What are some pros and cons to the Carolina Panthers offering quarterback Sam Darnold a contract extension for the 2023 season?
The 2022 season may have been one of ups and downs, twists and turns, and entirely unexpected outcomes. However, the thing that quite possibly caught the Carolina Panthers off-guard more than anything else was the late-season emergence of Sam Darnold.
No one in the Panthers organization or fanbase can honestly say they believed Darnold would come in and almost lead the team to a shocking playoff berth. But that’s exactly what the embattled quarterback did.
Like it or not, the NFL is a quarterback league. There is a reason their contracts are so much more lucrative than anyone else’s after all.
Without that stalwart leader under center, a team can only go so far. Just look at the Tennessee Titans after and some may argue before Ryan Tannehill went down for the season. A once dangerous team was only a shell of itself without that signal caller.
Is that to say that Darnold is an elite threat at quarterback? Not even close, but that isn’t the point really.
You don’t have to have a quarterback like Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen to win games in the NFL. It helps, but this is a team sport first and foremost and as long as your signal caller isn’t actively losing the game, there is always a chance for something special to happen.
Darnold proved this late in the year before some costly turnovers reared their ugly head against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
With that said there are plenty of arguments for and against keeping Darnold around for another year. Each has merit in its own right.
Let’s take a look at three pros and cons surrounding Carolina potentially extending Darnold in 2023.
Sam Darnold provides continuity/savings
While it would be nice to make another blockbuster trade this offseason and bring in a highly touted quarterback, there is something to be said about continuity and building organically. Something that the Carolina Panthers haven’t had since Cam Newton’s release in 2020.
Giving the team some time to gel under Frank Reich’s new coaching staff with existing players will smooth along that transition somewhat. It could also keep the team from taking massive steps backward if something goes wrong with the front office’s hiring decisions.
Darnold is not going to win the Panthers a Super Bowl. However, keeping the bevy of draft picks gathered after trading Christian McCaffrey rather than giving them away for another veteran quarterback is simply the better choice at this juncture.
Those picks are better used on young players that the team can build around in the next few years as they slowly climb back into contention. Carolina isn’t going to compete for a while anyway and wasting them on an aging quarterback just doesn’t make sense.
Just look at the relative step back that D.J. Moore took in 2022 as proof of what can happen to a young player when too many changes take place. The other side of that coin is the emergence of Terrace Marhsall Jr. once the young wideout was given a chance with Sam Darnold at quarterback.
These are the things that can be ruined by a changing of the guard, stunting the growth and development of young players. Which is something that can’t be fixed a lot of the time.
If nothing else, letting the young members of this team learn how to play together without the worry of trying to figure out yet another new captain will only be a good thing in the long run.
Sam Darnold is a sideways option
The first con for keeping Sam Darnold around just so happens to be the exact inverse of the first pro.
A fanbase can only endure so much and the Carolina Panthers have had their fair share of hard times since running to the Super Bowl in 2015 and it’s beginning to show. The distinct lack of blue in the home stands is evidence enough.
The last thing any team wants is to wallow in mediocrity for so long that even the most dedicated fans begin to lose hope. The Panthers are dangerously close to this despite Frank Reich’s arrival.
So that begs the question, can they afford another losing season?
Darnold is not a superstar. The quarterback will not sell tickets and fill seats at this point in his career even if the Panthers start winning games. That ship sailed after the 2021 season and almost nothing will bring back that hype.
So from a simple economic standpoint, the Panthers are faced with the tough decision of what they value most. Do they risk alienating the fanbase even further by standing pat with the current roster or do they take that same risk but increase the hype by going out for someone else?
Either way, all signs point toward the Panthers being mediocre at best next season. It just depends on how Carolina wants to go about that.
Sam Darnold could be a steady bridge
Whatever direction the Carolina Panthers take at the quarterback position, the NFL has proven time and time again that it is not a league built to teach. It is a league built to destroy the development of young players thrust into roles they aren’t ready for.
What any young player needs, no matter the position, is someone to sit behind and learn from. Even if it is only for a season, that year without the pressure to win, that time to just learn how to be an NFL player from someone who has been there and lived through the grind is priceless.
That is a role that Sam Darnold fits into perfectly.
Darnold won’t win this team a Super Bowl, it just won’t happen. However, the former USC star might just be the perfect mentor, and eventual backup, to whomever the Panthers bring in to lead them into the future. A steady hand that can bridge the gap from the current iteration.
The Panthers need to learn from their mistakes and stop trying to rush a process that will take some time. No matter what the financials say or how loud the fans may get with their cries to see what Matt Corral or whoever else the team brings in can do.
If nothing else, Darnold can steady the ship and allow things to finally settle some for the Panthers heading into a crucial offseason that will shape the future of the franchise. This would also provide additional time to make a measured decision on where to go next.