REPORT: Panthers going after SAF Jevon Holland

[Davidson Deac II]

30 minutes ago, Stingray3030 said:

That would be 22%, not half - there are 2 safeties.  14 make more than $10M a year which is only 14 out of 64.  Icege posted a screenshot.

But I think you are right - the market for a top 25-yr old safety is $15-20M a year.  My question is more "is he really a top 5 safety?"  He had a great year, PFF ranked him 6th as a safety last year, but is that enough to pay him top 3 money?  Not sure I could justify more than $15M....and certainly not a high % of guaranteed money.

Yeah, I said that before morning coffee.  You are correct.  

My point was though that the market for safeties is higher than it use to be.  And will soon go higher.  I would gladly see the team pay more than 10 million for Jesse Bates.  

Whether this fellow is worth it, I have no idea.  

[MHS831]

These guys would probably cost much less:

[kungfoodude]

4 hours ago, Icege said:

Bring him to Sir Purr

Some of y'all gotta update your budget spreadsheets. $10M for a safety is not as insane as folks want it to sound:

Keep in mind, these numbers were BEFORE the recent salary cap increase. As the cap increases, so does pay on average.

Of course, to be fair, Holland's best season was his second one. His most recent two weren't very good, but in 2023 he missed five games (x1 concussion, x4 sprained MCL) and he then missed two games in 2024 (broken left hand).

Might be some wiggle room in negotiations...

I think the issue is that with not a ton of cap space and arguably the most roster holes in the entire NFL, we have to be fairly selective about overpaying for guys.

I would say overpaying at safety for a guy that has an above average chance of underperforming is not a great idea without a very clear plan on overhauling the front 7.

Generally you do want to build from the inside out on the defense or offense. Or at least that is my preference, anyway.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Lots of smoke with us to Holland