TAKING STOCK: 2022 CAROLINA PANTHERS

BY ADAM GREENE

One thing you can say about head coach Matt Rhule’s two seasons with the Carolina Panthers — he’s been consistent. They went 5-11 in his first year and 5-12 in his second. After a 3-0 start facing teams that would also not make the playoffs, expectations were probably unfairly high early on. Once the legit portion of their schedule started, Carolina soon fell back to Earth.

But there were positives. They brought back Cam Newton and for one whole game, it mattered and got them a win. Of course, that was after trading for Sam Darnold and getting saddled with his fifth year option — $18.858 million guaranteed.

CAROLINA PANTHERS

2021-22 Record: 5-12, fourth place NFC South

Playoffs: N/A

NOW WHAT?

As fun as it was to see Newton back in Carolina, they’re stuck with Darnold so they might as well ride it out for the final season. At this point, there is literally nothing left to lose. Rhule didn’t get fired this time, but anything short of a winning record will land him in the unemployment line in 2022.

Carolina isn’t the most attractive job in the league with its current roster, so general manager Scott Fitterer can help that by not creating too many salary cap issues this season if they do need to make a change.

FREE AGENCY

Carolina has decent free agent spending capability before they start any restructuring. Currently, they’re $15.044 million under the salary cap for 2022. They actually have a couple of free agents they should re-sign (but none worth the franchise tag), leading off with edge rusher Haason Reddick. Reddick had 68 tackles, 12 for a loss, 11 sacks, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery last season. It was the second year in a row he put up those kind of numbers after a less than stellar opening three years with the Arizona Cardinals.

They acquired Stephon Gilmore for next to nothing and could think about bringing him back if the price is right. Same for Cam Newton, who, frankly, just belongs in Carolina. If they’re rolling with Darnold, they might as well let him and Newton battle it out.

DRAFT

I had the Panthers taking Evan Neal, offensive lineman out of Alabama at No. 6 in my first mock draft. I’ve seen them connected with a QB in plenty of others, but this is a weak class and certainly none of them are worth taking that high. There’s no reason to replace Sam Darnold with the next Sam Darnold.

Frankly, this year’s free agency and trade class with Jimmy Garoppolo, Mitchell Trubisky, Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota is far superior to any of these quarterbacks coming out of college. And that’s not even mentioning guys like Deshaun Watson, who the Panthers could have a real shot at landing via trade.

NFC SOUTH

With Tom Brady and Drew Brees retiring in back to back seasons, the NFC South is suddenly wide open. That doesn’t mean Carolina is the team that can capitalize on that. Both the Saints and Bucs are still loaded at most other positions and the best QB in the division, as of this writing, plays in Atlanta. New Orleans and Tampa will both be in the quarterback business this offseason and if they get even a serviceable guy back there, the Panthers probably remain a third or fourth place franchise unless they make the deal for Watson. If they do, this could very well be a 10-11 win team.

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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