4 ways the Carolina Panthers can avoid disaster this offseason

Carolina Panthers must not gamble on a subpar QB

The Sam Darnold experiment failed miserably. After the Carolina Panthers gave up three draft picks to the New York Jets, the signal-caller couldn’t build on a positive start and resumed his turnover-prone production that clearly held his team back.

Darnold said all the right things in his exit presser in regards to working on clear deficiencies. But he is now a four-year veteran whose shown little to no signs of development throughout his NFL career.

This leaves the Panthers back to square one at the most important position on the field. There is a high chance Darnold gets a shot at winning the starting job considering Carolina picked up his fifth-year option, but team owner David Tepper will also voice his clear intent when it comes to upgrading their options.

Tepper’s fascination with Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson is well documented. But the Panthers don’t have the draft capital or the cap space to seemingly pull off such a move and that’s without taking the player’s legal strife into consideration.

Another option would be an underwhelming draft class or picking up a second reclamation project to compete with Darnold. In terms of the latter, it should not even enter the discussion.

Matt Rhule’s already mortgaged his future on an underperforming quarterback. To do so again might lead to foreclosure.