2009 Will Be Light on Picks
By John White
After dealing Friday for Josh McCown, the Carolina Panthers will be very light on draft picks in the 2009 NFL draft.
The team had already given up their 2009 first-round pick to the Philadelphia Eagles to move up to the 19th overall slot in this past April’s draft. In this latest deal, Marty Hurney and the Panthers have given up an undisclosed late-round pick.
There is no official word on which pick was involved.
Here’s more on the deal from ESPN.
"The move gives the Panthers a backup quarterback with some experience behind starter Jake Delhomme. Reserve Matt Moore suffered a bruised shin in Thursday’s preseason game at Pittsburgh. Hurney said Moore is day-to-day. Brett Basanez, in his second year, was Carolina’s only other quarterback. McCown, 29, previously was with Oakland, Detroit and Arizona and has made 31 career starts. The former third-round pick has thrown 35 touchdowns and 40 interceptions.“Josh is a guy we’ve liked for several years,” Hurney said. “We attempted to sign him when he was a free agent. We feel like he adds depth to our quarterback situation.”The Panthers have until Saturday to clear a roster spot for McCown, meaning the team will have to trim its roster by 22 players to reach the regular-season limit of 53 plus receiver Steve Smith, who will be placed on the reserve-suspended list. With the Panthers unlikely to carry four quarterbacks, the move likely means Basanez will be either released or traded."
Read between the lines on that last thought. Basanez will have little to no trade value since the team has the meet the roster maximum by the end of the day Saturday and will likely be releasing him.
I’ve got a question on this deal for McCown while I’m at it – teams all over the NFL were all being forced to meet the 53-man limit by the end of the day Saturday. Miami had four quarterbacks on their roster – McCown, Chad Pennington, Chad Henne and John Beck. They were almost definitely going to release one of them – probably McCown.
He became expendable when the team signed Pennington following his release from the Brett Favre fallout.
So, why not wait until the Dolphins release McCown? It was bound to happen. If a bidding war ensues for a guy who has already been with three teams anyway, and you fail to sign him, trust me, another QB would have been available.
I’m a little confused by the move, frankly. Either way, we’re one more pick lighter in the wallet for 2009.