If you're the new GM...

I'd like to see these last eight games play out, but in general just avoid the same mistakes Hurney made. Don't make anymore ridiculous draft trades unless it's for a potential future all-pro. Stick to the draft board. Get good, young football players. Cut DeAngelo and draft his much younger, much cheaper replacement somewhere between round 5 and 7. Ask Beason to take a pay cut or get cut. Find a legitimate, god damn return man who can contribute immediately, not some flashy project like Adams or Armanti. Massively upgrade the bottom 1/3 of the roster. We have too many guys (Brockel, Barnidge, Armanti, Keiser, etc) who seem to have no role yet continue to dress on Sundays.


Stop worrying about WR. Smith is still a playmaker, probably for another couple years, LaFell is rock solid, and Murphy is a good #3. If anything, find a #2 TE. That's been a void this year.

 

Find a suitable replacement for our goalkeeper...

 

Buzz, STFU.

 

The Panthers have more committed against the salary cap in the next two years, and I imagine they're probably the top in 2015 as well. This roster isn't nearly good enough to only improve through the draft, so they have to develop the room to sign one or two four star free agents and some mid-level guys to address needs.


QB - No need to do anything here unless they're not committed to making Cam the highest paid player in the NFL or else franchising him for multiple seasons.

HB - Agree with B&B about drafting someone here in the late rounds. Pick a guy with good hands and a slow 40 since they always drop.

FB - 6th/7th/UFA add a true blocker and special teamer.

TE - Cheap FA or late round pick who can block. I'd even be fine with it being an undersized, athletic OT and shift him.

WR - Spread offenses don't need quality so much as quantity here. Not sure why people have become obsessed with this position.

OT - Underrrated need. Gross is declining and RT is a long-term mystery.

OG - Why can't this team ever find a good one?

C - Take Kalil's newspaper account away.


DE - Need a 4-3 RDE/3-4 OLB pure pass rusher since everyone can see how much better the defense does with a pass rush. That will also allow Hardy to move inside to DT for long yardage / late game leads.

DT - Love Lotulelei, but if we don't pick high enough then I'm not sure about just adding another body since the DTs have been better than expected. Dwan has been disruptive and the run defense overall has actually been league average. It's a need, but it would be a mistake to just select a DT to select a DT.

LB - James Anderson is not one of the guys I would cut, so he and Kuechly are a nice base. WLB is the easiest spot to fill with cheap veterans or a middle/late draft pick, plus I want the aforementioned DE-LB hybrid for 3-4 looks.

CB - I like Norman long-term but don't want him starting now, so get a legit starter here. Another guy for depth would help as well.

SS - Godfrey looks a lot better at SS, which is a shame since his contract still needs to go.

FS - The Nakamura experiment has failed. Get someone legit.

 

That's about 3 years worth of drafts.

 

Which is why it can't just be through the draft. I don't like cutting decent players, but that's the reality of the team's situation within a salary cap structure.

 

Agreed, which is why you shouldn't do everything all at once, including cuts.
I don't like Godfrey's contract, for instance. But he's at least looking like a starter, and it's not worth $2.3M less cap to me to be rid of him and still have nothing behind him.

 

That's exactly right. Even if you hit a home run on every draft pick it would never be enough to keep up to build your team exclusively via the draft. I would think a team that drafts really good, expects to only get 3-5 players for the team on average each year that make it past year two years with the team. So how many players from each draft end up being long team players for the team? 2 or 3?

The panthers only have 6 players with 7 or more years with the team that was drafted by the team. The team with the best record so far this year, Atlanta only has 3 players with 7 or more years on the team that was drafted by the team. So all of this just points to the fact that you have to be good at all aspects of getting players for your team. You can't depend on just the draft or signing FA, you must do both to build a good team and do both well.

 

Not entirely surprising since the current regime has only been there since... 2008?

 

The difference between Godfrey and some replacement level strong safety is probably less than one win, and obviously this isn't a team that will contend any time soon. Therefore it actually makes far more sense to get the team's salary cap in decent shape as soon as possible rather than dragging it out over multiple years, as that just keeps the team out of contention that much longer.