NFL execs on the Panthers offseason

[kungfoodude]

12 hours ago, Camp Fodder said:

But yet some teams can go from bottom 5 to a playoff team in one season 

I am not sure I have ever seen a team as bad as ours ever do that. 

Keep in mind this is the second worst roster in franchise history, only eclipsed by the 2024 roster. 

Make no mistake, this is digging out of our rock bottom. Or it better be the rock bottom.

[kungfoodude]

12 hours ago, CanadianCat said:

Unless its a complete disaster this coming year, like coaching incompetence, I think Dave and and Dan get a 3rd year together.

I suspect that Tepper is going to be overly patient with the staff.

That said, while I can see us only winning 6-9 games this year I see those games being played very differently this year. Last year was us getting beat up on. I think this year we play competitive ball and see another year of growth in our young players like Young, XL, Sanders

I dont expect playoffs this year, but I expect to see major steps forward on both sides of the ball.  

 

I would say PRE-DRAFT that 3-7 games is a reasonable range of expectations for wins.

As you say, if we can see some steps forward, even if only moderate, that will be the sign this is at least moving in the correct direction.

I also think the group will get a little more rope. Say, Rhule-ish. By season three, I think the seats will be pretty hot, however. We have to produce in 2026 or I think Tepper tears it apart again.

[kungfoodude]

11 hours ago, Navy_football said:

I really don't think they're THAT far away now. They can take a big step this season IF everyone stays relatively healthy. Need contributions from 3 rookies. FS, WR and Edge. Not all pro level play, but just solid NFL play. No friggin 2-3 year project players!

I think we are sadly very far away. It's a team still largely comprised of PS to 2nd string level players. You don't fix that quickly and, truthfully, an attempt to fix it quickly is likely to do more harm than good.

You can see based on the general mid-20's age range of a lot of our signings that we are not attempting the Rhule/Fitterer era "one or two players away" horseshit that ended up digging us this massive hole.

[kungfoodude]

31 minutes ago, jfra78 said:

I think i would be happy with 7 wins personally, at least I would know we going in the right direction

TBH, I would be absolutely floored with a 7 win season. That sounds sarcastic but I do believe that is a very, very good result(there is some nuance, obviously). 

If we look moderately competent and also show improments on offense and defense, I think we all need to be happy as fans. 

I still think a lot of our fanbase is firmly head in the sand about how terrible this roster is/was. This is not a small undertaking. We need to asjust expectations accordingly or there will be much needless wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[Navy_football]

28 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I think we are sadly very far away. It's a team still largely comprised of PS to 2nd string level players. You don't fix that quickly and, truthfully, an attempt to fix it quickly is likely to do more harm than good.

You can see based on the general mid-20's age range of a lot of our signings that we are not attempting the Rhule/Fitterer era "one or two players away" horseshit that ended up digging us this massive hole.

Gotta keep the faith. They were a at least a& competitive team at the end of last season. The defense has gotten much better. At least on paper. And the offense is young enough that they'll get better naturally via experience. 

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Navy_football said:

Gotta keep the faith. They were a at least a& competitive team at the end of last season. The defense has gotten much better. At least on paper. And the offense is young enough that they'll get better naturally via experience. 

I don't have much in the way of faith, to be honest. But.....I am glad to see they are operating at least like a real NFL franchise again. Low bar, yes, but we have been operating like a fuging minor league baseball team for most of Tepper's reign. 

[Navy_football]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

I don't have much in the way of faith, to be honest. But.....I am glad to see they are operating at least like a real NFL franchise again. Low bar, yes, but we have been operating like a fuging minor league baseball team for most of Tepper's reign. 

Yeah I don't have much faith in Tepper right now either. But it looks like he's allowing the football guys to actually run the team. I do have faith in Canales and Morgan though. Dan's just gotta stay from the injured and project draft picks.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Navy_football said:

Yeah I don't have much faith in Tepper right now either. But it looks like he's allowing the football guys to actually run the team. I do have faith in Canales and Morgan though. Dan's just gotta stay from the injured and project draft picks.

Dan I am generally disappointed in overall. I think he is an averagish NFL pro personnel guy but leans heavily Fitterer in terms of college prospects.

But, even IF he fails here, I am gonna always love him as a player. I hope our fanbase can be big enough to separate him the GM vs. him the Panthers great. 

That's tough for the Huddle as the place that shamefully bullied him as a player when he was here.

[Navy_football]

5 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

Dan I am generally disappointed in overall. I think he is an averagish NFL pro personnel guy but leans heavily Fitterer in terms of college prospects.

But, even IF he fails here, I am gonna always love him as a player. I hope our fanbase can be big enough to separate him the GM vs. him the Panthers great. 

That's tough for the Huddle as the place that shamefully bullied him as a player when he was here.

Morgan was a friggin player! A true Middle linebacker. 

I'm not overly impressed with his first draft. But I love his free agencies. He's picking good players and giving contracts that don't handicap the team. Also ain't afraid to cut dead weight or disgruntled players. The only questionable move was maybe not getting more for Burns. But I understand that he just wanted to move on without the headache and the distractions once he realized they weren't gonna agree on a contract. They're big on locker room culture. 

[kungfoodude]

16 minutes ago, Navy_football said:

Morgan was a friggin player! A true Middle linebacker. 

I'm not overly impressed with his first draft. But I love his free agencies. He's picking good players and giving contracts that don't handicap the team. Also ain't afraid to cut dead weight or disgruntled players. The only questionable move was maybe not getting more for Burns. But I understand that he just wanted to move on without the headache and the distractions once he realized they weren't gonna agree on a contract. They're big on locker room culture. 

Oh yeah, he will always be a beloved player in my eyes.

I don't love his free agency moves overall but I think he makes calculated moves that are possible to pivot away from if we don't hit, which is honestly potentially the first guy at GM we have ever had that consistently does that. That's huge because even when his moves stumble we can recover. 

The Burns deal I think was cemented when Fitterer royally fuged that up. Dan's hands were ultimately tied by market forces and also the info that leaked. He was set up to fail in that situation.

Edited yesterday at 04:23 AM by kungfoodude

[Fox007]

On 4/3/2025 at 12:10 PM, Mr. Scot said:

From Mike Sando in The Athletic:

Carolina Panthers
Added: $53.4M (8th) | Lost: $14.9M (29th) | Differential: $38.5M (5th)

With quarterback Bryce Young making strides in 2024 while the Panthers’ defense plummeted 10 spots to No. 32 in EPA per play, Carolina signed four defensive free agents from other teams to deals worth at least $7 million per year. That tied New England for the most by any team in free agency this offseason (Buffalo was third with three).

“They got a little better, but they are still working from a deficit,” an exec said. “They were a three-year reset from last year, so this is just year two for them.”

Carolina, like Arizona, lost out on Eagles defensive lineman Williams when New England outbid everyone, signing him to a deal worth $26 million per year. The Panthers presumably wanted to stay below the $24 million average for their own defensive lineman, Derrick Brown, and the $25 million figure for Jaycee Horn, the cornerback Carolina recently extended.

The Panthers instead bolstered their defensive front with Tershawn Wharton ($15 million APY) and Bobby Brown ($7 million APY), whose combined APY was $22 million.

“It was easier for New England to do that with Milton Williams than it would have been for Carolina,” another exec said. “Wharton is smaller than Williams but had similar production.”

Link (subscription required)

We're always 3 years away!

[Shotgun]

3 hours ago, Fox007 said:

We're always 3 years away!

  Drafting RBs in wheelchairs wont speed things up? lol

[Basbear]

4 hours ago, Shotgun said:

  Drafting RBs in wheelchairs wont speed things up? lol

 

I think remember doing mock Sims for Carolina as many others, I don't think any of picked RBs in any rounds.... I honestly had the same "my team let me down" feels with the BY pick........just WHY all the holes and one of the spots were they have depth AND the RB market is at the lowest point in NFL history..... Just a 

 

Per normal the huddle was for all for Zach Frazier, not me I wanted Marshawn Kneeland. Plus I wanted to REMAIN AT whatever LA pick and NOT TRADE UP FOR A ACL injuried RB. My friend was right, Dan did draft like he was still playing in his era..... ugh, Brandt and Dan cannot have that same problem this year......its beginning year 2 of a full 3 year rebuild..... for fugs sake, please find some talent and depth in later rounds....