Since the arrival of Matt Rhule, the Carolina Panthers have spent a pretty decent amount of resources on trying to find themselves a quarterback. But, as we enter the third season of this regime, they still have nothing to show for it.
Teddy Bridgewater cost them $31 million. He’s gone.
Sam Darnold cost a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick and, if he remains on the roster in 2022, over $25 million. He’s almost gone.
Then Matt Corral, who actually has yet to officially sign his rookie contract, cost them a third and a fourth-round pick. He’s, obviously, just begun.
So, should Panthers fans be concerned about these empty rolls of the dice?
Well, general manager Scott Fitterer joined Wednesday’s episode of The Mac Attack following his latest roll—now former Cleveland Browns star Baker Mayfield—to speak on it. And he, in so many words, said you’ll just have to deal until they finally find a passer worth holding on to.
“It’s the most important position on the team,” Fitterer said. “You can’t throw enough at it until you find the guy. I came from Seattle, where we took chances. We took Charlie Whitehurst. We took Matt Flynn and paid him big money. And it keeps going until you find the guy that can be your answer long term.”
Fitterer and the rest of the Seahawks front office finally found their guy in Russell Wilson back in 2012. Plus, fortunately for them, he came at the price of just a third-round selection.
But, unfortunately for the Panthers, nine-time Pro Bowl quarterbacks usually don’t fall into anyone’s lap like that. That’s why, as Fitterer went on to say, their high and/or low-stakes ventures won’t stop.
“We’re not looking, like I said earlier, to just put a bandaid on this,” he added. “We wanna fix this. There’s only so many players out there that can do this. So until we find that guy, we will take chances. I don’t think we’re throwing picks away or wasting picks. I think we’re trying to be as smart as we can about it, yet still taking chances to fix the position.”
We’ll now see if Mayfield, unlike the poor souls who came before him, is the one to permanently heal this wound.
