Devin Funchess wants to remain in Carolina, and that is good news
Carolina will have to negotiate with their star receiver this offseason.
As the off-season approaches, tough questions need to be dealt with. Especially in free agency, certain players may need to be let go in order to make room for new ones and big contracts may be avoided in order to save space. The Carolina Panthers are certainly in the position as they have numerous free agents who they either need to sign or let walk. One of them is their star wide receiver.
Devin Funchess is set to be a free agent. Last off-season, he was looked at as a player that the Panthers would have to re-sign. Now, with the emergence of wideouts like Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore, he is looked at a little bit differently. It is not necessarily because of his skill set, but moreso his price tag. He is slated to earn $8.9 million in free agency, something that is a little bit of a problem for Carolina given the fact that he did not perform to his capabilities last year.
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He recorded 44 catches for 549 yards and four touchdowns in 2018.
His best game of the season statistically came on October 14 against Washington. In that contest, he caught five passes on eight targets for 74 yards and a touchdown. Averaging 14.8 yards per catch, he proved to be an effective weapon for Carolina. However, between injury and the emergence of several other targets on offense, he did not have the season that many thought he would. His numbers dropped dramatically from the 2017 season and he lost the advantage of being the top target within the offense.
Even still, he wants to remain with the Panthers. For the right price, I do not see why that would be a problem. However, that is just the thing. There has to be a price that works well for both player and team. The Panthers have a lot of needs coming into the offseason and they need to make sure they address all of them as best as possible.
"“Carolina is a beautiful place. My family’s actually from Mebane, North Carolina,” said Funchess. “And then in Charlotte, Charlotte is just a nice, cool city. And you really can’t get in trouble, you just have fun.”"
I truly hope that he does stay with the Panthers given the fact that he has meant so much to the franchise. It is certainly badly as they did last off-season, but he can still be a potent weapon within the offense. In what would be his second year under Norv Turner’s system, he would have a very good chance of being successful. The fact that he wants to stay is certainly promising especially when the two sides begin contract negotiations.
Decisions will have to be made in the next couple of months. Some may be easy, some may be difficult. What to do with Funchess will fall under the category of a difficult decision. The Panthers could certainly use what he brings to the table, but they also have weapons if his price tag is too high.