Mitchell, Ginn may hit the market

[El Chingon]

the thought of this just pisses me off

Remember the James Dator article I posted Feb 21st?

 

Sacrifices as a result

Let's assume those three dominoes fall into place and the Panthers re-sign Greg Hardy. They now have 26 roster spots to fill and roughly $17 million to do it.

Jordan Gross

With $17 million left there's simply no room to keep a veteran of his caliber. Given that he's mulling over the idea of retirement it's wholly unlikely he'll accept the veteran minimum. A realistic deal would be two years at $12 million with a $6 million signing bonus. Back-load that deal and you cause problems for 2015, keep it even and he's a $6 million cap hit.

Assume they keep him: You have $11 million to spend on 18 players.

Graham Gano

A high-level kicker isn't something the Panthers can afford if they want to retain Hardy. Gano is one of the top-tier kickers scheduled to hit free agency and anything over $1 million is too much for the team to bare, and it will be.

Brandon LaFell

Most people don't like him, so what the heck? Retain Hardy, you can't keep LaFell -- it's that simple. He will command more than Darrius Heyward-Bey made from the Colts in 2013, which was $2.5 million against the cap.

Mike Mitchell

Bye.

The Panthers got a great deal in 2013 and he vastly out-performed his contract. Expect an offer in the range of $6-8 million for 2-3 years, which isn't something Carolina can afford.

Ted Ginn

Like Mike Mitchell, it ain't gonna happen. Teams need deep threats and there aren't enough in the league. Factor in his relative youth and additions on special teams and Ginn will command deals around the $3-4 million mark, as a cap hit in 2014.

Captain Munnerlyn and Drayton Florence

Here's two player the Panthers can't afford to lose. You hit a breaking point pretty quickly when releasing players that results in a barely-competitive franchise. Wide receivers can be drafted or signed, getting quality corneback play doesn't happen immediately.

Let's assume the pair counts as $4 million against the cap in 2014 (which could be low-balling).

Carolina now has 16 available roster spots and $7 million to do it.

The good news

Fourteen players leaving in free agency were rotational guys or special teams players. Those can be found for cheap enough to make it work.

The bad news

Under this plan the Panthers lose a grand total of five starters: LaFell, Gano, Mitchell, Bryon Bell and Travelle Wharton.

It means that between a seven pick draft and dwindling free agent money you need to find a starting offensive tackle, wide receiver, safety, guard and kicker. Take a guess how likely that is to happen?

 

 

[NFLFangirl19]

To be honest resigning these guys should only be a priority if it comes at a decent price. Ginn is good, but his real value last year was the talent he gave us at such a low price. Same for Mitchell.

We found two, good, cheap players last year, I don't see why it would be an impossible task to do it again. But don't get me wrong, I'd love to have both these guys back and losing them would hurt us some.

yeah I think the only bad thing about how effective they were last season is that they both earned themselves a pay raise that we unfortunately wouldn't be able to give them. Same deal w/ Capt. Gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out

[Jimmy]

The Huddle is loosing its mind. From FA to trades to cap casualties to the franchise tag to the draft this place is bonkers right now. No one here has a clue as to the Panthers strategy to fill the 53 man roster. So much speculation. I love it.

Sent from my ADR910L using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[Black]

 

Joe Person ‏@josephperson  37s

Hearing Bears, Eagles, Broncos and Falcons showing interest in CAR safety Mike Mitchell.

 

[TheRed]

I still think we have a shot at keeping Mitchell, but it will come down to just how much he really did like it here.

[TrianglePanther]

Well it was a good run Mike.

[PantherPhann89]

I hope not. Mitchell brings that aggressiveness that our secondary needs and Ginn is a threat in the return game. He will be dynamic when our guys are taught how to set up blocking for him.

[beastson]

Smh

[sml1950]

If they haven't been signed by noon today, they are now essentially FAs since their agents are now able to negotiate with other teams. Gman will now find out sooner than later what their market value is and if we have the cap space to keep them.

[El Chingon]

 

He gone.

[Gucci Mane]

People keep talking about Ginn as a deep threat. He really isn't, or wasn't last year.

 

he wasnt allowed to be an actual deep thread because of our system and lack of pocket for Cam... he was an effective dummy by keeping the safeties back and on their heels.

 

[top dawg]

Call me crazy, but Ginn and Mitchell need to hit the market to learn that they don't have the value that they think they do. Then when they come back to the table, they will be more reasonable and likely to sign a deal that benefits the team.  

 

I like both of them, but I'm not enamored with either one of them. Both can probably be replaced effectively---even if it's not just for the short term---if they don't want to play ball.

[beastson]

Call me crazy, but Ginn and Mitchell need to hit the market to learn that they don't have the value that they think they do. Then when they come back to the table, they will be more reasonable and likely to sign a deal that benefits the team.  

 

I like both of them, but I'm not enamored with either one of them. Both can probably be replaced effectively---even if it's not just for the short term---if they don't want to play ball.

 

Michell was our brightest spot in the secondary, losing him makes an already weak secondary even weaker

[Kuech the Sneak]

Mitchell has gotta be the top priority