With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.
Yes, the Carolina Panthers are late to the party. But I thought it only appropriate given that the Cats have no first round pick in this year's NFL Draft. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing whatsoever. Last year, the Panthers traded this year's first-rounder (plus 2008's second and fourth round picks) for the Eagles' first round pick (No. 19 overall) and selected Jeff Otah. Carolina made the playoffs and looked like a Super Bowl contender late in the season.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
John Fox and Marty Hurney headed into 2008 with their jobs on the line after an underwhelming 2007 that featured a whole lot of Mittens and not a lot of excitement in Charlotte. They decided to throw caution to the wind and play for "now" by trading their 2009 first-round pick for a chance to pick up both Jeff Otah and Jonathan Stewart in the first round of the draft.
With a healthy Jake Delhomme, Julius Peppers finally deciding to care, a road-grading offensive line and a rejuvenated Smash and Dash running game that featured DeAngelo Williams and Stewart, the Panthers surprised some people by winning the NFC South and looking like a Super Bowl-caliber squad.
In short, he's secretly replaced everyone's regular coffee with the threat of a pink slip. Let's see how they respond.
The key here for Richardson? He won't have to buy out anyone's contract if he decides to make changes. He can just sweep everyone out the door and throw a ton of cash at, say, Bill Cowher, or someone else who can find more than two starters from 16 2nd- and 3rd-round draft picks.
So if the Panthers don't make the playoffs this year, you'll see a sudden uptick in the unemployment rate in Charlotte next January. Of course, given that draft record, some scouts might be gone regardless of what the team does this season.
On Thursday, ProFootballTalk.com posted word that Brett Favre's agent, Bus Cook, was floating the idea that his client would love to play for the Panthers. The Rock Hill Herald's Darin Gantt had to take time out from his Fourth of July preparations to shoot down the rumor, because, no matter where Favre may or may not want to play in 2008, Carolina is very happy with their current quarterback, Jake Delhomme.
Well, Marty, here's how it works. Human beings have vocal cords. At a point roughly between 18 and 30 months of age, human beings begin using their vocal cords to articulate words. By the time we reach adulthood, we use them all the freakin' time.
In this case, "these things" came from Cook using those vocal cords to talk to other people about Favre's desire to play for the Panthers.
So there you have it.
I'm pretty sure Hurney understands how these things work. That he chose not to comment on them hardly seems surprising since, you know, honesty is the best policy except when you're an NFL general manager. Either way, whatever Hurney knows doesn't change the fact that Delhomme's still the Panthers' starting quarterback.
Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is a man in search of a bargain. He doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend on the free agent market, so he's pursuing quantity over quality.
If Hurney will make a big move this year, it will be in the draft. As our pal Darin Gantt reminds us, Hurney has spoken at length at the "flexibility" Carolina has with the picks they got from the Kris Jenkins trade. Using our handy NFL draft points value chart, we can see that Hurney can package Carolina's #13 first-round pick with the Jets' 3rd-round pick (70th overall) and move up to #8. If Carolina kept the 3rd-rounder and packaged their 2nd-round pick instead, they could move up to #6.
Oh, by the way, Gantt is also reporting that Hurney traveled to Idaho to chat up stud Boise State tackle Ryan Clady. He's already guaranteed to make more than any free agent Hurney signs in the next few weeks.
There's been a bit of a buzz in the local papers here about Jerry Richardson's incredibly loud silence this week. The Carolina Panthers owner hasn't come out and publicly backed head coach John Fox and GM Marty Hurney after a disappointing 7-9 season -- the second disappointing season in a row -- and many are reading that as tacit disapproval.
'Julius, you're coming up. This is your time to step up. And I'm not talking about running and sacking - I'm talking about leadership. This is your time.'
Yeah, that didn't turn out so well, did it? Julius Peppers had arguably his worst season as a pro after that. Maybe Richardson isn't saying anything because he doesn't want to see his coach and GM respond the same way his star defensive end did -- not after fans stayed away in droves late in the season.
Of course, Richardson could be silent because he's secretly trying to coax Bill Cowher out of Raleigh, but we won't really know for sure until he says something, will we?
When I haven't yelling at the Carolina Panthers to blitz someone (for a change!) tonight, I managed to catch a few things Cris Collinsworth said about his talk with Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. I had to rewind it a few times to be sure, but it sure sounded like he said head coach John Fox and GM Marty Hurney would absolutely be back next season, regardless of the team's final record.
Essentially, Richardson said that Fox and Hurney get a pass because of injuries to Jake Delhomme and Brett Basanez, which created so much uncertainty at quarterback. I can't see how this absolves Hurney, given that Hurney signed David Carr, who has been horrible, and stood pat with Travelle Wharton at left tackle, despite the fact that Wharton was coming off knee surgery and wasn't able to block John Abraham -- the rest Delhomme got hurt in the first place.
Hurney has made a few good moves, like drafting Jon Beason and trading a fifth-round pick for Chris Harris, but the David Carr signing has been an unmitigated disaster. Perhaps Richardson will give Hurney a pass for that, but that should be the last one. If Fox and Hurney do return in 2008, they'll really need to win then.
You can't win an NFL title in March and April, but you can certainly lose one, and if you want to know how the Carolina Panthers went from the NFC title in 2003 to the dregs of the NFC South in 2007, look no further than some of the offseason moves made by Panthers general manager Marty Hurney. Here's just a sampling of some of Hurney's blunders since Super Bowl XXXVIII:
1. Letting Muhsin Muhammad go. The Panthers had a solid, proven NFL receiver to complement Steve Smith. Hurney decided Muhammad was too old and let him leave as a free agent to Chicago, thinking that Keary Colbert and Drew Carter could do Muhammad's job. That hasn't worked out so well, has it? (Hurney may have let Keyshawn Johnson go a year too soon as well.)
2. Signing David Carr. This last decade or so has shown NFL teams the importance of having a quality backup quarterback. Carolina decided to cut the ineffective Chris Weinke -- a good idea -- and ended up signing somebody much, much worse. A 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde plays rings around Carr. Joey Harrington, who was available, probably could have done better. Perhaps this wouldn't have been necessary if 4th-round pick Stefan LeFors had been any good.
Who moved to the head of the NFL class during the draft? Find out with FanHouse's team-by-team 2009 Draft Grades.
With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call 
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 
If you weren't certain that this was a do-or-die season for Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox and GM Marty Hurney, this should remove all doubt. Pro Football Talk -- you know, the blog that 
Carolina Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is a man in search of a bargain. He doesn't have a whole lot of money to spend on the free agent market, so he's pursuing quantity over quality.
