What a great time of year!  The Draft is coming up, free agency is still churning right along and, finally, the NFL announces the schedule – the preseason schedule.
The Carolina Panthers will be playing these games…
Monday August 17 @ New York Giants
Great!  Someone can open the doors in the landfill that is the Meadowlands as John Kasay is attempting a field goal again.  Someone please get the commissioner on the phone and tell him to ban this stadium.  The rats are enormous and the garbage in the landfill nearby stinks.
TBD @ Miami Dolphins
As if playing them in the regular season [...]

Roger Goodell and the NFL pulled the plug a couple of years ago on NFL Europe.  It was losing a ton of money.
The impact has been felt around the league ever since as teams no longer can send players to exotic locales like Cologne and Amsterdam to let them develop a little further before making another run at the active roster.
Worse, NFL teams have limits on their practice squads meaning that fewer players are under contract to the team who could help out later.
At the owner’s meetings, Goodell has gone on record that he would like to create another developmental [...]

A couple of weeks ago, we asked you to vote for the worst draft pick in Carolina Panthers history.  Now, it’s time to vote for the worst draft pick in NFL history.
Our two winners (or losers), Rae Carruth and Jason Peter have been thrown into a bracket that will determine the biggest draft bust the NFL has ever seen.  Think of it as therapy for NFL fans who have been beaten over the head with brackets and 8-9 matchups.
You can vote for all the worst at NFL Mocks.
Do we really want our draft picks to win this and be considered [...]

This Julius Peppers nonsense has gone on just about long enough for all of us.  All Carolina Panthers fans want to talk about is Julius Peppers.  All there is to read about or hear about is Julius Peppers.
John Fox finally talked about him.  His agent, Carl Carey isn’t talking about him – anymore.
Let’s start with the coach.

We have returned with Episode 55 of Cat Crave Radio!  The Julius Peppers saga continues.  What else is new?  But Bill Belichick made some statements to a Boston radio station and kept the drama alive.
Tom Sorensen from the Charlotte Observer joined us to talk about Pepp and the Carolina Panthers.  As usual, Tom gave us the low down.  It’s always great to have the inside info.
Also, this week we heard from a special guest – Jason Cole of Yahoo Sports.  Jason’s years of experience covering the NFL give him a unique perspective.  An interesting coversation ensued.  Our thanks to Jason for [...]

Cat Crave Radio is one year old this week!  In Episode 54 celebrate our anniversary and we welcome a new addition to the CCR family – Mike Minter!  Mike brings his experience as a player and his insights on board and will be a part of the show every other week.
Our guest this week is Ross Tucker, a former NFL player, Sports Illustrated writer and Sirius Satellite Radio host.  Ross was kind of enough to talk with us about our Carolina Panthers and all the news surrounding the team.  In fact, he even asked us a question!
Nick Yeoman returned this week for [...]

Now, officially, Marty Hurney says that there have been no talks between the Panthers and Patriots.
Panthers general manager Marty Hurney issued a statement through team spokesman Charlie Dayton tonight denying an NFL.com report that the team was working on a trade to send franchise free agent Julius Peppers to the New England Patriots for a second-round draft pick.
“By the rules of the CBA, we cannot and have not had any conversations with other teams about Julius,” said Hurney. “Under the non-exclusive franchise tag, Julius and his agent, Carl Carey, are within their rights to talk to other teams about a potential [...]

According to a report on NFL.com, a deal may be brewing between the Carolina Panthers and the New England Patriots for the services of Julius Peppers.

The trade that sent Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to the Kansas City Chiefs appears to be only the first phase of some major wheeling and dealing by the New England Patriots this offseason.
The second phase, NFL sources say, is likely to involve a trade that would send Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers to the Patriots in exchange for the second-round pick (34th overall) they received from the Chiefs on Feb. 28.

This will be [...]

The Panthers tried to shop him and had no takers.  They were forced to release Ken Lucas Tuesday to free up cap space.
Ken Lucas has been a very valuable player for us over the last four years and played an important role on two playoff teams during that span. Ken is a true pro and we wish him the very best,” said general manager Marty Hurney. “This year, we have re-signed some veteran players and this move means some younger players will have an opportunity to step up.”

Cat Crave Radio is back with Episode 53!  The news is a bit slow but it never stops the rumors from foating around.  There’s a big one that just might involve our Carolina Panthers.
This week Jim Szoke, the team’s color commentator, was out guest.  We had a great conversation covering a number of topics.  Jim was an excellent guest who we hope to have back on the show many more times in the future.
Also, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer stopped by to give us the low down on the current news, or lack of it, from the Panthers front [...]