We got Fields

To be honest, I am more excited about Fields than any other FA we've signed the last three years!
Changes our possibe draft strategy a little. With out LB being as big a need I would put drafting Peppers and trading down as equal ideas. If we sign a legitimate starting caliber CB in FA, then I'll say go with Peppers 100%.

 

Really? Why?

To be honest there was nothing keeping us from going Peppers anyway. DE is most definately far and away our biggest need.

 

I disagree, if you look at what we have, CB is our most glaring need. We still only have one starter in Anderson, and he is still a question mark with lots to prove.
With the signing of Fields, it lessens our need at OLB. That makes me not lean so much towards a trade down. I am now indifferent, but figure we'll go with Peppers at #2. Never disliked the idea of Peppers, just prefered a trade down.

Feilds, IMO, is the best FA signing we've made in a while. No injury questions, he's still got fuel in the tank and isn't over the hill...probably in his prime. I liked the Huntley signing too, but knew he wouldn't get many opportunities under the previous system.

 

>>I disagree, if you look at what we have, CB is our most glaring need. We still only have one starter in Anderson, and he is still a question mark with lots to prove.

True, we could go with Jammer, but the value's poor. I love Jammer as a corner, I think he's the right guy here, and if we traded down I'd be happy. But head to head I think that Peppers is the way to go. This is the one where I think you have to take the chance that it'll work rather than the chance that it won't.

Cornerbacks can be found, franchise ends are harder to find, and so on, and the usual rhetoric. Undoubtedly, the team has seemed to have zeroed in on Peppers and is making moves around that end.

>>With the signing of Fields, it lessens our need at OLB. That makes me not lean so much towards a trade down.

True. Now we have, I guess, our weakside starter for a few years. My only regret is that he's not a better pass defender, because it'd be great to have two starters out there on third down. I guess we could still use him, it'd just have to be as a blitzer. His burst to the QB is unmatched at LB for a non 3-4 type player. Now, if we stumble upon a good OLB, so be it. But the three starting linebackers (and the nickel replacement) should be on this team, and I feel somewhat confident about that foursome.

 

I agree. The upside of Fields is bigger than any results from any FA signing we've had in three years. At the time, I was pretty excited about Chuck Smith and who was that other guy.......?

It's looking more and more like Peppers and then RB. I like the fact the Panthers seem to get a player when the go after them. It's rare they don't. Plus with these new signing, the Panthers are now a more attractive team to play for and that helps our recruiting.

 

One of my compatriots at my permanent home posted this on Fields from the Rams' site:

"Explosive football player…big, fast forceful tackler…considered one of the fastest linebackers in the National Football League…selected to first Pro Bowl following 2000 season…"

Fields might not come too cheap. He was in the top five of linebackers in pay in 1998, signing a six year $27 mil deal with $7 mil bonus. He was the Saints' 1995 first rounder (13th overall), finally giving us another first round level talent player on defense (I don't know whether I'd count Gilbert, a top five selection).

 

I am statrting to agree with that, MVM. Taking Peppers or trading down is a push for me at this point. If we get a starting FA CB, then I'll say we should take Peppers for sure and get our CB later in the draft.
Not waving my Tar Heel poms yet, and doubt I will, but I am starting to find myself in the middle on the tradedown/Peppers war. In the back of my mind, I figured we'd get a few FA and make Peppers the sure pick. I've just been basing my opinon on what I see, rather than what I foresee.

 

Is it crazy to want Hambrick re-signed for a little more than the veteran minimum?

Morgan-Hambrick-Fields sounds lovely to me. Sure, its not the youngest linebacking corps, but we have several really decent young back ups to choose from.

 

Hambrick might be the odd man out. Jackson could be a steal of a signing and give us the strong sider we need, we'll see?

 

No, I don't believe so. Another veteran corner is worth a lot more than another veteran linebacker...Fields assumably takes on the weakside for ~2 years. In that time we look for a weakside guy that can be explosive.

For this year, Navies and Jackson fight for the strongside spot. That's decent competition, and Navies should be the other nickel linebacker as I've noted. But both those guys are free agent next year...so one could stay at a decent price if he earns the spot and runs with it. Towns tends to want to figure into the equation also, so there's no shortage of competition.

If a draft pick like Napoleon Harris falls to 34, it might be hard to pass up since he's rated as the top guy out there. (of course, part of that depends on how long Fields is expected to start...if it's two years, then it's possible Harris would be a definate pick. If Fields is signed to, say, a five year deal, it's a lot harder to justify him). But free agent linebacker is a hard one to hang, and if we haven't signed another CB (or don't intend to), then it'd be hard to pass up a corner in the 2nd no matter what linebacker is there.