When the Carolina Panthers signed Teddy Bridgewater in 2020 to a three-year, $63 million deal that had $33 million guaranteed, it became clear they were going to give Bridgewater every chance to be the long-term solution at quarterback and not just as a placeholder. Fast forward to today, and the Panthers are making a push for Deshaun Watson and also combing through their draft options at quarterback with their number 8 overall pick. Oh, how things can change in one season. The Panthers' brain trust has hit the nail on the head with this though. Their biggest need that still needs to be addressed is the quarterback position during the NFL free agency.
Teddy Bridgewater wasn't awful by any stretch of the imagination last season. But when you only throw for 15 total touchdowns in 15 starts and your team goes 5-11, and you were 0-8 on game-winning or game-tying drives, you can't blame the franchise for looking elsewhere. Everyone agrees Bridgewater is the ultimate teammate and is well regarded by anyone who has played with him. But even that can only get you so far.
It's crazy how quickly the quarterback position is evaluated in today's game. Teddy signs a three-year deal and after one season Carolina more or less says, “Yup we've seen enough. Time for someone else.” But they aren't the only ones. It happens all the time.
Josh Rosen never got a fair shake after being drafted by a putrid Arizona Cardinals team, getting 16 starts TOTAL over a two-year stretch with Arizona and the Miami Dolphins.
People are literally questioning whether or not Tua Tagovailoa is a franchise quarterback after one year in the league and having come off major hip surgery the year prior. It's the nature of the beast, sure, but it's also wildly inaccurate at times.
Bridgewater's case is different in that he's been in the league for a while now. Teams pretty much have an idea on what's the ceiling of Bridgewater. Carolina thought it saw a chance to pounce on some untapped potential and after one season, the Panthers now think otherwise.
There are serious playmakers on this roster with Robby Anderson, DJ Moore, and of course, Christian McCaffrey. Curtis Samuel is off to the Washington Football Team but even so, whoever is under center in 2021 for Carolina will be surrounded by plenty of talented playmakers.
Let's assume a trade for Watson doesn't come to fruition. With his legal issues off the field right now, trying to predict what happens with that or where Watson is in 2021 is near impossible at the moment. So let's shift the focus to the draft.
Trevor Lawrence is gone at No. 1. Sorry Panthers fans. Even if the Jets run it back with Sam Darnold and pass on Zach Wilson there's no chance he drops to No. 8. Justin Fields you'd have to imagine goes top 5. So unless the Panthers want to trade up, Trey Lance might not be in play for them. Regardless of how it pans out, it appears the Panthers are set in having a different quarterback in 2021.
The Panthers have other areas of need that are well documented. But if you can't figure out the quarterback position you probably won't have much success anyways. This offseason is critical for the Panthers to get the position right and set the franchise up for the next decade.
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