20 million reportedly now, franchising hardy would take about 12.5 I believe

2/22/2014 2:19:09 PM

I think we have to tag him

As much as I'd like to get him long-term, I think he'd be too expensive and that would be a ton of money tied up in 2 defensive ends. But I don't want him to walk either, cause next year could be "our year"

2/22/2014 2:41:56 PM

Getting a better chance of Austin Seferian-Jenkins being available when we pick. He's not going to workout at the combine and might miss his pro-day too. He's got the most upside of any TE in the draft and is already the best run blocker of the bunch. Comparable to Gronkowski. Would love to see Cam with two play makers at tight end, and not have to sacrifice run blocking.

2/22/2014 3:22:36 PM

Met Greg Hardy today at Strike City

2/22/2014 7:59:05 PM

Ole Miss graduate wearing a Georgia shirt?? That would be like seeing Mario Williams wearing a Virginia Cavaliers shirt.

2/22/2014 8:04:05 PM

nice. he's a helluva wide receiver.

2/22/2014 8:04:19 PM

^^Wtf, that is Thomas Davis not Greg Hardy.

2/22/2014 11:25:05 PM

LOL

2/22/2014 11:29:02 PM

ahhh, now it makes sense. As you can tell, I am not a Panthers fan.

2/22/2014 11:33:58 PM

All I care about is who is the girl?!

2/23/2014 4:56:20 AM

Khalil, Stewart, Davis all restructure deals.

Up to $29 million in cap space. Hopefully we can go ahead and lock up Hardy and Gross soon.

2/25/2014 11:23:28 AM

Well Gross is retiring, so that isn't happening.

http://blogs.charlotte.com/panthers/2014/02/jordan-gross-retiring-panthers-nfl.html

2/25/2014 11:32:06 AM

Damn that likely changes the draft plans quite a bit

2/25/2014 11:48:15 AM

Gettleman needs to work some more of his magic and find a bargain in the market that has some gas left in the tank and draft someone in the middle rounds this year to basically redshirt that position.

Worst case scenario, Kugbila? Or even Amini stepping out there?

2/25/2014 12:00:53 PM

shit

2/25/2014 12:07:42 PM

happy retirement to my favorite name/number combo of all time. Gross #69

2/25/2014 1:21:02 PM

Shit. Good for Gross and everything, but that really screws us.

Who's out there in FA? Jonathon Martin?

2/25/2014 5:44:08 PM

Jeff Otah?

2/25/2014 5:47:15 PM

Fuck it, bring in Incognito

2/25/2014 6:01:04 PM

There are some decent OT FAs, the problem is we might not want to invest a bunch of money in that position knowing we have to extend Cam next year. Need to keep restructuring contracts so we can make a run at Hardy and picking up one of the top OT FA's.

Still think this draft is deep enough that we could go OT/WR/CB and still get some serviceable pieces. Obviously not as ideal as keeping Gross, but we were still going to take an OT in the top 2-3 rounds even with Gross here.

2/26/2014 8:21:49 AM

Gano gets a 4 year deal - http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Panthers-sign-Gano-to-four-year-deal/abda35d3-8146-4886-ac56-71e2bdb59d0c

Sounds like Hardy might get franchised this weekend as well if no deal is made before then.

2/28/2014 10:04:02 AM

I like both of those moves

Gano is straight cash and Hardy absolutely can't get away. We should be in a much better cap situation next offseason as well, so we can potentially get him and Cam locked up at the same time.

2/28/2014 11:12:34 AM

I read that the reason Gettleman was being pissy about Smith is that his contract fully guarantees if he's on the team next year and the cap hits for '15 and '16 are stupidly high for an old regressing WR

Thanks, Hurney

2/28/2014 11:48:48 AM

Quote :

"@ProFootballTalk Panthers have notified DE Greg Hardy that the franchise tag will be applied to him, per league source."

2/28/2014 4:00:52 PM

the rumor mill is looking more and more like 89 won't be here next year

3/6/2014 7:44:54 AM

Hurney has cocked us so bad with the smith, stewart, and beason contracts

3/6/2014 7:55:51 AM

You know, may as well take the pain now, we have that luxury with a young QB still on a cap friendly contract. I'm glad we kept Hardy because that means the core of the defense will remain intact even though the offense will likely take a step back. Losing Gross already put us behind the 8-ball for improving the offense, which clearly wasn't good enough last year, and who even knows what Smitty can give us next year at 35 coming off a gimpy knee. He's my second favorite Panther ever (sorry dude, Cam stole my heart) and will be missed but you don't win in this league by retaining declining veterans.

3/6/2014 8:40:34 AM

I still think if we brought in some type of stud WR1 Smitty has a couple good years in the slot as a #2 guy. We'll see how it all plays out though.

3/6/2014 8:55:38 AM

Delhomme is still my favorite, despite his tendency towards screwing up (the injuries didn't help). he was a poor man's Favre (without the prima donna attitude and dick pics) and certainly a better QB than your Jay Cutlers and Tony Romos of the world. plus, he blew up barns with footballs!

Smitty is #2 for sure, and it would suck to lose him...but. He is on the decline, akin to a Randy Moss or Terrell Owens, so this might be the right time. We DEFINITELY need to get some wide outs in the draft (and/or FA), because what we have clearly isn't cutting it, even with Smitty. the passing game has been the weak link for years on this team because of not having dependable wideouts.

3/6/2014 9:00:57 AM

Fuck. All. That.

Smith is old, so what? He was by far our best receiver last year. If we had even a semi-competent replacement lined up, then yeah, we can have this conversation. Smith wants to be here, and we need him. We owe him a lot more than this. Why doesnt gettleman call smith in, lay his cards on the table and see if 89 will restructure. No pride is lost, as it would be a team-oriented move... now that's not possible.

If he gets cut I hope he stays in the nfc south and torches us twice next year.

(Delhomme is still my guy too)

ET: smith makes 4m next year with a 7m cap hit. Cutting him only frees up 2m in cap relief. Not even sure if that's an option to restructure

[Edited on March 6, 2014 at 9:20 AM. Reason : hdhdhdh]

3/6/2014 9:10:52 AM

don't get me wrong, I'd love to keep him. but thanks to our cap hell and Hurney's ridiculous contracts, we're really in a bind. we should try to keep him within reason for sure. but if he can't/won't restructure, or we can't work something else out...I'd rather not have a TO/88 situation where we keep a fan favorite with declining numbers when we could be looking for the next Brandon Marshall

3/6/2014 9:23:13 AM

Our best receiver last year was Greg Olsen, not Steve Smith, but that's besides point. Cutting him now isn't about freeing up cap next year, it's about freeing up cap for 2015/2016, the years when we need to lock up Cam, Kuechly, Greg, and Star. This is the problem,

Quote :

"In June 2014, the Panthers have to make a decision. With a $3 million option bonus payable from June 1 through June 30 and a $3 million non-exercise fee owed to Smith if he’s on the roster on July 1 and the team doesn’t pay the bonus, the Panthers must decide at that point whether to pay the money or cut Smith loose. Paying the option extended Smith’s contract through 2016, at a base salary of $9 million."

So we either cut him now or pay him through 2016. We don't want to be a perpetually cap challenged team and this is unfortunately one of the sacrifices you might have to make.

3/6/2014 11:01:04 AM

I cant believe someone said steve smith was by far our best receiver last year. this tells me people dont watch games.


we should have done this move two years ago. i love smith. if we had a #1 receiver then smith could stay as good #2 but nope. This isn't happening. Our WR core is dreadful and I am amazed we scored TD last year. ( i do like Lafell though). Now that Gross is retiring my face cringes up.

3/6/2014 11:11:04 AM

I watched every game last year, some of them more than once, and I say Smith was still our best receiver. He was targeted just as much as Olsen despite missing games with injury, and he wasn't the recipient of wide open TD catches like Olsen was when linebackers blew coverages. He also had integral 4th down conversions in games like the Dolphins game when we really needed it. Just cause he isn't the player he was 3-4 years ago doesn't mean he's some old man that's been hobbling around the last couple seasons.

But maybe more importantly, after already losing Gross, he was a veteran and a leader. He and Gross organized the players only meeting after the Arizona game that helped turn the season around. He was one of the few players that demanded accountability. He might not have had the ypc or whatever else people are using to say Olsen was better, but he was a much more important player on our team, let alone our offense.

I mean, as bad as our offense was last year, did you see how bad it was when Smith wasn't on the field?

[Edited on March 6, 2014 at 11:51 AM. Reason : .]

3/6/2014 11:49:59 AM

I cant believe someone watched our games last year and decided that brandon lafell, ted ginn, or domenik hixon was even comparable to steve smith. And unless greg olsen starts lining up as a wr, I dont consider him to be in competition with 89.

I didnt say he was a pro bowler last year. I am saying we have nothing that comes close to replacing him. And if we do cut him we save a whopping 2m on the cap. How are we going to replace him with 2m?

3/6/2014 12:54:55 PM

Quote :

"I cant believe someone said steve smith was by far our best receiver last year. this tells me people dont watch games. "

Really? Smitty was our best and most consistent WR last year -- and it wasn't even close. Do you remember how shitty the offense was those last few games of the year when he was out?

I really think if we can bring in Nicks to be WR1, Smitty would be a terror in the slot for at least another year. I can't claim to understand the cap implications, but the guy can still make plays. Just look at 4th down conversion vs the Dolphins last year.

Anyway, we've got to bring some new WR talent in -- regardless of what happens. I've heard we're making an offer to Ginn and letting LaFell and Hixon walk. No surprise there though.

3/6/2014 1:29:59 PM

I can't believe somebody said delhomme was better than romo or cutler. Jesus.

3/6/2014 1:49:14 PM

Smith is pretty rundown at this point. He's a good option on 3rd down but I think he's more at the stage of being a #3 than a #2 on a good offense. Regardless, when you have a shitty WR core, getting rid of one of your best WRs doesn't do much for making the position better.

Also, Delhomme was no worse than Cutler. Cutler is a pretty shitty QB.

3/6/2014 2:50:38 PM

lol. it looks like we all dont know what we are talking about

3/6/2014 3:09:56 PM

Quote :

"I really think if we can bring in Nicks to be WR1"

how did i miss this gem before my last post.

i just died laughing. literally. i'm dead y'all.

3/6/2014 3:12:12 PM

Who do you guys recommend following regarding Panthers' news on twitter

3/6/2014 3:13:34 PM

i don't follow many panthers writers, the only one i can think of is @jjones9, who covers them for the charlotte observer.

3/6/2014 3:18:14 PM

Hardy for Graham, straight up. Who says no first?

3/6/2014 3:33:22 PM

That's a terrible trade IMO.

One of the best DE's in the NFL just entering his prime for a tight end that disappears in physical games?

DE is probably the most important position on that side of the ball in this new NFL. You don't just find those guys every year. Kraken is way more valuable 2 years from now too.

No deal for me.

3/6/2014 3:38:08 PM

Quote :

"Who do you guys recommend following regarding Panthers' news on twitter"

Jonathan Jones (who was mentioned) and also Joe Person (@josephperson)

Some of the stuff they tweet is the same, but those two are definitely the two reporters who are the most informed about the team

3/6/2014 3:41:44 PM

Hardy was rated the 4th best DE against the run last year along with all the pressure he got on the QB. That's why he's so much more valuable than Peppers, he's a complete football player. You don't let a guy like that go.

3/6/2014 3:49:59 PM

Graham just seems like a general piece of human shit, so I wouldnt do it.

3/6/2014 3:57:30 PM

dont follow person, he sucks

jones is pretty good for a recent grad. I remember him as the one guy at unc who didnt turn into a dribbling retard about the cheating scandal

3/6/2014 4:26:25 PM

don't listen to tower, Person is awesome

3/6/2014 4:29:30 PM

person is the reporter equivalent of a create a player

3/6/2014 4:30:57 PM