Tom Brady has officially retired from the NFL, and the Carolina Panthers need to take full advantage of this incredible opportunity.
It’s crazy to read the headlines that Tom Brady has officially retired from the NFL. The 44-year old is finally done after 22 years in the league, seven Super Bowl titles, and smashing numerous records.
With Brady’s retirement, the rest of the NFC South is starting to lick their chops knowing they have an opportunity to retake the division crown from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One of those hungry teams is the Carolina Panthers.
If you look at the current landscape of the NFC South all four teams are in their unique situations. The quarterback situation for each team, including the Panthers, is not exactly ideal by any means. Names like Matt Ryan, Taysom Hill, Kyle Trask, and Sam Darnold could be starting for their respective football teams come Week 1 of the 2022 NFL season, which doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence.
The Buccaneers post-Brady will be an interesting group, as there are still plenty of good pieces all over the roster along with a formidable coaching staff that features head coach Bruce Arians at the helm. But the Bucs will enter the offseason with aforementioned quarterback concerns, 26 free agents, and cap space worries, too.
The New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons are also in tough spots.
The Falcons are titering on wanting to be in a rebuild versus competing for a division title. The Saints lost head coach Sean Payton and are in very deep water with their cap, limiting the moves they can make this offseason in the trade market and free agency.
This leads us to the Panthers.
Matt Rhule is entering Year 3 of his tenure in Carolina with a 10-23 record and a lot of question marks surrounding his decision-making. One of the question marks around him this offseason was adding more NFL experience to his coaching staff, which he was able to do with the hiring of offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, special teams coordinator Chris Tabor, and offensive line coach James Campen. However, the head coach still needs to address the quarterback position, something he has been unable to do since he arrived in 2020.
It’s time for the Carolina Panthers to seize this opportunity
If you look at the Panthers roster on paper, the talent is there on both sides of the ball. The offense already has the playmakers in place while the defense became one of the league’s best thanks to defensive coordinator Phil Snow and a group of cornerstone pieces led by Pro Bowl defensive end Brian Burns.
The biggest issues that have held this team back from a roster and on-field play standpoint have been the offensive line and quarterback – positions that Rhule has been criticized for not correctly addressing the last two offseasons.
How the Panthers address their biggest needs on the roster through free agency and the NFL Draft will be intriguing to watch. Could we see a youth movement on the offensive line through incoming college recruits and other needs addressed in free agency like linebacker or safety?
Or do we see general manager Scott Fitterer use free agency to shore up the line, which would allow Rhule to address the quarterback position through the draft once and for all?
Fitterer and Rhule have plenty of options as to what direction they want to go with constructing the rest of the roster. Which avenue they go down will be something to keep an eye on over the next couple of months.
This cannot be more emphasized. It is a very important offseason for not only Rhule but Fitterer as well.
Rhule is currently on the hot seat and there’s a good chance his time in Carolina will be over if he is unable to put the team on the right track in 2022. While Fitterer’s seat is much cooler, this offseason will be quite defining of how his future with the team will be after the season.
Hiring a competent group of veteran coaches with 47 years of NFL experience to his staff is a step in the right direction for Rhule to save his job. Solving the quarterback situation could go a long way to boosting confidence in a fanbase in need of a push of optimism going forward.
With Brady gone, the NFC South is wide-open and ready for the taking for the other three teams. The Panthers must take advantage of the opportunity at hand and run with it, or they’ll continue to be stuck in mediocrity for the foreseeable future.