a double edged blade running attack, and DeAngelo is a huge part of it. He's going into his final contract year though, so it could be possible the Panthers are looking to get as much value as they can from him and not have to cut such a big check.

Regardless of how the rest of the offseason plays out, and although I may have my hesitations, I am extremely excited to be a Panthers fan right now. There are just so many ways we could go right now, and it is going to be an interesting show to watch.

[CRA]

JR is cutting all the fat.....then after Fox is gone the new headcoach will have lots of cash to play w/ in building his team.

Notice how we are cutting guy after guy......and then all we will bring in is one or two rejects to fill spots for a year.

[Highlandfire]

JR is cutting all the fat.....then after Fox is gone the new headcoach w/ have lots of cash to play w/ in building his team.

Bingo.

[GRWatcher]

Regardless of how the rest of the offseason plays out, and although I may have my hesitations, I am extremely excited to be a Panthers fan right now. There are just so many ways we could go right now, and it is going to be an interesting show to watch.

This is exactly how I felt in 1995 when the franchise was awarded to Richardson & company. The first regular game of 1996 is to me still one of the most exciting just because of that.

[I AM]

By my calculations so far, with the release of Diggs, Kemo, Lewis, and Johnson, our current offseason needs have shifted extremely to the defensive side of the ball...

OLB/MLB is top priority

WR is next

followed very closely by DT

..then QB...

[Squirrel]

By my calculations so far, with the release of Diggs, Kemo, Lewis, and Johnson, our current offseason needs have shifted extremely to the defensive side of the ball...

OLB/MLB is top priority

WR is next

followed very closely by DT

..then QB...

Time to trade next years first rounder.

[I AM]

Time to trade next years first rounder.

I was pretty sure that was happening anyways... lol...

Still though, we have some pretty big holes in our depth chart now... we need a lot of draft picks and some free agents...

[jramsey4]

I was pretty sure that was happening anyways... lol...

Still though, we have some pretty big holes in our depth chart now... we need a lot of draft picks and some free agents...

Fine by me. Who knows if there will even be football next year. I see that as a reason why other teams might be reluctant to trade for a future pick. Who knows.

[HSCBandit07]

Pick up Roddy White and use the 2nd rounder for a linebacker :hurray:

[I AM]

Fine by me. Who knows if there will even be football next year. I see that as a reason why other teams might be reluctant to trade for a future pick. Who knows.

There will still be a draft even if there isn't football...

That said, you are correct that it could hinder the value of next year's picks, as they wouldn't take the field until 2012 at the earliest (at least in the NFL)...

[zebrainz]

2007's aftermath was almost as "bad" <-by bad, I mean good, I think, who knows at this point

Players lost in 2007-2008 offseason:

Morgan

Hartwig

Wahle

Foster

Carter

Colbert

Moorehead

Fauria

Rucker

(I may have missed a couple, but that's the gist of it^)

Is the team maneauvering for a possible work stoppage in 2011, with a posssible HC change? Sure, that's part of it, but neither of those things are a done deal, just possibilities that must be prepared for.

It was time to move on for almost all of the players we're letting go. The "time to move on" factor isn't quite as great as it was then, but it's still there. It's maybe a year early in some cases, but an uncapped year is the perfect time to cut the fat with no consequences. This is the second time we've had "21 of 22" returning followed by a housecleaning when that didn't work out.

I know one thing. I'm happier with this than I am the whole "21 of 22" thing. Stagnation does not win championships.

[Guest]

JR is cutting all the fat.....then after Fox is gone the new headcoach will have lots of cash to play w/ in building his team.

Notice how we are cutting guy after guy......and then all we will bring in is one or two rejects to fill spots for a year.

[Scrumtrilescent]

2007's aftermath was almost as "bad" <-by bad, I mean good, I think, who knows at this point

Players lost in 2007-2008 offseason:

Morgan

Hartwig

Wahle

Foster

Carter

Colbert

Moorehead

Fauria

Rucker

(I may have missed a couple, but that's the gist of it^)

Is the team maneauvering for a possible work stoppage in 2011, with a posssible HC change? Sure, that's part of it, but neither of those things are a done deal, just possibilities that must be prepared for.

It was time to move on for almost all of the players we're letting go. The "time to move on" factor isn't quite as great as it was then, but it's still there. It's maybe a year early in some cases, but an uncapped year is the perfect time to cut the fat with no consequences. This is the second time we've had "21 of 22" returning followed by a housecleaning when that didn't work out.

I know one thing. I'm happier with this than I am the whole "21 of 22" thing. Stagnation does not win championships.

This post. Full of awesome goodness.

Seems they are learning their lesson with Jake about hanging onto guys too long.

[Kevin Greene]

The message:

"If you ain't producing, GTFO."

It's a good message.