DING!!! Time’s Up!

Now it starts!  The official start of the NFL free agency period has begun!  Shoot, I stayed up just so I could celebrate this at midnight – sort of like New Year’s Eve.

What’s in store for us?  Honestly, that’s hard to say considering that the Carolina Panthers may not have a lot of dough to throw around at players shopping their services.  Then again, because the team doesn’t tell us much about contracts and their salary cap, they could have enough to go after some quality talent.

We know the team needs – safety, defensive tackle, defensive end, running back, offensive tackle.  What we don’t know yet is what general manager Matt Hurney and coach John Fox will do…yet.

Let me pass along some advice to Panthers fans.  First, don’t get too caught up in this whole free agency racket.  There are a lot of marginal players out there or good players who are either over the hill or who have a good view from the top of the hill.

This team doesn’t make a habit of spending big on free agents and rightfully so.  They don’t want to mortgage their future on one or two big names.  That’s a good business practice.

So, be patient.  Wait them out.

We can’t land every big name out there, anyway.  But it sure would be nice if we could go shopping on Rodeo Drive once instead of looking around at the strip mall in the Dollar Store.

It’s officially on, Panthers fans!  Sit back, buckle yourselves in.  It could be a bumpy ride.