Would You Trade Draft Capital for a #1 WR???

[WestPanthers]

4 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

I have a better question for the class. Would you trade Horn for Wilson straight up?

I'd make the trade in a heartbeat and draft Will Johnson. This way, we get ourselves a WR1 and CB1 while benefiting from a more affordable contract.

[Aussie Tank]

15 hours ago, Jon Snow said:

I have a better question for the class. Would you trade Horn for Wilson straight up?

In an instant. Horn is wasted the way Evaro runs this scheme. We traded scraps for Mike Jackson and PFF said their grades were very similar 

[WarPanthers89]

Sign Godwin and call it a day. Spend draft capital on Defense. The only player worth trading for is Wilson. 

[MHS831]

I guess you could look at it this way:  There is a LOT invested in Bryce right now. Do you continue to make sure that his development is improving, or do you abandon that momentum and salvage the defense?  He is good, but he does NOT have that big name, big time WR.  Going to get a WR we can call a #1 is probably stupid right now.  Here is why:

Higgins and Godwin, the two top options in free agency, imo, are #2 WRs who got a lot of balls because Chase and Evans were the focus of the defense--I think the system made them better than they would be here--without a #1 to give them single coverages and no safety over the top.  THEY would suddenly be the #1, and their numbers would fall.  What would their salaries be based on?  Production in other cities.  It rarely works.  Most top WRs in free agency to go places with top QBs--we'd have to overpay the market then overpay the performance. 

Most if not all of the top free agent WRs were often the second option during the pre-snap reads or check down processes.  Put him in the #1 WR shoes, he is more likely to struggle. 

Some key questions I ask myself:

What is wrong with having 5 WRs who can catch the ball and no single person as the true #1?  Imagine a group of 5 or 6 WRs featuring well rounded, talented WRs.  Not a Rambo knife, a steak knife, and three butter knives--A Swiss Army Knife.  Let the #1 emerge and develop on the roster--

What would benefit Bryce more--a #1 WR or a stud #1 TE and a good WR with a good defense?

I understand the knee jerk reaction to give him weapons--but be smart about it. 

 

[bythenbrs]

22 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

 … but be smart about it. 

Pogo: “We have met the enemy… and he is us!”

[Day1PanthersFan]

The #1 goal should be defense right now, we would have won more games this season if we had anymore talent on that side of the ball 

Draft and FA should be defensive focused 

[mav1234]

35 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

I guess you could look at it this way:  There is a LOT invested in Bryce right now. Do you continue to make sure that his development is improving, or do you abandon that momentum and salvage the defense?  He is good, but he does NOT have that big name, big time WR.  Going to get a WR we can call a #1 is probably stupid right now.  Here is why:

Higgins and Godwin, the two top options in free agency, imo, are #2 WRs who got a lot of balls because Chase and Evans were the focus of the defense--I think the system made them better than they would be here--without a #1 to give them single coverages and no safety over the top.  THEY would suddenly be the #1, and their numbers would fall.  What would their salaries be based on?  Production in other cities.  It rarely works.  Most top WRs in free agency to go places with top QBs--we'd have to overpay the market then overpay the performance. 

Most if not all of the top free agent WRs were often the second option during the pre-snap reads or check down processes.  Put him in the #1 WR shoes, he is more likely to struggle. 

Some key questions I ask myself:

What is wrong with having 5 WRs who can catch the ball and no single person as the true #1?  Imagine a group of 5 or 6 WRs featuring well rounded, talented WRs.  Not a Rambo knife, a steak knife, and three butter knives--A Swiss Army Knife.  Let the #1 emerge and develop on the roster--

What would benefit Bryce more--a #1 WR or a stud #1 TE and a good WR with a good defense?

I understand the knee jerk reaction to give him weapons--but be smart about it. 

We absolutely need defense. I'm not saying don't go offense if the top player on our board when we draft is TMac, but our overall strategy must be to rebuild the D. Look at how Washington was able to rebuild in a single year... Now we need to.

[kass]

22 hours ago, outlaw4 said:

Probably deserves its own thread but if Bryce is starting to become the QB we expected him to be, then we need to draft receivers that works best for him. And since he gelled with Thielen from the start, that's telling me Bryce mainly needs guys who actually know how to play the fundamentals of the position. Run the right route. Catch a well placed ball. It's probably why Bryce and XL aren't meshing yet while he has done better with Coker; XL came in much more raw and inexperienced.

Best comparison would be Brady for all the seasons he didn't have superstar receivers. His targets were simply intelligent and reliable players. 

Yes, it's own thread. Before FA or Draft. 

22 hours ago, grimesgoat said:

I'd offer Keenan Allen a 2 year, $15 million contract to finish his career right here in his home state.  He is smart, reliable, and runs great routes.  I think he would be perfect for Bryce and would not break the bank.  Then we can use the draft for mostly defense (at least rounds 1-3).

Can't say I remember his play this year, but it would make sense and my argument is the other two posters whom (who, which?) I have quoted.

1 hour ago, MHS831 said:

I guess you could look at it this way:  There is a LOT invested in Bryce right now. Do you continue to make sure that his development is improving, or do you abandon that momentum and salvage the defense?  He is good, but he does NOT have that big name, big time WR.  Going to get a WR we can call a #1 is probably stupid right now.  Here is why:

Higgins and Godwin, the two top options in free agency, imo, are #2 WRs who got a lot of balls because Chase and Evans were the focus of the defense--I think the system made them better than they would be here--without a #1 to give them single coverages and no safety over the top.  THEY would suddenly be the #1, and their numbers would fall.  What would their salaries be based on?  Production in other cities.  It rarely works.  Most top WRs in free agency to go places with top QBs--we'd have to overpay the market then overpay the performance. 

Most if not all of the top free agent WRs were often the second option during the pre-snap reads or check down processes.  Put him in the #1 WR shoes, he is more likely to struggle. 

Some key questions I ask myself:

What is wrong with having 5 WRs who can catch the ball and no single person as the true #1?  Imagine a group of 5 or 6 WRs featuring well rounded, talented WRs.  Not a Rambo knife, a steak knife, and three butter knives--A Swiss Army Knife.  Let the #1 emerge and develop on the roster--

What would benefit Bryce more--a #1 WR or a stud #1 TE and a good WR with a good defense?

I understand the knee jerk reaction to give him weapons--but be smart about it. 

 

Interesting point. Sort of like this years Bills? Can't remember them having a standout receiver this year (1k+), when Diggs and Davis left. 

[CPcavedweller]

On 1/12/2025 at 10:10 PM, Hoenheim said:

"Number one goal " is kinda wild. Wouldn't fixing the defense be your number one goal? 

In 2002 the Panthers defense was one of the worst. In 2003 it was one of the best. 

We need to add some depth on the defensive line, and we need some aggression at the second level. Watching the Rams defense last night was insane. O'Connel couldn't adjust his game plan well enough to match, Darnold couldn't react quickly enough, and they couldn't run or throw.

I want to follow the Rams model, whatever it is. They were nasty. 

[heel31ok]

On 1/12/2025 at 10:10 PM, Hoenheim said:

"Number one goal " is kinda wild. Wouldn't fixing the defense be your number one goal? 

It doesn't matter we are in at least a 3 yr schedule.so pick your weakness of choice and fix it with bpa.

[PNW_PantherMan]

2 hours ago, CPcavedweller said:

I want to follow the Rams model, whatever it is. They were nasty. 

It involves trading away many draft choices 

[outlaw4]

5 hours ago, MHS831 said:

I guess you could look at it this way:  There is a LOT invested in Bryce right now. Do you continue to make sure that his development is improving, or do you abandon that momentum and salvage the defense?  He is good, but he does NOT have that big name, big time WR.  Going to get a WR we can call a #1 is probably stupid right now.  Here is why:

Higgins and Godwin, the two top options in free agency, imo, are #2 WRs who got a lot of balls because Chase and Evans were the focus of the defense--I think the system made them better than they would be here--without a #1 to give them single coverages and no safety over the top.  THEY would suddenly be the #1, and their numbers would fall.  What would their salaries be based on?  Production in other cities.  It rarely works.  Most top WRs in free agency to go places with top QBs--we'd have to overpay the market then overpay the performance. 

Most if not all of the top free agent WRs were often the second option during the pre-snap reads or check down processes.  Put him in the #1 WR shoes, he is more likely to struggle. 

Some key questions I ask myself:

What is wrong with having 5 WRs who can catch the ball and no single person as the true #1?  Imagine a group of 5 or 6 WRs featuring well rounded, talented WRs.  Not a Rambo knife, a steak knife, and three butter knives--A Swiss Army Knife.  Let the #1 emerge and develop on the roster--

What would benefit Bryce more--a #1 WR or a stud #1 TE and a good WR with a good defense?

I understand the knee jerk reaction to give him weapons--but be smart about it. 

 

A lot of jokes have been made when this team was saying Bryce was going to be like a point guard... but that Falcons game did give a vibe of a QB scoring 40+ points while spreading the ball around quite a bit. I'll give you that this was under a best case scenario, but I feel how we executed that game may be a proof of concept on how we should move forward. If anyone recalls when we had DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel, neither were true #1s but if we could get that level of targets now with Bryce instead of Teddy as QB, that could really get interesting.

Problem is that the closest comparable pairing on our roster is Thielen/Coker and one's going to call it quits sooner or later, and neither are as dynamic. It is possible XL/Sanders will look lot better next season while Coker can effectively take over Thielen's role. But that's still not good enough. I'm inclined to agree that the big FA WRs will want #1 money even though they're not even #1's on their current team, plus how the Diontae experiment went belly up makes me more assured we're going to be more negative on divas WRs.

So there's fanbase fantasy and what the team is likely to do. I'll give you my prediction as of now:

1. Bank on XL/Coker/Sanders getting better next season after getting tons of reps as rookies. I think Brooks was meant to be part of the equation as the back who is more involved with screens and swing passes but that got derailed.

2. FA Receivers: Honestly, the most realistic option... Darius Slayton. Probably similar or a little more expensive than Thielen. Reliable his entite career and rarely injured. Has speed. Excellent locker room guy. Could be a good #2. 

3. Use mid/late draft picks on a receiver/pass catching back/tight end. Emphasis on actually knowing how to play the position. There's far too many success stories of other teams finding stars in later rounds. We need to at least try to hit one.

[Basbear]

6 hours ago, MHS831 said:

I guess you could look at it this way:  There is a LOT invested in Bryce right now. Do you continue to make sure that his development is improving, or do you abandon that momentum and salvage the defense?  He is good, but he does NOT have that big name, big time WR.  Going to get a WR we can call a #1 is probably stupid right now.  Here is why:

Higgins and Godwin, the two top options in free agency, imo, are #2 WRs who got a lot of balls because Chase and Evans were the focus of the defense--I think the system made them better than they would be here--without a #1 to give them single coverages and no safety over the top.  THEY would suddenly be the #1, and their numbers would fall.  What would their salaries be based on?  Production in other cities.  It rarely works.  Most top WRs in free agency to go places with top QBs--we'd have to overpay the market then overpay the performance. 

Most if not all of the top free agent WRs were often the second option during the pre-snap reads or check down processes.  Put him in the #1 WR shoes, he is more likely to struggle. 

Some key questions I ask myself:

What is wrong with having 5 WRs who can catch the ball and no single person as the true #1?  Imagine a group of 5 or 6 WRs featuring well rounded, talented WRs.  Not a Rambo knife, a steak knife, and three butter knives--A Swiss Army Knife.  Let the #1 emerge and develop on the roster--

What would benefit Bryce more--a #1 WR or a stud #1 TE and a good WR with a good defense?

I understand the knee jerk reaction to give him weapons--but be smart about it. 

 

 

I think the main goal is adding talent. O,D, depth, and ST all of it. 

Personally I believe the Panthers must use either the 1st or 2nd round pick on a pass catching weapon. Then you can use the remaining picks on D ala 2020. 

No One wants to say it, fans, folks in sales, Dan, Dave, this is going to longer than the up coming draft. Just lack of talent and depth, it shows. 

BY benefits no matter if the defense improves or he gets another legit weapon. Just make the overall team better and deeper. Dan has 9 picks and he did great this past UDFAs(three player have a good chance to have real roles in 25). I think in 2026 there's 160 million in cap space as well, Id pass on using it this year like they have done in past years. This FA class is buns. 

Even though its rarely used, Dan isn't scared to make a trade. He made a couple draft trades, 2xdionte Johnson, and Michael Jackson.