Earlier this offseason at the
team’s season-ending press conference, Carolina Panthers General Manager Dave
Gettleman boasted to reporters that the club will no longer need to shop at the
“dollar store” for roster depth, making it known that the veteran competition coming
to Charlotte this offseason would be a step up from acquisitions made in past
offseason signing periods.
One of the greatest obstacles
Dave Gettleman has had to weasel around in his tenure with the Panthers has
been working with limited salary cap space – one of the holdovers from years of
poorly devised contracts by former GM Marty Hurney. Now two full seasons
removed from having assumed his position, the team appears to be mere steps
away from financial solvency and the latest slew of signings are clearly
indicative of the team’s ability to corral legitimate talent.
Entering the 2014 offseason, the
team had to make decisions regarding 22 unrestricted free agents on their
roster. After having applied the franchise tag to DE Greg Hardy, the team’s available
budget had been sliced in half, and Carolina was forced to turn away a number
of players who had out-performed the team’s price range. Financial restrictions
forced the franchise to pay the veteran minimum for the following six free agents:
WR Jerricho Cotchery
WR Tiquan Underwood
WR Jason Avant
CB Antoine Cason
S Roman Harper
S Thomas DeCoud
In 2014 both Cotchery and Harper
were able to find starting roles and made real contributions
on what turned out to be a division-winning team. However the other players
listed failed to live up to their expectations; Underwood was one of the first
preseason cuts, Cason and Avant were released mid-season, and DeCoud struggled
all year long.
Now in the midst of the 2015
offseason, and a full three weeks into free agency, it is clear that Dave Gettleman
was not simply blowing smoke with his early offseason comments, because the
Panthers have now signed the following seven free agents this offseason to address specific needs
on the roster:
RB Jordan Todman
WR Jarrett Boykin
WR Ted Ginn, Jr.
OT Jonathan Martin
OT Michael Oher
CB Teddy Williams
S Kurt Coleman
Time will only tell how much
better these players can be than those who were signed in 2014; for all we know, they could be terrible (I doubt that). But one thing I can say for certain is that I much prefer the team being able to spend reasonably rather than
having to scrounge for aging receivers or settle on slow safeties.
Good work, Gettlemagic. I can't wait to see the latest crop of cardiac cats in action!
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