Panthers: Team would be wise to keep Damiere Byrd
Trading Byrd would be foolish on the part of the Carolina Panthers….
He is a Carolina Panthers player with a lot of intrigue. The intrigue stems from not whether he has the skills to be successful. Rather, it comes from whether or not he should still be a member of the Carolina Panthers.
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Call it the curious case of Daimere Byrd. A speedy wideout, Byrd is caught in a career crossroads of sorts: Should he stay or should he go due to too much depth?
Thursday, Stephen Igoe of 247Sports wrote an article explaining why now would be a good time to trade the South Carolina product. Broken into three parts, one reason in particular stood out to me. Essentially, the fact that Byrd and fellow wideout Curtis Samuel are the same player would be reason for Byrd and team to part ways.
"The Panthers now have a handful of other players who can do many of the same things as Byrd, most notably last year’s second-round pick in Samuel. Assuming Samuel is fully healthy for the 2018 season (he’s coming off a pretty severe ankle injury, but has rehabbed well this offseason), it seems likely the former Ohio State star will be inserted ahead of Byrd in the pecking order based on his upside and potential."
Byrd played in eight games in 2017, catching 10 passes for 105 yards and two touchdowns.
As Igoe alludes to late in his piece, a couple points are be made here. The argument could be made the Carolina Panthers need depth for Samuel as we do not know exactly how he is going to come back yet. He also notes Byrd has an injury history as well.
Why I would not trade Byrd is due to the fact that we do not know how Samuel is going to be yet. It is a lot easier to replace an injured Byrd than it is an injured Samuel.
Secondly, even though he is heading into his third season, he is one of the more experienced players on the Carolina Panthers roster. Is he going to make a Pro Bowl? No. Having that experience in an overhauled group of wideouts is still a major bonus. Trading away a speedster who knows the playbook would be a very questionable move.
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Although Byrd’s stock is very high, the Carolina Panthers would be wise not to trade him. He still can be an asset, even with a crowded group of receivers.