Remember when...

[mav1234]

It was, and it sounded to many of us like Smith would leave, but I think the reality was he had a lot going on in his life with an illness with his wife, the team losing, feeling totally under-utilized...

I think Cam helped but I honestly doubt Smith leaves without him, assuming we still hire Chud. That's not to say Smith would have the same kind of season he had without Cam, but I think Smith can be happy without having those kind of numbers as long as h e is involved.

edit: also Tom Sorensen's articles annoy me. but that's neither here nor there :P

[jb_online]

I was really pessimistic about the Panthers' future at that point and reading his article was like gas on the fire... I was totally convinced that Smith was gone, the franchise will suck forever, blah blah blah. It just fed my fear.

But hey, the Bobcats won! lol

[Herbert The Love Bug]

darn I saw the title and was hoping it would be the video of that Alan Jackson song. Poot

[panthers55]

Smith did ask to be traded and they shopped him in the offseason. Given the lockout they apparently couldn't get much value for him so I speculate that Rivera and Chud talked with him and asked him to give the offense a chance. Richardson told him that they were going to fix the offense and when they brought in Shockey, drafted Newton and traded for Olsen, I think he believed them. His workouts with Newton went well and he got excited about coming back.

I think his family was a part of it but I think that he and his wife are from the West Coast and if he could have gone to SD or Oakland, his family would have been fine moving.

Do I have absolute proof? No. But I still believe it to be so.

[The Saw]

At this point, I think the 2011 class will be better than the 2012 class.

You got RG3 and Luck.

Newton, Ponder, Locker, and Dalton all look to be quality QB's.

Gabbert, well nobody knows what he can do yet, 2012 will show that.

But, I'm gonna say in the long run 2011 class> 2012 Class.

[mav1234]

Smith did ask to be traded and they shopped him in the offseason. Given the lockout they apparently couldn't get much value for him so I speculate that Rivera and Chud talked with him and asked him to give the offense a chance. Richardson told him that they were going to fix the offense and when they brought in Shockey, drafted Newton and traded for Olsen, I think he believed them. His workouts with Newton went well and he got excited about coming back.

I think his family was a part of it but I think that he and his wife are from the West Coast and if he could have gone to SD or Oakland, his family would have been fine moving.

Do I have absolute proof? No. But I still believe it to be so.

There was some complexity here we didn't know about much with his wife being ill etc. I do agree that I think that when we made it clear we were changing the offense, that was a major reason Smith stayed... but I also think that he became aware the Panthers couldn't get anything good for him and they didn't want to trade him if he was willing to play here.

[ed bell]

There was some complexity here we didn't know about much with his wife being ill etc. I do agree that I think that when we made it clear we were changing the offense, that was a major reason Smith stayed... but I also think that he became aware the Panthers couldn't get anything good for him and they didn't want to trade him if he was willing to play here.

His stock was way down before this year for sure. I bet if he was shopped in this off-season it would be a completely different ballgame. Good thing is, he isn't going anywhere now. I think he retires a Panther.

I really hate the fact that he became so frustrated, but he's a competitive guy. Honestly, he could become a devastating slot receiver as he enters the last third of his career. With a top tier replacement for him in a year or two, who knows what could happen?

[Mr. Scot]

Honestly? We'd probably get either Luck or RGIII assuming the injuries happened as they did.

Who knows really. I'm glad we took Cam but I don't really see this QB class as being tremendously week. I guess 2011 wasn't either though, haha.

Yep. Works either way honestly, seeing as we wound up with a losing record anyway.

Had we won more games, it would have meant we were a better team than this year's product turned out to be, and equally hopeful for the future.

Had we won fewer games, we'd have been in pretty good position to get one of the top QB prospects in the next draft.

It's a wash, either way.

That said, I'm happy things turned out as they did. The QB spot is settled.

The question that gets asked, of course: Could one of next year's guys turn out to be a better prospect than Newton?

The answer: Sure they could...

But so what if they are?

Not being in position to get a great player only hurts if you don't already have a great player. To put it in real terms, you don't whine about not having Tom Brady if you've got Aaron Rodgers.

So even if someone does come in next year and break Cam's rookie records, I won't have any regrets. Good for them. Of course, the only record that really matters is wins and losses, so as long as that improves next year, I'll be smiling :D

[teeray]

Well then we would have then waited until 2013 to draft a QB.

Then 2015. Then 2016. Then....

[Mr. Scot]

Well then we would have then waited until 2013 to draft a QB.

Then 2015. Then 2016. Then....

Seriously doubt it.

If they hadn't drafted this year, no way I could have seen them not taking a QB in the next draft. Last year's FA class offered nothing but stopgaps. And it was pretty clear they were ready for a young guy (heck, they took two in 2010).

Given that they wanted a QB of the future ASAP, about the only rationale they could have used for not taking a guy last year would have been that Clausen deserved another chance. Had we gone that route - even with vet insurance - pretty likely we'd be back in position to draft high again.

The more interesting "what if" scenario for me is this: What if Andrew Luck had come out last year? Little doubt he'd have been the top pick, but then where does Newton end up? With what coaching staff? And what would the results have been? For that matter, what would the results have been here?

The guys at Marvel Comics could have a field day with that one.

[Chimera]

I thought this was going to be a thread about obscure moments in Panther history.... like that DE (Pittman?) whose career came to a dead stop after a nasty block.