Hixon

You claimed here that "Ginn hasn't been a legitimate part of a WR corp since his Miami days." That was a false statement. The problem isn't that you make mistakes out of ignorance, as everyone will do that on occasion, even if you do it with annoying frequency. The problem is that you continue to argue and never admit that you said something wrong, no matter how definitively that is proven. It's fine that you had no idea that Ginn was always at least a #3 WR before last season, and that his desire to be so again was a prime factor in him signing here rather than with a contender, but after being informed about that you should have abandoned your false argument.

Stop trying to use red herrings. No one ever disputed that Ginn is going to be a returner here. Where you made a mistake was by insisting that it's all he should be doing.

Cam almost always throws to his first progression or checks down because he doesn't yet have the ability to go through reads like an Andrew Luck. Even if he did, every team in the league throws a very high percentage of their targets to the first and second receiving options (be it WRs or WR/TE).

That's not a realistic possibility, as Steve's catch percentage has been pretty consistent throughout his career. Moreover, receivers are usually more concerned with how involved they are with the offense than with the outcomes. If Cam only threw his way twice but both went for 70+ yard touchdown passes, he'd still be pissed that he only got targeted twice.

 

Do you understand the concept of developing young players? Do you understand the importance of thinking more than one season at a time? Your approach is exactly the type of thinking that leads to trading draft picks or releasing young players to sign vets and "go for it." It's the kind of thinking that gets Evan Mathis, Wil Montgomery, Tony Brown, and Jarrett Bush cut in favor of more experienced players who are gone shortly thereafter. A fourth WR is on the field a decent amount of the time, but gets relatively few opportunities to impact a game. It's a perfect opportunity to get game experience for young receivers without hurting your offense. Using that on a veteran who is already as good as he's going to get and probably won't be on your team after the season is a complete waste.

 

Guess what: Nick Hayden is still in the league, were we supposed to keep him on the roster more years waiting for him to be capable? Mathis and Montgomery took a LONG time to bloom. I do wish we'd have kept Bush around but it's not like he was all pro. Tony Brown, yes the coaches fucked that one up.

These jr midget WRs Hurney drafted have had time as well. Window. Closing. Here. Maybe they can catch on somewhere else, then we'll see. For that matter, none have been cut as of yet.

 

Think about roster management in a more thoughtful way than "just sign the best players." Why is the third QB usually a young guy? Because he won't play regularly unless your top two get injured, at which point your season would be over regardless. 2nd/3rd HB, 2nd TE, 4th/5th WR, 4th DE, 4th DT, 4th/5th LB, 4th/5th CB, and 4th safety are all spots where it makes sense to have youth. Those are places where you can develop young players and get them game experience, an approach that not only saves money but will help your team in the future. How does signing a veteran for one of those spots on a one year deal help you in the future? It doesn't. And how much does it really help you even during that one year? Minimally.

I have no problem with signing Hixon. I have no problem with signing Ginn. Signing both Hixon and Ginn was idiotic, especially for a team with such limited cap space. You could sign a DT or OL for a little over a million, correct? How would that not be better than spending it on a fourth wide receiver who won't be with the team in 2014? You only have a limited number of draft picks, so if signing Ginn pushes Joe Adams off the roster then the team has to either spend significant money on a veteran to fill that spot in 2014 or has to spend a draft pick doing so.

 

As far as managing the roster, this probably won't happen every year. If it does, I will agree with you that they aren't doing it right. I'd have preferred we signed a DT, hell yes. I'd have liked to give the money both Ginn and Hixon are getting to one good DT or OL instead, truth be told.

But now, today, we have a new personnel sheriff in town with different values. I am cool with letting him construct the team according to his standards/philosophies etc (and I happen to want a different prototype at WR than what Hurney mostly drafted so that helps his case with me).

Gettleman said he wanted to be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater, I think he's decided that someone is probably bathwater. Let them prove they aren't, on the field in camp.

 

It doesn't matter whether or not this is an ongoing pattern, right now it's an obvious mistake. Spending over a million on a fourth wide receiver when you have minimal cap space and huge holes all over the roster is clearly unwise. Maybe Adams and Pilares are bums and maybe they aren't, but now at least one of them is going to be off the roster and if the other makes the team then he won't get much playing time barring injury, which means little development as a player.

You guys have to start playing chess instead of checkers. Think more than one move ahead. The Panthers aren't realistically contending for a Super Bowl in 2014. At best they want to make the playoffs, but the goal is to start building towards a better future of consistent success. Right? Do Ginn and Hixon in any way accomplish anything beyond 2013? No, they don't. In fact, they may actually be hurting the future if either Adams or Pilares turn out to be a useful player a la Mathis, Montgomery, Brown, or Bush. Obviously Hurney did a lot worse, but pushing young players off the roster needlessly is one of the mistakes he consistently made. I'm disappointed to see the same thing happening here again. I'm also annoyed that this forced me to agree with T_Schroll, as this is essentially the argument he made, only he was arguing about 3rd WR/returner as opposed to 4th WR.

 

Let's see what happens with whatever WR that gets cut. What WR that Hurney drafted ever caught on with another NFL team? I think Colbert did, for a minute. Can't think of another one. It is time to move on from that shit.

 

Hixon got $685k.

I like gettleman.

Of course - it might also be in part due to the consequences of the new CBA.

 

meatpile is The Oracle. If he's happy, I'm happy.