Best offseason ever?

Signed some decent FA's, had a great draft, some nice pick ups on UDFA's....

I'm really loving this offseason. Been a long time since we had a winning season and made the play-offs.

Still some moves to make. Clowney & Thielen may need to take pay cuts or get traded. I could be wrong but it looks like we're about $16m under the cap and those two are about $23m this year? Is that close?

Plus there is still CB's & LB's available

I'm loving what Dan is putting together right now. It's going to be up to the staff once he puts a bow on it but I think he's been outstanding this offseason.

 

I've been really excited about off seasons before, and in general I've been subsequently disappointed.

I did like the draft a lot. And I think the offense is going to be fully baked this season, and borderline top ten. But the defense is easily a year away. No one should depend on rookie edge rushers unless they're in the top 2-3 of the class.

Next year we're going to finish the secondary and address the linebacker room, then we'll start cooking.

 

I'm even excited about this guy!

 

Draft Grade: A


This was my favorite Panthers draft ever . Every single pick is a coherent, rock solid decision. There's no silly ass reaches, or throwaways on workout warriors. I'm only slightly annoyed by trading up twice on day two, but they paid hardly nothing for it.



Free agency: C


The Horn contract is psychotic and indefensible, and weighs downs the grade of what I otherwise consider a good free agency. I like that they gave up on the Milton Williams auction and went with 3 good players instead.





Coaching staff: D


Keeping Evero after one of the worst defensive seasons in NFL history feels like a costly mistake. Defense might end up being Canales' downfall in Carolina. His fixation with one narrow, almost gimmicky system is a bad sign.





Overall: C+

 

You build a team from front to back, inside to out
We are finally doing this. Last year, the Oline was a huge priority, this year the Dline was a huge priority.

This is how you control the game.

Can't complain a ton

The one thing I liked was the trade that involve 8 picks. We came out of it fine, even picking up a 6th for our 7th and did not lose the 8th pick and the main thing is we did not give up any future picks unlike Atlanta......haha

 

I feel like this is Evero's last chance, and don't mind giving it to him. His first year was a transition to the 3-4, and a dumpster fire of a coaching staff in general. And last year the injuries exacerbated the general lack of talent on that side of the ball. I'm not sure who could done much with a defensive line of A'Shawn Robinson, Shy Tuttle, and LaBryan Ray/Nick Thurman/DeShawn Williams, backed up by Josey Jewell and the Jags in the middle. He's in a much better position to succeed this year, and if he doesn't then I'll happily drive him to the border.

Also, AC Carter and Renaldo Hill may prove to be pretty good additions. If Carter can get the rookies going early, that's going to be huge for the defense. And Hill may not have cut it as a DC, but he was thought well enough of to get the opportunity in the first place. Both of those guys were positive changes. I think the Coaching Staff should be in C territory as a floor.

 

Who was the Panthers best DL coach? Any thoughts? I know it's hard to make a judgement call because the personnel is always changing.

 

Probably Sal Sunseri. He got to coach up Julius Peppers, Kris Jenkins, Brentson Buckner, and Mike Rucker in our first Super Bowl year. He also managed to keep the guys together when Jenkins was injured, and after Buckner retired. Maybe it was personnel, but I sure loved the defenses under Fox, and Sunseri was at the heart of them.

 

That was a hell of a group.

 

I was okay with letting him go, but Canales made a comment that changed my mind, He said "Yeah, I've played against this defense, I've played against it in Seattle with the Rams for a bunch of years. I played against it twice last year. I know what this defense will look like. And I'm committed to that, Ejiro's committed to that."

So to me, they acknowledged he didn't have the players... He has plenty to work with now so I'm ready to rock with Evero one more year.