If you're the new GM...

...what would you do?


If it were me, my top priorities would be

1) Get a legit outside receiver, let Smitty finish his career in the slot
2) Draft as much talent to DLine & secondary as possible
3) Get a big, run blocking RG to take Hangartner's starting spot
4) Last but not least, hit on my 2nd and 3rd rounders

 

Gut the roster to clear salary cap space. It cannot be stated often enough that the Panthers have more committed to the 2013 and 2014 caps than any team in the NFL.

 

By gutting I would cut the following

• Beason - Can't stay healthy and Luke has taken his job and done well at it
• Thomas Davis - Cap Hit next year is crazy and the man is playing on borrowed time
• DeAngelo - The team seems to do better with Stewart is the primary guy

I'd love any of them back at a lower cap spot but they have already been paid for a shit load more than they have delivered. Some not their own fault but still over paid.

Also Rivera is history. The new GM will be wanting to hire his own guy and Rivera has done nothing warrenting keeping him on

 

A typical bloke, having split from his latest girlfriend, decided to take a holiday. He booked himself on a cruise and proceeded to have the time of his life. That is, until the ship sank! He found himself on an island with no other people, no supplies, nothing, only bananas and coconuts.

After about four months, he is lying on the beach one day when the most gorgeous woman he has ever seen rows up to the shore. In disbelief, he asks, 'Where did you come from? How did you get here?' She replies, 'I rowed from the other side of the island. I landed here when my cruise ship sank.' 'Amazing,' he notes. 'You were really lucky to have a row boat wash up with you.' 'Oh, this thing?' explains the woman. 'I made the boat out of raw materials I found on the island. The oars were whittled from gum tree branches. I wove the bottom from palm branches, and the sides and stern came from a Eucalyptus tree.' 'But, where did you get the tools?' 'Oh, that was no problem,' replied the woman. 'On the south side of the Island , a very unusual stratum of alluvial rock is exposed. I found if I fired it to a certain temperature in my kiln, it melted into ductile iron. I used that for tools and used the tools to make the hardware.' The guy is stunned. 'Let's row over to my place,' she says.

After a few minutes of rowing, she docks the boat at a small wharf. As the Man looks to shore, he nearly falls off the boat. Before him is stone walk leading to an exquisite bungalow painted in blue and white. While the woman ties up the rowboat with an expertly woven hemp rope, the man can only stare ahead, dumb struck. As they walk into the house, she says casually, 'It's not much but I call it home. Sit down, please. Would you like a drink?' 'No! No thank you,' he blurts out, still dazed. 'I can't take another drop of coconut juice.' 'It's not coconut juice,' winks the woman. 'I have a still. How would you like a Pina Colada?' Trying to hide his continued amazement, the man accepts, and they sit down on her couch to talk.

After they have exchanged their stories, the woman announces, 'I'm going to slip into something more comfortable. Would you like to take a shower and shave? There is a razor upstairs in the bathroom cabinet.' No longer questioning anything, the man goes into the bathroom. There, in the cabinet, a razor made from a piece of tortoise bone. Two shells honed to a hollow ground edge are fastened on to its end inside a swivel mechanism. 'This woman is amazing,' he muses. 'What next?'

When he returns, she greets him wearing nothing but vines, strategically positioned, and smelling faintly of gardenias. She beckons for him to sit down next to her. 'Tell me,' she begins suggestively, slithering closer to him, 'We've been out here for many months. You've been lonely. There's something I'm sure you really feel like doing right now, something you've been longing for?' She stares into his eyes... He swallows excitedly and tears start to form in his eyes..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

'F*****g hell, don't tell me you've got Sky Sports?

 

I would get a key to the locker room to avoid being barred from the post game speech.

 

Jock was digging peat at his croft when a passing American tourist asks, "How much land do you have here?"

"About two acres" Jock replies.

"You know back home it takes me a day to drive around my ranch !" the American boasts.

"Aye", says Jock " I once had a car like that."

 

I don't mind Smith in the slot but he's better on the move - including the slot but not exclusively there. Granted, this may not be the scheme that's being run next year, but it's as good as any, and Smith is good in the slot - but he's not stuck there.

First, as a new GM, I'd step up the total scouting effort double. Too many teams spend too little compiling info for what becomes a $120 million per year expenditure. An extra 2-3 million for more eyes, more conversations is not a bad thing.

Second, I would expect that coaching would have a lot of turnover, but I would be interested in scenarios that either keep the offensive staff somewhat intact, or that create similar schemes on both offense and defense. I don't think it's that ideal to change scheme right now for Cam, nor would I want that much of what's here in the average WCO. I'm more or less done with Rivera, and there's reason to give pause to Chud as well, but schematically, I wouldn't change anything. I'd want a more even-keeled, execution based coaching staff but if the new guys said they wanted to stay with the Coryell, and a one-gap pro multiple, that'd be ideal.

I would cut a few guys as necessary, but it doesn't feel fiscally responsible to dump the productive guys because of a minor difference in salary. I wouldn't put much money into FAs, excluding the $1-2 million type signings similar to what was done in 2008, to provide more inexpensive depth and experience.

I'd probably focus on change at S, I'd worry about going and getting one good CB, and attempt to grab a DT as high as possible, followed by a guard, and simply get tougher in the trenches. It'd be a draft that, if I could pull only players from fundamental positions, I probably would.

 

First thing I do is hire Buzz Killington to keep tell me these topical stories.

Then I do everything that I can to acquire starters and depth in the trenches. Sounds like the only way to do that is through the draft.

 

Right o' ol chap..next ill tell you a story about a bridge.

 

I agree with all of it. Regarding the idea of Smitty in the slot, I agree with your assessment there, as well. I just dont want Smitty to have to play outside because we dont have anybody else who can play out there. We have to think about getting the next guy that Smitty can groom and pass the torch to. For example, I love Justin Hunter from the Tennessee Volunteers as a guy who could come in and possibly be that guy.