Panthers Decision-Making Shows Lack Of Direction

With one fatal swoop, Carolina fans saw the release of two of the most important players in the history of their franchise.  Julius Peppers, Carolina’s all-time sacks leader, did not receive another franchise tag as he did last year, and after not accepting a contract offer to be the highest paid defensive player in the NFL, accepted a lesser offer to join the Chicago Bears.  Also, the Panthers parted ways with Jake Delhomme, the quarterback who led the Panthers to two NFC title game appearances and a Super Bowl appearance.  Both releases surprised no one, and one could argue that both were necessary.  Jake had been reduced to “gotta-wanna-needa-getta-throwa interception” status, after he followed up his 6 turnover playoff disaster against Arizona with 18 more interceptions last season.   Pepper’s constant complaints about his contract situation through the media wore thin on the Panthers front office as well as their fans.

However, as the first day of free agency is rolling by, I can’t help but wonder what direction the Panthers are going.  2010 is an important year, and strangely enough, I believe it’s a winnable year.  The Panthers have good pieces to build around, and finished off last season incredibly strong, beating the Vikings and Saints at home, and walloping the Giants on the road.  They have two great running backs in Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, who both rushed for 1100 yards – the first time in NFL history a team has two 1100 yard runs.  They have a good offensive line, a young quarterback who went 4-1 down the stretch, and a defense that was second in the league against the pass.   Oh yeah, and they got Steve Smith.

However, the team seems to be operating in polar opposites.  On one hand, most NFL analysts believe that John Fox and the Panthers front office are in a must-win season.  However, their actions send the message that they are in a rebuilding year.  Where are the free agent signings?  Why aren’t there any discussions for a trade, to add immediate upgrades to positions of need?  Why are their no talks of bringing in an Anquan Bolden, a Michael Vick, or a Brandon Marshall?  While I’m sure such moves are big time decisions, I would expect a front office and a coaching staff which felt a sense of urgency to want to make moves to win now.  However, instead, they are releasing veterans like Muhsin Muhammed, Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis, without looking for experienced replacements, making a team that was already one of the youngest in the NFL even younger.  The average age on the Carolina Panthers roster is now 25.1 years, and the average amount of NFL experience is 2.96 years.

I don’t know about you, but the phrases “youth movement” and “must-win season” have never gone together.

The one thing I want to stress is that the Panthers don’t have to blow up the roster and start over, like some television pundits are suggesting.  They can win now, especially when you consider next year’s schedule.  They play 7 games against teams with worse records then they had last year (Rams, 49ers, Browns, Seahawks, Tampa Bay twice, and Chicago).  The other 9 are the Falcons and Saints twice, the Cardinals, Ravens, Steelers, Giants, and the Bengals.  If the Panthers win the games against the teams worse than they are, and find a way to win 4 of the 9 against teams that did better than they did, that’s 11 wins and a playoff spot! 

While everyone’s flying high on the Super Bowl champion Saints and the Falcons with Matt Ryan, the Panthers have a great opportunity to win a lot of games next year and challenge for the playoffs.  However, there are holes they need to fill at wide receiver and defensive tackle.  Finding a backup quarterback for Matt Moore and depth at the offensive line position would also be nice.  This can be achieved by a front office that would stop sleeping on the free agent market and started treating this offseason as if their jobs depended on it.