Panthers Interested In Eric Decker and Hakeem Nicks

[L-TownCat]

Smitty sure did run by Frisco's fastest CB for a touchdown in the playoffs last year. I agree he has lost a step with age, but he still has it and is still better than Decker. Decker being a number one receiver is a joke. He's a product of the system, the QB, and the surplus of weapons on the Denver offense.

But he had a bad knee and he's old and... Wait, what was the question?

[Gin and Juice]

Sidney Rice comes home 15hr before start of FA......does this mean something other than he came home?

[carolina-chuck]

Rice and Nicks. We good.

[El Chingon]

Rice and Nicks. We good.

nah

[top dawg]

You do realize this year our offensive philosophy changed right? we went from being a verticle passing offense to a run first, ball control offense coached by Mike Shula. I argue that Smith's decline in production this year is because of the offensive system he played in. Smitty still has big play potential, but he can't do it alone anymore. He needs help. If you think Eric Decker is going to come in here and be a #1 receiver you are seriously mistaken. He was the 4th best option on his team led by the greatest QB this game has ever seen. They had 4 receivers over a thousand yards. Decker is good, but he is not a number one. He is a role player. Nicks just can't stay healthy but Nicks is the better receiver out of the two. If I had to pick one it would be Nicks. Then draft a receiver in the 1st or 2nd, resign Ginn and keep Smitty. Hopefully Smitty will restructure.

 

Dude, I agree that Decker is not a number 1 in any shape, fashion or form.  I hate to think about Decker trying to carry the load. I really do. But if you or anyone keeps saying that he was the fourth option in Denver, I am going to pull all my hair out.  

 

Decker was the second option in Denver. The second. His receiving yards bare that fact. His receptions bare that fact. His receiving average even bares that fact (yeah, he runs good routes), and perhaps more importantly his TDs bare that fact.  

 

Eric Decker is a solid WR2, and that's why he is going to get paid in a number of days.  Now will he do the same thing as a number 1 option that defenses game plan for? I'll believe it when I see it.  But will he continue to be a great target provided someone else is drawing the attention? Chances are that he will.  That being the case, I still ain't paying a WR2 WR1 money.

[top dawg]

Rice and Nicks. We good.

 

 

nah

 

I can't say that we'd be good definitively because of both their injury histories, but on paper and the field they would both be a helluva lot better to look at than what we got now.  Provided that they could both stay on the field and show the flashes of greatness that we've seen in the past on a more consistent basis, we'd be going to the Super Bowl.  

 

But, then again, we may be lucky if one could stay on the field...at a time. 

 

The thought is very intriguing at the least.

[KendrickPanther]

Decker I would be ok with but I feel like he will get more money than he is worth.

[MadHatter]

I would be all for signing Decker just so his incredibly hot wife would be found out and about in Charlotte.

[Ace_Aladdin]

I would sign Decker or Nicks if we had the cap space like Oakland but our hands are limited. If I was a GM my philosophy would be to sign key FA that fills in needed position on the roster, and make the Carolina Panthers a more complete team on both side of the balls.

 

 

Free Agency: I'm guesstimating around 15 million of cap space after Hardy deal, CJ  & Olsen restructure, & cut Godfrey.

 

LT| Anthony Collins  WR| Ted GInn    FS| Mike Mitchell    CB| Captain Munnerlyn  CB| Veteran FA

 

 

DRAFT:

 

1st- WR| Kelvin Benjamin

2nd- RG| Gabe Jackson

3rd- RT| Jake Mewhort

4th- WR| Brandon Coleman

5th- CB| Deion Belue

6th- WR| Kevin Norwood

7th- TE| Marcel Jensen

 

OFFENSE:

 

QB- Cam / Anderson

 

OL-   LT - Collins |  LG - Amini | C - Kalil | RG - Jackson | RT - Mewhort

 

RB- Stewart | Williams | Barner

 

FB- Tolbert | Zordich

 

WR- Benjamin | Smith | Ginn | Coleman | Norwood 

 

TE- Olsen | Williams | Jensen

 

 

 

DEFENSE: Base 4-3

 

DL-  L-DE: Hardy | UT - Short | NT - Star | R-DE: Johnson 

 

LB- OLB - Klein | MLB - Kuechly | OLB - Davis

 

CB- White | Belue | Captain | FA

 

S-   Mitchell | Lester

 

[Kuech the Sneak]

Nicks and jacoby jones, then a receiver in the draft

[N0 LyF3 ScRuB]

Anyone saying Decker is a #4 option in Denver is retarded. That being said, his balls shrink in big moments. We don't need him to carry the load though.

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

Either one or both would be tremendous.

[neverlosethefeeling]

You do realize this year our offensive philosophy changed right? we went from being a verticle passing offense to a run first, ball control offense coached by Mike Shula. I argue that Smith's decline in production this year is because of the offensive system he played in. Smitty still has big play potential, but he can't do it alone anymore. He needs help. If you think Eric Decker is going to come in here and be a #1 receiver you are seriously mistaken. He was the 4th best option on his team led by the greatest QB this game has ever seen. They had 4 receivers over a thousand yards. Decker is good, but he is not a number one. He is a role player. Nicks just can't stay healthy but Nicks is the better receiver out of the two. If I had to pick one it would be Nicks. Then draft a receiver in the 1st or 2nd, resign Ginn and keep Smitty. Hopefully Smitty will restructure.

 

Cause it's not like he was putting up big numbers in a run first, ball control offense at any other point in his career. That argument is not a strong one.

 

Steve Smith's value right now is not as a number 1 wide receiver. He will serve himself and the Panthers best when he's in the slot where he can abuse NBs and safetys with his superior route running. He's not going to make a ton of guys miss anymore. He's not going to burn DBs. He's a savvy, fiery vet, a great route runner with good hands, and that's the role he needs to play.

[lightsout]

If we can get Nicks on a relatively cheap 1 year deal, I say do it and draft your future #1 to be groomed by Smitty and the rest of our fairly veteran receiving corps coached by the great Ricky Proehl.


Decker? No thanks, unless he's even cheaper than Nicks and Nicks just doesn't want to come here (which I don't think would be the case at all, seeing as we are his hometown and he has to know we're a team on the rise). He'd be a good depth guy to battle for that #2 spot. If we don't draft/sign a guy to be our #1 heading into the season and put Smitty in the slot, then I elect Ginn as the #1, whoever wins the offseason battle for #2, and Smitty in the slot.

In no situation do I want to see Smitty split out to the field next season unless we have  a bunch formation to the boundary and the play is designed for him to be away from that (which he shouldn't, since the slot is inside man in that formation in most systems).