The Carolina Panthers made a huge free agency mistake
The Carolina Panthers free agency period has seen some very good signings, but has also left many others scratching their heads.
Two years into the Matt Rhule era, the Carolina Panthers are approaching a very crucial year three that will make or break the coach’s tenure.
Their main goal since the beginning of his tenure has been to find al long-term quarterback answer. The 2020 Teddy Bridgewater experiment clearly failed, and their 2021 Sam Darnold/Cam Newton/PJ Walker situation was perhaps even worse.
More quarterbacks than usual were on the move this season. All of Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Deshaun Watson, and Carson Wentz changed teams.
The Panthers missed out on all of them. Mitchell Trubisky, Marcus Mariota, and Jameis Winston also found new homes, and none of them were in Carolina.
As the major quarterback movement hits its end, I’m confused at the Panthers’ behavior here. Why weren’t they more aggressive in trying to land any of the aforementioned players? Sam Darnold is not good and has mostly established himself as a mid-tier backup. With Rhule set to enter a year in which his job is on the line, why didn’t the Panthers make a bigger push for someone?
Surely they aren’t banking on drafting a rookie in a bad quarterback class and pairing him with Darnold?
However, I think their most egregious mistake is their apparent disinterest in Baker Mayfield, who appears to be the last quarterback domino that will fall.
Mayfield enjoyed a career year in 2020, passing for 26 touchdowns on 8 interceptions and leading the Browns to a playoff spot.
He’s clearly been inconsistent and may top out as a top 20 quarterback, but Mayfield is so clearly better than any option they have on their roster or in the draft.
It seems like a rather arrogant, and simply put, a stupid decision if their disinterest in Mayfield is real. Sure, Mayfield is not perfect by any means, but the NFC South is going to be weak this year. Obviously, the Buccaneers are going to win, but outside of that, the rest of the NFC South is bad, and the NFC itself is a weaker conference.
Baker Mayfield on the Carolina Panthers might make them a fringe playoff team, frankly.
Outside of their quarterback conundrum, they’ve actually had a very solid free agency period, which makes their quarterback decisions even more puzzling.
They’ve added quality starters to the offensive line in Austin Corbett and Bradley Bozeman, added quality bodies to the front seven, retained DJ Moore on an extension, and kept their strong secondary intact, re-signing Donte Jackson and adding Xavier Woods.
They also signed future Hall of Fame punter Johnny Hekker as well.
The Carolina Panthers do have a very solid roster that is ready to win in the weak NFC.
Their inability to find a viable quarterback for at least 2022 makes little sense.
Sure, they might be shy to trade picks away since they gave up three picks for Sam Darnold, but Baker Mayfield has been a much stronger player his entire career and has shown signs of being solid.
It seems increasingly likely that the Panthers will use their first round pick and take a shot on a quarterback in hopes they can be a long-term answer, but with the weakness of the 2022 quarterback class, and the overall weakness of the NFC, the Carolina Panthers not making a viable quarterback move so far has been a monumental mistake.