Monday, March 11, 2013

USA Today ranks Panthers dead last in likely free agent activity

This is nothing new for Panther fans, but get ready for a mostly nondescript and sometimes frustrating March, as players who could help the team sign elsewhere (such as DT Cullen Jenkins, who will sign with the New York Giants).

The Panthers traditionally have not dipped into the deep end of the pool in free agency, signing mostly second-tier free agents for modest cost even when they did have money to spend. That will undoubtedly be the same way it will be this season -- at best -- since Carolina is in salary-cap jail (thanks to Marty Hurney and all those long-term contract extensions) and having a hard time getting out. New GM Dave Gettleman really doesn't have much to work with cap-wise. In the meantime, Tampa Bay is third on this list and Atlanta (ranked No.10) looks likely to get back tight end Tony Gonzalez, who had thought seriously about retiring (but who the Panthers coaching staff figured would likely be back all along).

The NFL's free-agency signing period officially begins Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern, and USA Today ranked the teams from 1-32 in Monday's newspaper on how active they would and could be, given salary-cap considerations and team needs. Read the full list below, starting with the teams likely to be most active, and here's a link to the full USA Today story, which includes a brief comment on each team:

1. Cleveland

2. Miami

3. Tampa Bay

4. Indianapolis

5. Cincinnati

6. Philadelphia

7. New England

8. Buffalo

9. Seattle

10. Atlanta

11. Tennessee

12. Minnesota

13. Baltimore

14. Kansas City

15. Jacksonville

16. Chicago

17. Houston

18. Washington

19. San Diego

20. Dallas

21. Denver

22. Green Bay

23. Detroit

24. San Francisco

25. New Orleans

26. New York Giants

27. St. Louis

28. New York Jets

29. Oakland

30. Arizona

31. Pittsburgh

32. Carolina

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a laugh. You dumb sports writer idiots with low IQ as usual are too stupid are last to know JR is hot as hell on the cusp of selling out to a longtime Los Angeles group that includes movie studio owners and real estate tycoons for 3 billion rather than play in the old dilapidated stadium.
This is 3X its appraised 1 billion value. He could get 5X its worth if he tried hard enough or settle at 4X.

Its a DONE DEAL ... bye bye kits ... good riddance ...



Anonymous said...

2 of the first 10 in our division, nice..........

Brendan said...

What a damn surprise. They've hardly done anything for years. And people wonder why we are stuck under .500.
Cheap.

Ghoul said...

When will they cut Clausen? What is Jerry doing with the billions in profits he has made the last 17 years? Is he planning on building a pyramid to house his tomb?

J.D. Bolick said...

Scott, you and your colleagues rightly point out Hurney's MASSIVE mistakes now, but where were you when all this was going on?

Anonymous said...

And this is news how. When was the last time panthers went after anyone/big free agent Shawn Gilbert? 15 years ago

Anonymous said...

Dumb sports writers. Free agency activity does not start until Tuesday March 12. Why open your hand up at this early period. Beside all you hear is speculation. They have the Giants #26 and they just announce the biggest pending free agency signing of Cullin Jenkins, other than KC announcement of Alex Smith.

Anonymous said...

It's amusing to see all of this anxiety every year over free agency. Some free agents are salary cap casualties but most are used goods. All you are buying is someone else's disgarded junk. Better to build and maintain through the draft.

As far as salary cap issues, this comes up every year and is another moot point. You either re-structure contracts or cut some folks that are near the end of their career. I would rather be over the cap than under since it tells me they will spend to keep the players that are contributing and will be for a while. If you are well under the cap, which some of the teams with the worst records are, then that tells me they haven't even attempted to improve nor build with a group of core players.

Anonymous said...

Left a rant earlier in the weekend on some board. Given the obvious holes we have, coupled with more bone-head decisions I'm starting to agree with others that JR is looking to sell the team (prob L.A. group). It seems he's more of less getting finances down to functional minimums while making sure he can still ask highest price. Sadly the NFL believes that Atlanta and Washington can cover the Carolina market, offsetting any losses with a greater LA market.

Anonymous said...

Just a matter of time now. Big Cat weighing his options to keep or sell out to investors in Southern Ca and get that over billion dollar stadium downtown Los Angeles.
BOA ragged, old, outdated, ugly, worn, and will have to be torn down once the big move occurs.
Fans can watch on cable TV PST though so all is not lost.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggZXpGpKcoE

Another proposal on the table in LA sponsored by a 100 billion dollar insurance company.
Los Angeles hot for 2 teams not just one with 25 million people.
Money no issue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=GJpbr6Fr5uI

LA mayor and NFL commish Goodell in hot pursuit of Richardson since his days numbered with a used
heart.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2thmTpCtaOE

New NFL Los Angeles (Panther) Stadium a 100% go in Sacramento

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFyFCuBgRTA

LA NFL Farmers Field moving quickly on que at the cost over a billion.



Anonymous said...

Dear Anonymous ranting about moving to LA.

The stadium deal is dead.

Get updated.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--sources--aeg-s-downtown-l-a--stadium-proposal-looks-like-a-no-go-for-the-nfl-000059874.html

Robby said...

Anonymous at 10:51, how about you post links that specifically say anything about the Panthers as being the team LA is after? None of those links mentions the Panthers at all. One of them even has a guy mention 7 potential teams they could be after and none of them were the Panthers.

CHillyDoggy said...

Here's an idea... stop overpaying our own players and we'd be under the cap. Look at the Steelers as an example of how not to overpay and still be good most of the time.

John K said...

It's amazing how Scott still allows commenting on his blog...

Anonymous said...

Where is a moderator when you need one?

Scott Fowler said...

Guys, this is Scott. For those who don't know or have forgotten, I moderate all the comments on this blog myself. I will post most any comment -- favorable or unfavorable to me -- as long as it doesn't have excessive profanity or is clearly factually incorrect. I do get a lot of posts, unfortunately, that are good ones except the writer could not resist dropping in some serious cursing at some point. I can't post those -- all ages of folks read this. So if your comment hasn't been posted recently, that's probably why. Thanks, as always, for reading... Scott

Mingleshrimp said...

You have to know that Cam is sitting around with his agent, counting the days until he can run from this team. If you think the last four years have been bad, and they have, you are really not going to likeit in two more years when we have nobody at all on the roster.

DieHardCatXX said...

Ha "Build through the draft." So funny because we constantly rid ourselves of draft picks. We only have 5 this yr. What a Joke! Time to step up, Jerry, and bust out the checkbook!

Anonymous said...

Another element of the Hurney legacy. Four million dollars is not a lot of money by NFL standards.

Anonymous said...

People calling them cheap do realize that there's a salary cap right?

Anonymous said...

To be a good franchise, nay, a respectable franchise you have to do at least 2 of this 3 things.
1: Draft really well.
2: Pick up choice free-agents for good prices/Great production.
3: Coach up your current players to elite levels.

The Panthers have never been good at any of those for consecutive year. Sure they get lucky, but mostly not.
Something is wrong in the state of Denmark...and I think it's the owner.

Anonymous said...

For year after year, I was saying on these boards that John Fox and Marty Hurney were the two overwhelming obstacles that lay in the path to success for the Panthers. At the time, I was ridiculed by devotees of both, with the more vocal of the two parties being the John Fox fans.

I'm sorry to say that I was sadly proven correct on both accounts through the passage of time. Now, the poor Bronco's fans have to contend with John Fox and his conservatism, with the Panthers still having to carry the weight of Marty's mistakes in the draft and with the cap.

In retrospect, and in consideration of their participation in free agency, or lack thereof, it seems fair to question whether or not J.R. and the Panthers really want to win it all, or just remain competitive enough to stay profitable.

Hopefully, it's the former, and not the latter, that applies.

Unknown said...

The salary cap this year is 123 million, the Panthers are currently sitting at 119 million BEFORE signing anyone else, people need to stop saying the Panthers are cheap.

You could basically organize that list on who has the most cap space and it would look the same. That's why the Panthers are listed on the bottom, they have the least amount of cap space therefore they are going to be the least active.

Anonymous said...

Remember late George Allen coach of the Redskins said "future is now" Dick Snyder bust his wallet hence 3 times Super Bowl winner. ;
J R don't wait, do it now!