2019 Offseason moves that reveal direction of the Carolina Panthers
By Jake Wexler
Key Departures:
Retirements: DE Julius Peppers, C Ryan Kalil
The offseason kicked off eventfully with the retirements of two faces of the franchise (and potential Hall of Famers) Julius Peppers and Ryan Kalil. This came as a surprise to no one familiar with the Panthers, but shifted the paradigm nonetheless. Kalil and Peppers had been leaders and faces of the organization for years, rock solid on both sides of the football. While the loss of the field production won’t sting too much, the locker room dynamic could be flipped on its head.
Free Agency: LB Thomas Davis, OT Matt Kalil, WR Devin Funchess
The Panthers also later decided to part ways with linebacker Thomas Davis, who exemplified the mantra of “Keep Pounding” as well as any player since the late Sam Mills. Another devastating “locker room loss”. Additional key departures included the release of struggling and oft-injured tackle Matt Kalil and letting underwhelming receiver Devin Funchess walk in free agency.
Takeaways:
As a fan, you can never quantify the kind of effect certain players may or may not have on the comradery and development of a team over the course of a season. On one hand, losing three all-time franchise faces can hinder any team behind the scenes. On the other, it can allow the opportunity for new, young leaders to accept the challenge and rise up. How these young Panthers respond to new voids in locker room leadership will say a lot about their direction for years to come. Paging Christian McCaffery.
Now to the release of Matt Kalil, a much needed change in seating on Carolina’s endless offensive line struggle bus. Former general manager David Gettleman (who is setting Metlife Stadium on fire this offseason) left his lasting impact with the organization by signing Kalil to a ludicrous contract the the Panthers needed to cut ties with. They’ll eat some dead money here, but Kalil was the single worst valued player on the Panthers roster. No complaints here.
Letting Devin Funchess walk didn’t leave much to be contested either from a Carolina standpoint. After going on to sign a market-inflated one year $13M contract with the Indianapolis Colts, it was obvious that the Panthers wouldn’t have been able to retain his services even if they’d wanted to.
Funchess doesn’t necessarily fit with the speed-focused offense the Panthers want to move forward with, and his snaps were hindering the development of young wideouts DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel. Carolina will get a good look at what these two can do down the field as long as Cam Newton is physically able to throw a football, which I’ll go further in depth about later.
Don’t be surprised when Funchess thrives in Indianapolis as a red zone target. This won’t mean that Carolina made a critical mistake here. Schematically, this move works out best for both sides. This could be seen as addition by subtraction in most cases, but where did the Panthers do some old-fashioned addition by addition?