We bring you part two of our weekly fan mailbag, with tons of forward looking questions!
Hello Panthers fans! Welcome to Brian Asnswers, part two of our weekly CSR mailbag for everyone! This week’s topic was all about forward thinking, as the Panthers kicked our hope and souls down our throats with an absolute drubbing at the hands of the Commanders. So you all came out in bunches to talk about the future! To recap, Brian Answers is part two of our weekly mailbag, where we answer your questions asked earlier on in the week in our Brian Asks post.
Let’s dive right in!
KeepPounding88: Do you foresee us making any significant front office or coaching changes in the offseason? I expect our big three (Canales, Morgan, Tillis) to be safe, but does Evero become the fall guy for a defense that was set up to fail?
I don’t personally foresee anyone being the “fall guy” with this staff. While an argument could possibly be made for Ejiro Evero, I don’t believe Dave Canales has the coaching acumen from a whole picture perspective to decide someone from his coaching tree would have done any better than what Evero has done given the situation. I like that he’s mostly stayed away from the defensive decisions as a head coach. I’d expect Evero to be back unless someone over Canales’s head decides he needs to go.
Aggressively_avg2: When can this football team make me feel something again
As early as this week, if somehow Bryce Young comes out and lights a fire under the offense. A score on the very first drive, especially a touchdown, might reel me back into hoping for good things again. Let’s breath some optimism into existence; a 35 yard passing touchdown from Bryce Young to Jalen Coker. Will that make you feel again?
erickbuck: Poutine. Yay or nay?
If you haven’t had it before, why do you hate Canada?
I have had it before. It receives 10/10 yays for me. Getting some poutine from Canada itself is on my bucket list.
MtndancerSr: With Corbett’s prevalence for injury, will BC be the starting center next year? Will the rest of the OL stay together? There were people who had suggested trading Moton. I hope that changed after Watching Nijman fill in.
Brady Christensen is set to become a free agent in 2025, and if he continues on this trajectory as a solid starting offensive lineman, there may be a bidding war Carolina can’t win for his services. The rest of the offensive line should stay together, but with Corbett and Christensen both set to be free agents, center will likely be a big need. I would be happy to see BC get re-signed, he’s shown to be valuable as a starter and depth all along the line. I don’t expect Carolina to trade Moton either.
facepalmjedi: Is there any indication that the team is planning the much needed “players for draft picks fire sale”?
No, but I would also argue that fire sale might not be good for the team’s long term prospects. I would think Diontae Johnson, Chuba Hubbard, and Jaycee Horn are the subject of calls right now, but other than that I wouldn’t expect a large turnover during the trade deadline scramble. They seem to be standing pat with the few good players they have, and a foundation for the future has to start somewhere. Maybe Hubbard and DJ get traded, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Carolina doesn’t make a single high profile trade before the deadline.
TLGPanthersFan: People have been all over the spectrum with the upcoming QB class.
Personally there are two QBs that may be worth a 1st round pick, Sanders and Evans.
Do you think we could trade back and get another pick and still get either of them? Are there any second round QBs that may be worth it?
Are we just gonna sign another journeyman QB and punt next year as well?
The value of the first round QBs always drastically elevates the closer we get to the Draft, so I’m electing to punt on that question until we know a little more about this class. That said, Carolina should not be banking on trading back and getting their QB of the future in the same situation. Not to say the idea you are floating isn’t objectively a solid plan for this team, but as we have seen stares at the Bryce Young trade up teams will move Heaven and Earth for the QB they see as the next guy. I don’t know the QBs well enough to speak on who may be available in the 2nd round of the Draft, but they need to make the decision as to whether they are drafting the next guy or signing a bridge guy way before the actual Draft happens.
DannyLimes: Who do you think is our ‘priority’ re-sign out of our upcoming free agent group.I for one am assuming DJ5 will already be gone
Here’s the list for those curious.
Personally, Brady Christensen tops my list there since the Panthers have established a strong offensive line. Beyond that, I do not see any priority guys, if we are going on the assumption Diontae Johnson does not re-sign, which at this juncture seems likely. Your mileage my vary on Shaq Thompson, though he may end up retiring depending on how his Achilles injury rehab goes. Jordan Fuller and Tommy Tremble might be on your list, but I could see the coaching staff moving on as well depending on how the final staff shakes out in the off-season.
positivebob: The QB question is the most important of many problems facing Morgan. The best FA QB looks like Fields. He’s not great, or at least not consistent, but he is a major upgrade over what they have now. What would a 3,4 year signing cost? Cap space is limited, but drafting a QB is risky, as we know. Using their top picks on defense makes more sense to.me. Where do you think Morgan leans on QB?
I don’t think bringing in a veteran QB with the opportunity to start football games is going to be as hard as people make it out to be. Most likely, to get a veteran QB to sign a multi year deal, we’re looking at 10-15 million a year on average. But, Carolina will likely back load such a deal if they were to make it. Ideally, I think they try to capitalize on a situation like the Steelers did this off-season, as they got Justin Fields and Russell Wilson out of bad situations on the relatively cheap side of things. Then, you see where the board goes and take a shot on the young guy, IF you’re fully done with Bryce Young. This staff may not be done with him, but bringing in competition would make a ton of sense.
DannyLimes: what say you to this:
Panthers receive: 2nd round pick Titans (via Chiefs)
5th round pick Chiefs
Chiefs receive: Jaycee Horn
Feels like the 2016 Panthers all over again, drafting desperately to replace two starters, one high end, at cornerback just because. I would not take that, the Panthers already need corners. This just makes it worse.
Revshawn: My Top 5 2025 no brainer cut or trade list in order of importance:
1. Bryce Young
2. Miles Sanders
3. Ian Thomas
4. Jonathan Mingo
5. Jadeveon Clowney
What’s your Top 5?
- Anyone named C.J.
- Anyone whose last name rhymes with “Stroud”
- Anyone who played for Ohio State
- Jonathan Mingo
- Anyone who wears the number 7-OH LOOK WE MATCHED AGAIN!
right_turn_clyde: What’s the most likely outcome for Shaq Thompson this off-season? Released, Retire, Return?
He is a free agent in 2025. Objectively, I expect him to retire or go to another team for one final season. As a fan? Come back one more time, for the boys.
dayneb12: How active do you expect the Panthers to be at the trade deadline?
I don’t expect them to be overly active, as most of the players with any real trade weight would just add to the de-moralization of the rest of the team. But, I am also a seasoned Panthers fan, meaning I have some bias from decades passed where the Panthers do nothing and disappoint everyone.
Hythloday: If a QB prospect is rated as a very good (maybe not top notch elite) should we take that player over elite talent at other positions?
For context I ask this because I’m becoming increasingly impressed by Cam Ward. I thinking there’s a possibility he turns into a top 12 NFL QB (ultimately somewhere in that 6-12 range), but there’s some truly elite talent at DL (Graham) Johnson (CB) WR, etc that look like potential top 5 players at their respective positions. Obviously QB is most important on an NFL team, but I’m conflicted on where to draw that line combined with being burned out of the post-Cam QB search. That said it’s not like we can just give up without that solved.
Related: It will be tempting to overvalue defensive talent given the obvious. Is that advisable or should we be more agnostic in our approach?
- Objectively, no. But we can’t really know that until they take the field in the NFL as a QB.
- The Panthers, in my opinion, need to have a plan at QB before the Draft, and it should be readily apparent what that plan is to even us as plain fans. We should not be going into the draft wondering whether they will take a QB or a high end defensive prospect. If things are that uncertain, then Dave Canales and Dan Morgan are not meant to last. But my personal approach would be go get a QB, whether its free agency or the draft early, and then take as many shots as possible at the defense.
textual heeling: Ownership is horrible! The team has no talent! You won’t be able to sign any free agents! That could recently have described Houston, Detroit and Washington, all of whom now seem like solid, exciting franchises on the rise. How long until the Panthers join that club?
They signed plenty last year! The biggest reason behind the offensive line’s resurgence was dumping tons of money into the guard position. The Panthers just have to pay the crappy team tax, meaning they need to pay guys a bit more than they might be asking for from an established contender. But, they’ve got something foundation-wise to build on with that offensive line, which may help them join sooner than we expect.
panthersfan2018: Just wondering, do you think Carolina should fire Coach Evero or give him another year?
I can see this as a double-edged sword. Because if Carolina fired Evero, it will show the league that this franchise is willing to fire a coach who failed this season even though the front office did not give him enough tools to succeed. Our owner Tepper’s reputation will not will this either, which can make any good candidates stay away from Carolina.
On the other hand, Carolina has never been good with 3-4 scheme. If they fired Coach Evero and somehow able to bring in Coordinators like Robert Saleh, who runs 4-2-5 or 4-3, it can help the team since it is likely the players we have now, are more fit with those schemes instead of 3-4. And when that happens, instead of a major rebuild, they can just “retool” it by adding some young talents and some depths.
Just a thought, I know i am not expert so i understand i can be wrong. Please dont mock or insult me lol.
I fully believe if Carolina believed in him enough to let him retain his defensive staff and mostly control everything on that side of the ball following the Dave Canales hiring, they should retain him. There’s not really anywhere to go but up from here after his defensive personnel group was gutted down to the bones. I’d say bring him back and give him some rope this time.
Thanks for all your questions this week, and KEEP POUNDING!