Despite Matt Rhule’s gift of gab and natural salesmanship, it’s kinda hard to buy what the Carolina Panthers have been selling. And that, apparently, may go for some of the Carolina Panthers themselves.
In his mailbag feature published on Friday, Joseph Person of The Athletic tackled a handful of fan questions in regards to what is still a very fluid offseason for the team. Among them was an inquiry on the players’ trust in quarterback Sam Darnold moving forward—and, uh, it doesn’t seem like they’re all in.
“As far as what players think, McCaffrey and Darnold are friends, and McCaffrey has had nice things to say about him,” Person wrote. “Other players aren’t as sold on Darnold as the answer. But the only opinions that really count are those of Rhule, [Scott] Fitterer and [David] Tepper, and they’ve given every indication that they’re ready for an upgrade.”
That word “upgrade,” in fact, was used by Fitterer this past week—when he spoke with The Charlotte Observer about their options under center. While addressing a possible return for Cam Newton, the 48-year-old general manager said the team wasn’t going to “sign a guy to sign a guy,” and that such a move would have to be an upgrade from what they have now.
And what they have now, of course, is Darnold—who crumbled in 2021 following a solid three-game start to his campaign. After leading the Panthers to a 3-0 mark while averaging 296.0 passing yards per contest, the fourth-passer (who missed five games due to a shoulder fracture) threw for just six touchdowns to 12 interceptions over his next nine outings to close up the year.
As of now, Darnold remains “the guy” by default seeing as though they’ve made exactly zero additions at the position. But how much longer, with the draft less than a month away, will that be the case?
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