And so it begins...

[Samuel L. Jackson]

This could quite possibly be the most painful offseason we have ever had, but it doesn't have to be...

Now that the pain from that pathetic excuse for a Panthers playoff game has gone away a little bit, I have reflected a little on the past and the future of the Panthers organization...

Jake

Let's start off with Jake Delhomme... We made Jake Delhomme who he is, to be completely honest... Well, to be more accurate, Steve Smith, Marty Hurney and John Fox made Jake who he is. Sure, Jake has his own things that make him unique, but if it wasn't for Smith, Hurney and Fox, Jake Delhomme might have never had a true shot in this league.

If you are looking for someone to bring fire and willpower to the huddle, then Delhomme is perfect. If you are looking for a quarterback that can make plays instead of having teammates make plays for him, then well, not so much.

I have never been a Delhomme lover, but I have never hated him too much either. He does just enough to keep my love/hate balanced.

That said, I think we should hush this talk about cutting Jake. Let's face it, it would be silly. We would immediately be plunged into Jeff Lewis, Vinny Testaverde, Rodney Peete territory. At least with Delhomme, we know what we have. There are way bigger fish to fry at this point in time. Sure, Jake had the worst game of his career, and it was mostly his fault, but give the Cardinals a little credit.

Peppers and Gross

This will be the situation that hurts me most.

I think the thought of Julius Peppers not being a career Panther is a travesty. To be completely honest, I would make Peppers the highest paid defensive lineman in the league if that is what it took to keep him.

For all of you saying that his play doesn't warrant it.. you are crazy.

Ask any offensive player in the league who the best defensive lineman is, and I guarantee you Peppers will be mentioned by the majority... His stats may not indicate it, and you may not see it when you are watching, but the things he does benefits our defense more than anyone else on that side of the ball.

Pay the man what he is worth, and promise him you will do all you can to keep this team competitive...

Jordan Gross is a similar situation. In his case though, I feel he is a little over glorified by those around him. Our offensive line did a really good job this year, and that includes when subs had to come in due to injury.

I wouldn't be overly disappointed if Gross was allowed to walk, but if we are going to let him go, we better have a good backup plan (which might be moving Otah to LT and plugging someone else in at RT).

We can keep both of these guys one way or the other, and to keep some consistency, I think we should.

At the very least, sign one (preferable Pep) and franchise tag the other, so that we would at least get a 1st round draft pick should someone choose to take them away from us.

Front Office

So long, Mike Trgovac. Please take Tim Lewis with you...

John Fox needs to keep his philosophy of having a good defense, but the "bend don't break" mentality needs to be replaced with "we will impose our will on you until you make us do otherwise."

I think Fox/Hurney will and should both stick, for now. We had a good season, regardless of how we finished. That isn't to say that if the regular season success doesn't evolve into playoff success next year, both won't be looking for jobs...

Misc.

I don't see the following people as Panthers next season of one reason or another:

Ken Lucas

D.J. Hackett

Jeremy Bridges

Landon Johnson

Adam Seward

I'll start looking at the Draft and Free Agency in a month or so... I just don't want anything to do with football right now, honestly...

[CLTPanther]

The worst part of all of this is that this was our most opportunistic year for getting back to the SB. Next years schedule isn't looking so good right now..

[frash.exe]

Only reason we're so afraid to replace Jake is because all we've had to compare him with was an aging ineffective quarterback (Peete), a completely inept passer who went 2-17 in his football career (Weinke), an effeminate signal caller who wore stupid gloves and had an awkward throwing motion (Carr), a jurassic signal caller (Testaverde), and an undrafted QB picked up off waivers who actually did a better job managing the game than the aforementioned (Moore).

so yea when you compare Delhomme to these guys, no poo he's the best option we've had. If this coaching staff took QBing halfway serious, he'd have some competition.

[Kevin Greene]

So long, Mike Trgovac. Please take Tim Lewis with you...

John Fox needs to keep his philosophy of having a good defense, but the "bend don't break" mentality needs to be replaced with "we will impose our will on you until you make us do otherwise."

We need to show Trgo the door immediately. If Fox has to go in order for that to happen, so be it. Once you have the new DC in place discuss Pep with him, make a judgement if you think the new scheme with Pep will be worth the huge $ involved. Once that's sorted out, move on.

[Sloth]

Only reason we're so afraid to replace Jake is because all we've had to compare him with was an aging ineffective quarterback (Peete), a completely inept passer who went 2-17 in his football career (Weinke), an effeminate signal caller who wore stupid gloves and had an awkward throwing motion (Carr), a jurassic signal caller (Testaverde), and an undrafted QB picked up off waivers who actually did a better job managing the game than the aforementioned (Moore).

so yea when you compare Delhomme to these guys, no sh*t he's the best option we've had. If this coaching staff took QBing halfway serious, he'd have some competition.

I love this post so much.

Thank you.

[Proudiddy]

Great post Samuel L. I enjoy the thoughtful reflections, as it took me a few days to feel it all out... Your section about the defense is right on.

All I want to ask though is... What happened to your fire? What happened to all the "Mother F*ckers"?

[engine9]

Only reason we're so afraid to replace Jake is because all we've had to compare him with was an aging ineffective quarterback (Peete), a completely inept passer who went 2-17 in his football career (Weinke), an effeminate signal caller who wore stupid gloves and had an awkward throwing motion (Carr), a jurassic signal caller (Testaverde), and an undrafted QB picked up off waivers who actually did a better job managing the game than the aforementioned (Moore).

so yea when you compare Delhomme to these guys, no sh*t he's the best option we've had. If this coaching staff took QBing halfway serious, he'd have some competition.

Incredibly well stated.

[Proudiddy]

Dameyune Craig = GOAT

[Debil]

This could quite possibly be the most painful offseason we have ever had, but it doesn't have to be...

Now that the pain from that pathetic excuse for a Panthers playoff game has gone away a little bit, I have reflected a little on the past and the future of the Panthers organization...

Jake

Let's start off with Jake Delhomme... We made Jake Delhomme who he is, to be completely honest... Well, to be more accurate, Steve Smith, Marty Hurney and John Fox made Jake who he is. Sure, Jake has his own things that make him unique, but if it wasn't for Smith, Hurney and Fox, Jake Delhomme might have never had a true shot in this league.

If you are looking for someone to bring fire and willpower to the huddle, then Delhomme is perfect. If you are looking for a quarterback that can make plays instead of having teammates make plays for him, then well, not so much.

I have never been a Delhomme lover, but I have never hated him too much either. He does just enough to keep my love/hate balanced.

That said, I think we should hush this talk about cutting Jake. Let's face it, it would be silly. We would immediately be plunged into Jeff Lewis, Vinny Testaverde, Rodney Peete territory. At least with Delhomme, we know what we have. There are way bigger fish to fry at this point in time. Sure, Jake had the worst game of his career, and it was mostly his fault, but give the Cardinals a little credit.

Peppers and Gross

This will be the situation that hurts me most.

I think the thought of Julius Peppers not being a career Panther is a travesty. To be completely honest, I would make Peppers the highest paid defensive lineman in the league if that is what it took to keep him.

For all of you saying that his play doesn't warrant it.. you are crazy.

Ask any offensive player in the league who the best defensive lineman is, and I guarantee you Peppers will be mentioned by the majority... His stats may not indicate it, and you may not see it when you are watching, but the things he does benefits our defense more than anyone else on that side of the ball.

Pay the man what he is worth, and promise him you will do all you can to keep this team competitive...

Jordan Gross is a similar situation. In his case though, I feel he is a little over glorified by those around him. Our offensive line did a really good job this year, and that includes when subs had to come in due to injury.

I wouldn't be overly disappointed if Gross was allowed to walk, but if we are going to let him go, we better have a good backup plan (which might be moving Otah to LT and plugging someone else in at RT).

We can keep both of these guys one way or the other, and to keep some consistency, I think we should.

At the very least, sign one (preferable Pep) and franchise tag the other, so that we would at least get a 1st round draft pick should someone choose to take them away from us.

Front Office

So long, Mike Trgovac. Please take Tim Lewis with you...

John Fox needs to keep his philosophy of having a good defense, but the "bend don't break" mentality needs to be replaced with "we will impose our will on you until you make us do otherwise."

I think Fox/Hurney will and should both stick, for now. We had a good season, regardless of how we finished. That isn't to say that if the regular season success doesn't evolve into playoff success next year, both won't be looking for jobs...

Misc.

I don't see the following people as Panthers next season of one reason or another:

Ken Lucas

D.J. Hackett

Jeremy Bridges

Landon Johnson

Adam Seward

I'll start looking at the Draft and Free Agency in a month or so... I just don't want anything to do with football right now, honestly...

Only reason we're so afraid to replace Jake is because all we've had to compare him with was an aging ineffective quarterback (Peete), a completely inept passer who went 2-17 in his football career (Weinke), an effeminate signal caller who wore stupid gloves and had an awkward throwing motion (Carr), a jurassic signal caller (Testaverde), and an undrafted QB picked up off waivers who actually did a better job managing the game than the aforementioned (Moore).

so yea when you compare Delhomme to these guys, no sh*t he's the best option we've had. If this coaching staff took QBing halfway serious, he'd have some competition.

Right on da money

[SKULL]

Only reason we're so afraid to replace Jake is because all we've had to compare him with was an aging ineffective quarterback (Peete), a completely inept passer who went 2-17 in his football career (Weinke), an effeminate signal caller who wore stupid gloves and had an awkward throwing motion (Carr), a jurassic signal caller (Testaverde), and an undrafted QB picked up off waivers who actually did a better job managing the game than the aforementioned (Moore).

so yea when you compare Delhomme to these guys, no sh*t he's the best option we've had. If this coaching staff took QBing halfway serious, he'd have some competition.

Agreed

Not hard to be the best against those QB's

[Samuel L. Jackson]

Don't get me wrong.. I don't want Jake gone.. but if it happens, it happens..

Now, I didn't say that we should continue to start him unchallenged either...

As for me losing my fire... lol.. Gimme some time bro.. It's like I've had a death in the family after that loss or something...

(plus, I am at work )

[frash.exe]

To those of you who quoted me, thanks for the kudos.

I swear I can't think of a franchise that has put less of an effort in addressing QB play than this team has. Jake's success is more of a freak occurence than anything else, that from the talent pool which we look for QBs, to find a guy like that is like playing the lottery. Do I think another one just as good can be found the same way? NOT.