So, can we finally start looking forward to Free Agency every year now?

[Rags]

Greg jennings please. Sure, he is 29 but he will still produce

When he's healthy, that is.

It's gonna take a lot of money (which we don't have) to bring him here, and he's hurt too often to do that.

[PanthersAlv]

Who was the last "Big Name" FA we picked up?

I mean, the last "Big Name" I recall was prolly Shockey... and then before that?? Was it Keyshawn Johnson?

I guess it depends on what your idea of a "big name" is... I guess I'm looking at more a "household name" kinda guy...

[csx]

And I love posters that mock those that actually take the time to educate themselves on things like salaries and the cap.

And I love encihiladas.

[Argus Plexus]

It won't take that long for the new GM to take care of the cap situation. Once we're out of the woods on that, then I'm sure free agency will be more active than it has been for the past decade.

[Keith Moons Liver]

It will be years before we have enough money to hire any good free agents.

[rayzor]

It won't take that long for the new GM to take care of the cap situation. Once we're out of the woods on that, then I'm sure free agency will be more active than it has been for the past decade.

it depends on if the GM has a sense of urgency around him in building the team.

with JR having so few years left (i'm assuming) and the losing records of the past few years i have a feeling that the new GM will be pushed to try and build a team that can win now and down the road.

and you have to know that considering the relationship that hurney and richardson has had, the comments that the panthers lockerroom has too few leaders in the lockerroom will be taken seriously and they will do what they can to get leaders back in there and that pretty much means getting more vets on the team.

hurney had too narrow-minded an approach to team building and took too much pride in having so many players on the team...so many starters even that were panther draft picks. he pointed to that as evidence of being successful.

hurney (and probably JR) stressed loyalty to the club by giving big bucks to homebred players. that's admirable and all, having so much loyalty to your employees, but it chooses loyalty to employees over loyalty to your customers, the fans.

as a business, the number one goal is not to make your employees happy, it's to make your customers happy. i think hurney forgot that...or never realized that. it sounds harsh, but employees/players are essentially just commodities and tools used to reach that goal of making customers happy. some will say that the number one goal is to make shareholders happy, but even then it all comes down to the customers. if the customers aren't happy and aren't buying what you're selling then the shareholders aren't going to be happy either.

at any rate...the team doesn't have the luxury of taking a long view the way it has been. it can't be solely focused on building a team for the future the way it has been the last couple years.

hurney let the team get too old under fox, and now he's made the team too young. the new GM has to make this team balanced between the two and he has to make it successful soon or he'll be out the door as well.

i've got this sick feeling in my stomach (well, not really that serious to me) that there is going to be a lot of turnover in the next couple years and coaches, players, and the GM are going to be on a much tighter leash until the team is built to win and brings the wins.

[Dex]

^ tl;dr version?

[rayzor]

^ tl;dr version?

lol...sorry.

my brain is all over the place this morning.

the new GM doesn't/may not have the luxury of focusing on just the draft and may be pressured to put a winning team together sooner rather than later. that means utilizing FA and even trades to put together a team that can win now.

JR getting nearing the end and a very unhappy fanbase and PSL owners in a time that the team is wanting to renovate the stadium may force the team to focus on winning now and use whatever means/resources are necessary to do it.

i expect we'll be very active and there will also be a lot of turnover. i don't expect it will take years to make this team competitive again..or at least the pressure will be on the GM to make it happen or else his head will roll.

[Argus Plexus]

it depends on if the GM has a sense of urgency around him in building the team.

with JR having so few years left (i'm assuming) and the losing records of the past few years i have a feeling that the new GM will be pushed to try and build a team that can win now and down the road.

and you have to know that considering the relationship that hurney and richardson has had, the comments that the panthers lockerroom has too few leaders in the lockerroom will be taken seriously and they will do what they can to get leaders back in there and that pretty much means getting more vets on the team.

hurney had too narrow-minded an approach to team building and took too much pride in having so many players on the team...so many starters even that were panther draft picks. he pointed to that as evidence of being successful.

hurney (and probably JR) stressed loyalty to the club by giving big bucks to homebred players. that's admirable and all, having so much loyalty to your employees, but it chooses loyalty to employees over loyalty to your customers, the fans.

as a business, the number one goal is not to make your employees happy, it's to make your customers happy. i think hurney forgot that...or never realized that. it sounds harsh, but employees/players are essentially just commodities and tools used to reach that goal of making customers happy. some will say that the number one goal is to make shareholders happy, but even then it all comes down to the customers. if the customers aren't happy and aren't buying what you're selling then the shareholders aren't going to be happy either.

at any rate...the team doesn't have the luxury of taking a long view the way it has been. it can't be solely focused on building a team for the future the way it has been the last couple years.

hurney let the team get too old under fox, and now he's made the team too young. the new GM has to make this team balanced between the two and he has to make it successful soon or he'll be out the door as well.

i've got this sick feeling in my stomach (well, not really that serious to me) that there is going to be a lot of turnover in the next couple years and coaches, players, and the GM are going to be on a much tighter leash until the team is built to win and brings the wins.

100% agreed.

[Mr. Scot]

It will be years before we have enough money to hire any good free agents.

Not necessarily.

A single "gut the roster" season (ala 2010) would do the trick.

If you don't want to sacrifice a full season, then it'd likely take two seasons at most.

Me, I'd prefer the one year plan.

[Snake]

if we have a GM who values FA more than hurney...

if we have GM who can get this team out of the contractual messes and cap crap hurney's plan got us on...

maybe.

even then, though, JR isn't a fan of going after high profile/big dollar FAs because he hasn't really seen it be that effective in the past.

the new GM may be more active than hurney as cap allows, but don't expect us to go after those big names anymore than we have before.

I really do agree with the Big Cat on that. Name a FA last year that got paid that made a huge impact on a team. Still It does not mean we should ignore FA totally and bring in scrubs.

[Icege]

Are folks really citing the cap as an issue before the season's midway point, knowing full and well that they do the same thing every season but we somehow get under the cap just fine?

[Marguide]

Are folks really citing the cap as an issue before the season's midway point, knowing full and well that they do the same thing every season but we somehow get under the cap just fine?

Of course we're going to get under the cap, just like every other team. Our situation is a bit tougher than most because we may have to make some painful choices if we want to shake up the roster and give us future flexibility.