The Panthers announced they have agreed to extend the contract of quarterback Jake Delhomme, which secures their long-term commitment to him at the all-important position and also provides some salary-cap relief. Delhomme was in the final year of his contract and was scheduled to count more than $11 million against the cap, but now has a new five-year deal that agent Rick Smith said is worth $42.5 million with $20 million in guarantees. Smith said the contract’s structure was “extremely complicated” but will save the Panthers at least a couple million in 2009 cap space.

The haters immediately went to town on this deal saying it stinks.  The problem is that we don’t know all the specifics on it yet and we may never know since the team doesn’t release contract numbers.

I do have to ask though – isn’t that a lot of money to guarantee a 34-year-old quarterback?

Jake, I love how you play with grit but the fans are going to get riled up quickly if things don’t start off well for you in ’09 especially with those kinds of numbers printed on your contract.

The biggest problem I have (and I’m not one of the Jake haters) is that the team was on the hook for roughly $11 million for next season.  If they are only going to save a couple million then this seems like a pretty rich contract to me.

We had the opportunity to speak to Mike Hill of ESPN.  Mike has been seen on The Blitz, NFL Live, ESPN News and pretty much anytime a show is aired on their networks.  Mike talked to us about the Panthers and was very candid in answering questions about ESPN.  Attention ESPN haters: This turned out to be an interview that you must hear!

Nick Yeoman was along for the ride again.  He joined me for another edition of The Great Debate.  This week’s question was “Should the Team Have Gotten Involved in the Jay Cutler Sweepstakes?”  Check it out.  I’m sure I’ve hurt someone’s feelings in this one.

We also have a Rant Or Rave and even a very loud thought from one of the talking heads.  We’ll let you guess who.

Take a listen and don’t be shy – let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Episode Fifty-Seven: April 8, 2009

In Episode Fifty-Seven…

• News
• Rant Or Rave
• Panther Profile – Nick Goings
• Special Guest – Mike Hill (ESPN)
• The Great Debate: No Deal for Jay Cutler? – Nick Yeoman (Nick’s Video Blogs)
• A Final Thought from a Talking Head

For a complete archive of our shows, visit our Radio Page.