Did you happen to miss Wednesday’s action from the Carolina Panthers power duo of general manager Scott Fitterer and head coach Frank Reich? Well, we got you covered.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the team’s media availability at the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine.
David Tepper was present during Tuesday's meeting with Derek Carr
Head coach Frank Reich, in confirming an early morning report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, said Tepper was present for Tuesday night’s meeting with Carr.
“He’s got a unique perspective,” Reich said. “Both he and Nicole [Tepper] were in there—obviously along with Scott [Fitterer], Dan [Morgan], and Samir [Suleiman]. That’s our leadership team. We’re doing this together. Obviously, as a head coach, you have a certain role in it, and you play that role. But it’s a collaborative effort to make a big decision on who’s gonna be our quarterback.”
The meeting with Derek Carr went well
Reich also said he believes their meeting with the free-agent quarterback, who they’ll speak with again on Monday, was a “very good” one.
“Yeah, good meeting with Derek,” he said. “Really have a lot of respect for what he’s accomplished in his career, the kind of player he is, the kind of person he is. You know, just to see, ‘Is this the right fit? Is this an answer?’ I think part of that is—yeah, this is a good option. But we have to look it through. We’re looking at all options.”
All quarterbacks options will be evaluated
When asked about weighing the pros and cons between signing a quarterback and drafting one, Reich said all options will be on the table.
“I don’t think you can make that decision based on the status of the division right now,” he said of signing a veteran quarterback based off the NFC South. “Whatever decision we make is what is best not just for this year, but you’re looking on the horizon. Obviously if you draft a guy, you’re looking on a very long-term horizon. If you go free agent like we go Derek Carr, the nice thing with Derek is he’s gonna be 32 years old. So, it’s kinda prime quarterback years. So, there’s still a good five-year window there. Sure, we’re like every team—we wanna win the division next year. But we really have to look beyond that as well.”
"Draft and develop" is Scott Fitterer's preferred route
As he did during Reich’s introductory press conference last month, general manager Scott Fitterer doubled down on his hopes of finally drafting and developing a quarterback.
“In an ideal world, you always wanna draft a quarterback,” he said. “Draft, develop and have that guy here for five, 10 years. You wanna have that consistency. It helps for many different reasons. The continuity on your roster, for salary cap reasons. There’s so many benefits at drafting and developing. That is the right route to go.
“We’ll see if we can get in a position where we can get one of the guys we like. Is there a guy there in the second round? Can we get up in the first round? Those are all the things we’re exploring right now. But, yes, you’re right. I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to look at the veteran route if you can’t do that. But in an ideal world, you do wanna draft.”
. . . and he might trade up to do it
Fitterer, in his post-presser scrum, would later add that this may be the year to trade up to nab a franchise quarterback.
“You gotta be aggressive,” he said. “If you have a guy you have conviction on, go get him. You don’t wanna be reckless. But you wanna look to see what’s been done in the past, and if you have to give up some assets to go get him.
“I hope we’re not picking in the top 10 again, so it’s gonna be a lot more if you’re in 22 or something else at that point. This might be a year to do some things like that.”
Scott Fitterer was impressed in the team's meeting with Anthony Richardson
During an interview on The Clubhouse with Kyle Bailey later in the day, Fitterer said Richardson fits the mold of that “draft and develop” dream.
“So, we met with him last night, and he was really good,” he said. “Much further ahead mentally in terms of the football processing and what he knows about the game. He was really good.
“Obviously, the physical talent’s off the charts. It’s about, ‘How do we develop guys like him?’ And that’s why you bring in a Frank Reich. That’s why you bring in Parks Frazier and Josh McCown and Jim Caldwell—for guys like him.
“They can benefit anyone. They can benefit Derek Carr. They can benefit Sam Darnold or Matt Corral or PJ [Walker] or anyone that we have on our roster. There’s a reason why we went after these guys and paid the guys like we did—to develop our quarterbacks and that’s what we wanna do.”
. . . and Bryce Young
Fitterer was also taken aback by Young, for a few reasons.
“So I will say that he was a little bit bigger in person than I thought he would be,” Fitterer stated. “But I’ll tell you what—sitting down with him, he was so poised and just so in control. And the way he talks football, it was so fluid coming out of his mouth. Coaches couldn’t even get the question out and he’s already answering, or he went on to answer before they even asked the question because he understands the game so much.
“So, yeah, he’s not a big man, but he does so many things well. He sees the field, he processes quickly, he makes the right decisions and he’s just a really good person on top of it. Really smart, really good person.”
And Reich pretty much concurred.
“Highly intelligent, very fast processor, very poised, accurate passer, playmaker and he checks a lot of boxes,” Reich said during his media availability. “No moment’s too big for him. Very, very good player. He seems like a great young man. Very impressive.”
. . . and Hendon Hooker
Yeah, him too.
“We met with him this morning and he was great,” Fitterer said of Hooker. “We didn’t have a bad interview with a quarterback. Sometimes you do and it’s like, ‘Ugh, we’re done.’ Hendon was really solid. When you watch the tape—he throws a great deep ball, he’s a nice natural passer. He’s got a lot to work with. He’s one of those guys we’re definitely monitoring and we’re definitely interested in.”
Bradley Bozeman and D'Onta Foreman are free-agent priorities
When asked of spots outside the quarterback position he’d like to address, Fitterer mentioned their desire to bring back two of their own free agents.
“Obviously, a tight end, we could use another receiver,” he said. “I like where our offensive line is at. We need to . . . uh . . . we’re working on Bozeman—if we can get that piece in place. Obviously, [D’Onta] Foreman. There’s a lot of pieces in place.”
