Im sure many of you read the article on espn.com in which James states that he is most likely not going to be signed by the Colts. Am i the only one who thinks he would be exactly what the Panthers need? Yeah Foster is like Bacardi and cola...he gets the job done, but if the Panthers had the Edge...they would be so much better. I have no basis for saying this, its just hope, but i thought some might be interested to know that he is unrestricted.

2/3/2006 12:32:35 PM

if we got Edgerrin I'd probably shit my pants, and be very happy about it

2/3/2006 12:33:35 PM

get him and draft Pope

win games

oh and dont sign witherspoon because the giants need him

2/3/2006 12:34:25 PM

^no, Witherspoon definitely has to stay...he is the only constant the Panthers have at LB

2/3/2006 12:36:05 PM

we've definitely gotta do something - im not sure as to the specifics of the team's salary cap situation after (re-)signing morgan, lucas, and wahle - but big names like edge's easily get one excited - that would definitely take a lot of the pressure off the passing game and improve the 3.0 yds/carry or whatever miserable number that was this year

i think he would look here too considering we have most all of the other pieces of a super bowl contender, i still think we need a more solid #2 at wideout

that would easily be the biggest free agent signing in team history

2/3/2006 12:36:12 PM

and ^^ from what i understand, the cats had the money to resign morgan or witherspoon - and they've already signed morgan

dont get me wrong, when the guy plays, he's demonic - but that's when he plays

2/3/2006 12:37:49 PM

Quote :

"i still think we need a more solid #2 at wideout"

I agree with you there but dont forget that Edge is a great receiving RB also, that in itself will take some of the focus off of Steve Smith...then if we could just get Colbert and/or Drew Carter to step it up a notch we could be sitting pretty with the WR situation with what we already have

2/3/2006 12:38:40 PM

Offense wins games

Defense wins championships

2/3/2006 12:38:59 PM

the rams won a championship

2/3/2006 12:43:50 PM

the rule is unless you have a good qb, good running back, AND good recievers, then defense wins championships

2/3/2006 12:45:16 PM

i mentioned edge in the other thread, but people were falling all over themselves in anticipation of jamal lewis. signing edge would be HUGE. i just hope they don't sacrifice a budding defensive star to get him

2/3/2006 12:46:59 PM

who are they saying we'll give up for him??

2/3/2006 1:18:36 PM

franklin, and wilson

2/3/2006 1:24:49 PM

I don't see any way we could make enough salary cap room to sign someone like him. We were only about a Mil under cap last year & next year will be tight as well. We have some room, but not nearly as much as some others. He & S. Alexander are way out of our price range. Green Bay, SF, the Aints, Browns, Eagles, Cardinals all will simply be able to offer much more. Lewis may be feasible though.

2/3/2006 1:37:01 PM

but I could see Edge possibly taking a slight paycut to come here since our chances of winning a super bowl with him are reallllly good

2/3/2006 1:51:54 PM

i know i would love to have edge but but in reality we have a beeter chance to sighn jamal lewis. If we had foster and lewis as a tamdem that would be awsome and would not cost us a lot of money sense he had such a poor season last year

[Edited on February 3, 2006 at 1:56 PM. Reason : xsfaasdf]

2/3/2006 1:53:35 PM

^^ i love the panthers but the colts have the same chance if not better of getting to the super bowl as we do

2/3/2006 1:54:48 PM

if we signed either one of those RB's it would mean we wouldnt resign DeShaun which would give us a little more wiggle room, as well as cutting stephen davis's fat contract.

2/3/2006 1:56:10 PM

I am curious what makes people think lewis is awesome.

I dont know much about the ravens but i was under the impression he didnt do to well.

Or am I completely thinking of the wrong guy?

2/3/2006 1:56:26 PM

^ they arent going to pay him so bottom line he isnt staying there. I think their chances at winning are decreased significantly w/o edge

2/3/2006 1:56:27 PM

lewis did not perform last season bu tthe ravens fell apart last season and he had court problems. He he gets into the right system he can return to top shape. He is a bruiser

2/3/2006 1:57:50 PM

If you're going to sign Jamal Lewis, you may as well just hold onto Stephen Davis.

Either way you're going to have a bruising running back whose career is pretty much over.

2/3/2006 2:05:07 PM

davis has said that he will take a substancial pay cut to allow the panthers to both keep him and have cap room to keep the pieces together

2/3/2006 2:17:16 PM

I hate Jamal Lewis - he has ruined my fantasy teams two years in a row. I think he is washed up and would be a crappy signing by the panthers.

Does anyone know what type of salary cap situation the Panthers are in? Do they have much room?

2/3/2006 2:36:07 PM

I don't know the panthers salary cap status, but a lot of who they are able to re-sign will depend on the outcome of the new collective bargaining agreement. A part of the suggested new agreement would give teams more money to try to re-sign their own players.

2/3/2006 2:47:56 PM

we have used a lot of our cap room this year but you never know what are situattion will be next year because we are going to have to let some people go and sighn new people so im not sure what are situation is right now. But the last few years we have been around top 5 in spending

2/3/2006 2:48:38 PM

The Panthers are already 6 Mil over for next year, which is certainly tight, but it's not terrible. They will likely end up a little less money than they did last year, unless they make some major readjustments (which would hurt long term). For the panthers to have any shot at a guy like Alexander or Edge or to just resign Foster & Witherspoon, they need to redo Peppers' contract to something more reasonable. His current figure is about 14Mil, which is rediculous. What they do with that will be the biggest factor in what they can do this offseason.

2/3/2006 4:05:11 PM

I think lewis fits our style of play better, but either one would be a welcome addition

2/3/2006 4:07:33 PM

hey twolfpack 3 are you sure peppers is getting payed 14 million next season or is that an exageration. i just wanted to know because if that is the case then he is being payed more than delhomme. Can yo u give me your source if you have one. Thanks

2/3/2006 11:02:20 PM

^His actual salary for the upcoming season & his "cap figure" are 2 different things. And yes his cap figure is 14Mil, which will handcuff just about any team.

A big chuck of that 14Mil is bonuses he recieved earlier. In his original 7 year contract, he recieved a 13Mil signing bonus & he gets something like another ~1.5Mil bonus each time he makes the pro bowl. There are other bonuses too, but I'm not sure about them. So those bonuses really add up in the latter years of the contract.

[Edited on February 4, 2006 at 12:29 AM. Reason : ]

2/4/2006 12:28:01 AM

^ its late now and i believe you, but where are you getting this info b/c i really want to see it. I am a visual learner. This is a lot of money to pay a defefensive end. i know he is good but, is he really worth this much cap room??? this is a question that i want all you panther fans out there to answer. i Mean we will get jinkens back next season. just right me back with some good responses b/c i love the panthers

2/4/2006 5:00:41 AM

they need to redo delhomme's contract before the redo peppers' contract

2/4/2006 5:20:40 AM

^^This info is readily available with a few searches online. But again, bonuses are given at one time, but their cap hit (for the bonus) is spread out over the remainder of the players contract. Therefore, we aren't really paying him like 14Mil this season.

Of that 14Mil cap value, probably about half is bonuses he recieved earlier in his contract, & you can't reduce that part. The only part of a cap value that can be reduced (by renegotiating or cutting) is a players salary for that season.

When you give a player a bonus (signing, roster, performance, etc.) you are basically burning up future cap space by giving him money up front. This of course gives you a player cheaply for a few seasons, but then really hurts your future.

This is why the NFL is kind of cyclical, with teams having a few good seasons (getting good cheap players) , then a few bad season (paying retribution for those cheap player years). The Panthers have already gone through a bad-good-bad-good cycle since joining & their good cycle is winding down, because they are getting into salary cap purgatory (with the Titans & Ravens).

To make matters worse, if they do redo Peppes & Delhomme's deals, it will help this season yes, but that will make the next 2-3 even worse cap wise with more dead money.

As they say in the NFL, winning has its price.

For anyone who wants to really understand the cap & how it works, I would suggest a very good football simulation game, Front Office Football 2004.

2/4/2006 4:06:56 PM