Free Agency

OH SHIT ITS GONNA COME.

Does Smitty leave? Do we grab a WR? Who? Vet QB?

Oh the drama.

 

plaxico

 

Job 1 - Sign Our Own

Job 2 - Sign Sidney Rice

Job 3 - Sign a Right Tackle

By all reports, teams will get a right of first refusal for up to three of their top free agents, meaning that the Panthers will have the option to match the offers of Williams, Johnson and Davis. I think this is for this off-season only.

I say the squad still doesn't have an adequate compliment to Steve Smith. Adding Rice would accomplish that. Much as I like Gettis, he doesn't scare opponents yet. With Shockey manning the seams, the field would have threat balance.

As for the O-line, I like Schwartz just fine at right guard. But Otah's health concerns me. The team needs a legit backup there, even it it costs more than the normal for a backup. Garry Williams is not the answer.

We might add a vet QB to this list, but I think we're stuck with Claussen in the short-term, and Newton around week 6. Hurney, to me, clearly made the decision to go with youth at the position last season, despite a looming lockout, and I think he pushes to see the plan through. Steve Smith will pout about it, but bringing in a Marc Bulger or Matt Hasselbeck really goes against the philosophy established last summer. The team may sign a vet, but it won't be for the view of building around that player. So for me, why do it? Just get Matt Moore back in blue and black and move on.

 

I would really like to see a veteran QB. If you want Newton to have the best chance to succeed over the long term then you do not want to see him starting day one.

Retaining our own free agents should be the key to our plan. Johnson, Anderson, Davis, etc. I am OK with letting Marshal leave and torn on DW. He is a good player but we have a guy just as good behind him and a guy close behind him. We should also think about extending guys like Beason.

Some depth at DT and on the OL would be nice. I still think we are solid QB play away from being a decent team.

 

We're not contending for shit this year.

Apparently there will be a minimum spending floor.

So I would prefer (if possible under the new rules), instead of signing anyone real expensive this year, we should sign the folks we need to keep the next few years to front loaded deals and make sure we have a lot of cap space next year. Sign what we need then to make a run the next couple of years.

 

it depends on what we can do with out own guys. We should keep CJ, but if we want DW and lose him, or similar with Anderson, I could totally see them going with cut players as backups, maybe one strategic higher end FA, and trying to play the compensatory thing for DW and others to get picks. Cover the rest of the spending floor with escalating the initial money on our own contracts for this year, which would leave guys like CJ, Beason, and FAs really cheap for 2012.

Unless there's no compensatory deal in the new CBA. But under prior guidelines, guys like DW, Marshall, Anderson would be worth picks.


If we kept most everyone, and just lost the obvious - Marshall - you can't be in compensatory if you sign more than the one guy. So you have a vet QB and that's it.

 

I haven't seen mention of this, but I hope the new CBA deals more directly with the funny money built into contracts. I know the real problem is the lack of a guarantee in the contracts, which the players were pushing for, but the cap-crap of recent years had gotten so bad that it had become almost a second operating system to the rules of the CBA.

It wasn't so much a cap as it was a bouy for contract bonuses.

Anyway, if we're stuck with negotiating contracts to satisfy the ego of certain players, then the application of CBA rules will continue to be messy. And Marty Hurney will always have a job.

For now, it looks like the owners have given up the right of first refusal.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/15/owners-give-up-right-of-first-refusal-idea/

Which means that teams will have 72 hours before free agency starts to talk with their own players. Which also means teams have 72 hours to finalize contract proposals that were already made during the lockout.

With rookies earning less and the salary cap having a floor, payday has arrived for veteran players. The Panthers better be ready when the gate drops.

 

I think we're gonna go on a spending spree.

 

Jesus. 72 hours?

 

The picks in the old deal had some basis in the deals they signed and what else the team did in FA. If we let them walk but spend like government anyway, we won't get much for compensation or wouldn't have under the old deal.