Answering all your questions in this week’s CSR mailbag!
Hello CSR! Welcome to Brian Answers, part two of your weekly Panthers mailbag for everyone! The topic of the week was centered around trades, as that’s what just about every fan is talking about as we approach the deadline across the league. To recap, this is part two of the weekly mailbag, where I answer all your questions from part one, Brian Asks, posted earlier this week. Without further adieu, let’s dive in!
DexterousDexter: What players are valuable enough to trade? How much can we ask in return for them? What teams would be interested?
Diontae Johnson, Chuba Hubbard, and Jaycee Horn are the obvious candidates. You could possibly make an argument for Jadeveon Clowney, Adam Thielen, and Josey Jewell if you squint hard enough. I wouldn’t expect any of the offensive linemen to be on the table, since the Panthers need to have a strength somewhere.
I don’t expect anyone except Horn to fetch anything more than a mid round pick or something conditional depending on the results of the season. I don’t really have a list of teams that might be interested as these kind of trades don’t necessarily happen for a team with a huge hole somewhere.
schrodingersblackcat: Assuming we could re-sign him without using the franchise tag (for the love of God, not the franchise tag…), which do you see as more valuable to us, re-signing DJ5 prior to the trade deadline or selling high right at the deadline?
Diontae Johnson wants to get paid, and I think he would actually stay if the Panthers gave him what I would call market value for a free agent wide receiver. I think if they go to re-sign him, that’s a conversation for the off-season. But to answer the second part, re-signing him prior to the trade deadline would probably be more valuable, since the longer you wait the more likely we’ll see the next high end WR2-to-WR1 contract hit the books, so signing soon would save some money. I wouldn’t expect Johnson to fetch much more than the capital the Jets gave up for Davante Adams, which was a conditional 4th that could go as high as a 2nd round pick.
schrodingersblackcat: Does it make sense to sell high on Chuba ahead of the trade deadline rather than let him walk at the end of the season, and what would that mean for our run-centric offense for the remainder of the season after week 9? Who would get the RB1 share of carries?
I think it actually does make sense to sell high on Hubbard at the deadline, but that’s only if the Panthers don’t intend to re-sign him, which he’s making a strong argument for. The RB1 share would likely be split between Miles Sanders and Raheem Blacksheer going forward, and I think in this scenario you’d see Jonathon Brooks continue to add to his workload every week once they actually start giving him snaps. For what its worth though, I don’t expect Carolina to trade Hubbard. Canales wants to evaluate this offense and taking away their most productive piece kind of kneecaps that idea.
Good_Ol_Boy: Think we could trade BY to the Dolphins for picks and/or a defensive player? I mean, they’re getting pretty desperate.
Not particularly, based on the recent reports Tua is going to return in the near future. Trading for Bryce doesn’t really give them a better option since he would need to learn an entirely new offense midway through the season. And I don’t think they would give the Panthers enough draft value to make the trade worth it anyway.
MtdndancerSr: Vikings are 5-0. Jets are 2-4. Is Sam Darnold loving life right now?
He absolutely should be. Well deserved opportunity for Darnold and he is capitalizing on it. I’m happy for him too.
mendishar: What could we get for Hekker? He used to be a Pro Bowl/All Pro punter in his youth, but he’s now next to last in net and average punt yards.
Probably a 6th rounder at best. There’s a lot of talented punters out there, and it would take a catastrophic injury to a really good team with a really good punter to get more than that.
Marsha Jackalone: What type of pick would DJ5 bring in return? What round? IMO if it is 4th or lower just keep him and hope to re-sign him.
I answered earlier but figured since you specifically asked what round I’d answer. I’d expect it to be conditional, but at best maybe a 2nd rounder for a team that is really close.
KeepPounding88: Are there any untouchable players on this team (assuming we’re not blown away with a crazy offer that we can’t refuse), and if so, who are they?
I believe the offensive line is untouchable, maybe save for Taylor Moton since he’s getting up there in age and Brady Christensen as a cheaper guy on the last year of his rookie deal. I’d think Jaycee is untouchable but there’s a lot of speculation going on about him online and by the fans. Aside from that, rookies and hurt players won’t get traded. Everybody else is fair game.
Waldropa: Other than gaining future capital in the form of draft picks, as a bad team with more holes than a block of swiss cheese, how is trading away all of your good-decent players beneficial? Also with the situation we’re in now, would it even be worth trading for anyone?
I mostly agree with this sentiment, save for guys like Diontae Johnson and Chuba Hubbard, and that would be if there’s no real chance of bringing them back next season. Unless the Panthers have a massive change in trajectory like, TODAY, they probably won’t get those guys back next season anyway. But other than that, I agree. Part of the reason this team has such a major talent gap is because of trading guys like Christian McCaffrey and Brian Burns away for draft assets, among other moves. DJ Moore was obviously part of a trade that was supposed to bring Carolina a shiny new franchise QB, but that trade also factors into it. You can only trade away so many of your best players before you end up in a situation like this.
Aggressively_avg2: Why are there a block of Panther fans on Twitter (and even here) absolutely obsessed with throwing Bryce Young back out there. Didn’t we suffer enough? Was his lack of physical traits (small size, and a weak arm) in the NFL not apparent enough?
I actually kind of get it. While there was that awesome game against the Raiders, for the most part this season has shown this iteration of the Panthers is going to lose most of their games, no matter who the QB is. Andy Dalton has made them more watchable, but nobody will be talking about that once the season is over if the Panthers have 3-4 wins. I’d personally let Bryce just ride the bench for the season and revisit in the off-season, but there’s no real upside for future seasons to have Dalton play every single game. So to that end, I do get it. But I don’t see that change happening any time in the next few weeks.
Randallpink11: When it comes to brownies…nuts or no nuts?
No nuts. You can add that later, especially if those nuts come packed in the form of ice cream.
TXPanther: Who will have better stats the rest of the year – Davante Adams or Amaril Cooper? You can throw DJ5 in that mix if the question isn’t Panthers-centric enough
I’d probably go with Cooper, if only because I am a frustrated Garrett Wilson fantasy owner who is made the Jets did this after he had his best two games of the season. Rodgers will always have his favorites, but Wilson will cut into Adams’ target share and for some reason he loves throwing that ball to Allen Lazard. The Bills meanwhile do not have nearly as loaded a WR group. But I could see Dionte Johnson outclassing both of them from a stat position.
McFly66: The Panthers major problem is that they have little to no pressure on the opposing quarterback. How about trading Piniero to a needy team for a big D lineman or pass rusher.
If there’s a team out there willing to make a trade for a starting caliber DL/EDGE for a kicker, then the Panthers should take it and run. Maybe Bryce Young missed his calling as a kicker.
But real-talk, no, I don’t think that trade option exists. There’s a lot of kickers available teams could just sign for cheap.
e4*: Building on Randal’s question….
Peanut butter – smooth or crunchy?
I’m actually a smooth guy myself, but crunchy deserves love in its own right. For me, smooth was all I ate as a kid, so fight me.
Cat Fan: At the moment, we have one capable QB on staff. What can we possibly get for our “Franchise” Young?
I doubt much of anything valuable. Maybe a 4th round pick. The big problem here is that even if the Panthers eat most of his rookie contract, a team is still trading for a QB purely based on upside and no real NFL success.
Coker has looked really good, but he does not make up for Johnson. Can Legette and Mingo?
Rumor has it Morgan is working with Dionte and his agent to try to determine his plans for next Spring (and his price): we could be losing a top WR soon.
I really like Legette so far. He’s not at all the type of player DJ5 is from a skillet standpoint, and neither is Mingo. The biggest reason behind Diontae’s success is he is a skilled separator on the outside. The Panthers don’t really have that in anyone else.
Enjoy the game this weekend against the Washington Commanders, and let’s KEEP POUNDING through that trade deadline!