Carolina Panthers A Big Bowl of Sanity

[UpstatePanther]

 

 

 

reminds me of my church... wait... dont babies do this at every church?!

[TheNewStandard]

Yeah Z, I meant to thank you, though I fear it falls on deaf ears with the majority of these fans.

Sanity is not a strong suit when regarding "fan"aticism.

People see "we get 4 of our 5 starters back on the line" and something in their head replaces that with..."we lost everybody and Cam's gonna leave!!"

[Mr. Scot]

Tell ya what I find ironic...

 

We had a thread set aside for people to say "thank you" and pay respect to Smitty, and you'd think that some of the people trumpeting themselves as his biggest fans would have wanted to say something in that vein.  Instead, we got an all day whine and b--ch fest with a whole load of "FU DAVE" and such. That was what people chose to focus on.  Guess it was was more important to fuss and stomp than to laud the guy for his accomplishments.

 

Oy :unsure:

 

Two guys (MHS831 and Carpanfan96) posted some stuff they'd heard about from behind the scenes that was pretty damning if true in the Shula thread starting around post 101 if I remember correctly.  If even half of what they said is true, I'd have to say the release of Smith was justified.  Sad, but true.

 

As to the free agent stuff, I could swear we did this just last year.  Granted I'm older and my memory isn't what it once was, but somehow this dance - and the reaction to it - seem rather familiar.

[Udogg]

good stuff.

 

Just when I think you aren't paying attention.....

 

 

 

 

 

[caatfan]

Thank you Zod.. Finally some reason.

Not everyone has been yelling that we're already doomed to have a crappy team and season. We just have a lot of knee jerk fans who apparently can't use a salary cap calculator and think that if one team is willing to pay a lot for one of our players, then he absolutely must be worth it. Consider how many busts the Panthers have overpaid for in the past. I'm glad we've got a GM who won't bite on 'gotta pay whatever it takes' deals. The guy made it work last season. He's using the same methods this year. Success doesn't equate to being an idiot, no matter how many people say it.

[hepcat]

I've said this many times before, I understand all the reasons behind what Gettleman has done this offseason.  The only thing that really disappointed me was the whole Steve Smith situation.  Smitty deserved better than exiting Carolina amid rumors and uncertainty. 

[carolina-chuck]

From the looks of things on the Huddle as of late, I feel an intervention is needed. Today I actually read a theory that GM David Gettleman is actually purposefully sabotaging the team. It is official - the Huddle has lost its mind.

Let us take a step back from the conspiracy theories, conjecture, and embellishment.

There seems to be three main areas of concern, I will address them individually.

Myth #1 – The Panthers have no offensive line.

Status: FALSE

The Panthers currently have 4 of the 5 starting offensive lineman that the Panthers started training camp with last season. The retirement of Jordan Gross being the only change. Bell, Silotolu, Kalil, Williams, all remain on the roster. The sudden rash of retirements like Jeff Byers and Geoff Hangartner weren't a shock, in fact, they retired because they knew they would not be on the Panthers roster again. The loss of Jordan Gross is significant, but it isn't the end of the world. His play was no longer elite, but above average. Finding an above average left tackle is not an impossible task for David Gettleman considering it is only March. The bigger concern is the leadership on the line that will need filled. I believe Ryan Kalil is more than ready to step in.

Myth #2 – The Panthers have cut all of their wide receivers and are ignoring that need.

Status: FALSE

The 2013 Panthers wide receivers corps were less than stellar, to put it nicely. One good indication of such is TE Greg Olsen, who remains on the roster, was the leading receiver. Thats right, the Panthers leading receiver is still on the roster. Say that over and over again until you feel better.

Steve Smith's release, while heartbreaking and handled terribly, was necessary. Receivers decline quickly when in their mid 30s, and Steve had shown signs of such two years ago. Allowing his contract to continue another year would have made it more difficult to sign core young players all while not guaranteeing an adequate return on investment this season. Gettleman made a tough call, but it was the correct one.

Ted Ginn was exciting to watch, but fans forget the many drops he had that could have gone for long gains. Panthers fans are so thirsty for even average wide receiver play they forget what good receiver play looks like. I would be all in favor for keeping Ginn at a low price, but he is now being over paid in Arizona. You can't fault Gettleman for that.

Brandon Lafell? He may be back. The fact that no one else in the league is even interested tells you all you need to know. Vet minimum? Yep.

All in all, it won't be difficult for Gettleman to match the production of the 2013 wide receivers in 2014. Why? Because there isn't much production to match.

Myth #3 – The loss of Mike Mitchell and Captain Munnerlyn is devastating.

Satus: FALSE

I like Mike Mitchell. I think he is a fine safety. I also think Pittsburgh is going to be very disappointed in the return they get for their high dollar investment in him. Without the Panthers stellar front seven, Mitchell will be an average safety for them making above average money.

The Panthers were please with Robert Lester last season and still have Charles Godfrey under contract. Panthers fans have yet to see how Godfrey performs when the Panthers have featured their current front 7. My guess is he will benefit as much as Mike Mitchell did, maybe even more. We could see Godfrey rise to a new level.

Captain Munnerlyn is an average corner at best, and maybe an above average nickel. He was a liability last season on many downs, most notably against San Francisco. Melvin White and Josh Thomas both will play at a higher level than Munnerlyn in 2014, and at a smaller price tag.

So sit back, take a deep breath, and relax.

Dave's got this.

And, all of this: also FALSE.

[Bunskie]

This is just me speculating but a lot of cuts we have seen from the Panthers that didn't make much cap-sense were mainly due to potential "leadership" problems. Again, I am speculating but I think since Gettlemen came from NYG, which as I recall used to have problems with veterans who didn't really allow Eli to establish the team as his own caused a lot of problems there... So it seems that trading Beason for literally nothing (A vocal leader of the panthers) and now with the release of Steve Smith - are all being done so the team can now become Cam's and Luke's. I don't agree with his thought process because I think both Beason and Smitty were good influences in the locker room and we didn't have the same leadership problems that NYG had.. I think he's (Gettlemen) is over reacting to non-existent problems because he has a mentality of what the culture should be like from his past experience in the Giants organization.

[L-TownCat]

Understand....but at the contracts they go, I am glad that we didn't get it done

 

Right, me too.  Thats the variables breaking against the FO that are quickly evaporating our supply of contingency plans.

[shelbypanther]

Way to play the company line 100% Zod.  What next for ya, PR director for Malaysian Air? :rolleyes:

[Zod]

Dodge... I think the chick in your avatar is really a man.

Cant say I have ever been accused of being a company man. Lol

Sent from the Carolina Huddle App

[shelbypanther]

Cant say I have ever been accused of being a company man. Lol

Sent from the Carolina Huddle App

That airline in Malaysia needs a spin doctor like you. :D

 

(seriously though, I, among others, have been bitching and moaning about our football team for the past 48 hours or so, I can't imagine being one of those families who have been sitting for a whole week with no clue as to where their loved ones are.....I little bit of perspective......ok, now back to the griping)

[Captain Morgan]

And, all of this: also FALSE.

 

 

 

your well thought, cogent arguments have convinced me.

 

 

Every team is looking at their weak points right now.  We are sadly Hurney-cuffed.

 

 

But do think about this.  You know who is going to be better and more experienced next year on our team?

 

Cam

Luke

Star

Kawaan

Lester

Klein

 

and others.  That's a pretty scary list considering what they did last year.

 

 

Also, we finally will return the same coach, OC and DC.....these guys aren't going through a learning curve as much.

 

We may not win the division in 2014, but we'll be good, and 2015 we look scary if Getty nails another draft.

[Doc Holiday]

Myth #3 – The loss of Mike Mitchell and Captain Munnerlyn is devastating.

Satus: FALSE

I like Mike Mitchell. I think he is a fine safety. I also think Pittsburgh is going to be very disappointed in the return they get for their high dollar investment in him. Without the Panthers stellar front seven, Mitchell will be an average safety for them making above average money.

The Panthers were please with Robert Lester last season and still have Charles Godfrey under contract. Panthers fans have yet to see how Godfrey performs when the Panthers have featured their current front 7. My guess is he will benefit as much as Mike Mitchell did, maybe even more. We could see Godfrey rise to a new level.

Captain Munnerlyn is an average corner at best, and maybe an above average nickel. He was a liability last season on many downs, most notably against San Francisco. Melvin White and Josh Thomas both will play at a higher level than Munnerlyn in 2014, and at a smaller price tag.

So sit back, take a deep breath, and relax.

Dave's got this.

 

 

This what everyone should be reading when it comes to the Defense, Capt was never more then boarderline average, I always wondered why everyone thought he was so good, unless they have just never seen good cornerback play before(have not watched enough football to know better).