INDIANAPOLIS – One league executive at the NFL combine said the Carolina Panthers are a “sh– show’’ with three straight five-win seasons, a quarterback situation that is a mess and a coach who hasn’t gotten a public vote of support from owner David Tepper.
Others wonder if there is a shift of power with Matt Rhule being one of five head coaches who didn’t have a formal podium interview, while general manager Scott Fitterer did.
Amidst all the uncertainty surrounding the Panthers, one thing is clear: They have to figure out the quarterback position to turn things around and give Rhule an opportunity to coach beyond the 2022 season.
And that won’t be easy.
“There’s a lot of teams looking,’’ Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin told ESPN.com. “And there’s not enough elite guys to go around, and that’s something that everybody is keenly aware of.
“There’s a lot of good quarterbacks to go around, but finding the elite one is very difficult.’’
Tobin got an elite quarterback in Joe Burrow, the top pick of the 2020 draft out of LSU, who, in two years, took the Bengals from one of the worst teams in the NFL to the Super Bowl.
Carolina doesn’t have the luxury this year of having the top pick or a quarterback class with the immediate star appeal the past two drafts did. The free-agent crop isn’t stellar, either.
And the likelihood that the At best, it appears Newton would be a role player and not a long-term solution.
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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
INDIANAPOLIS — Mitchell Trubisky signed a one-year deal with the Buffalo Bills to reset his career after four years in the spotlight with the Chicago Bears.
But the Bills are being realistic about the quarterback’s future, understanding that he’s likely to get an opportunity to compete for a starting role as opposed to returning for another year as Josh Allen’s backup.
“I think it’s unrealistic to think that we’re going to be able to have him back,” coach Sean McDermott said at the NFL Scouting Combine. “But I want him to go on and do great things for him and his family, which I know he’s going to do.”
Trubisky, 27, only saw the field in 2021 once the Bills games were out of reach, but the second overall pick from the 2017 draft was able to learn from Allen and the coaching staff, including now-New York Giants coach Brian Daboll.
“It’s hard to handle a situation where you’re coming from basically a career starter to being a backup. That’s a totally different dynamic,” McDermott said. “When somebody else is in front of the microphone a couple lockers down from yours, I thought Mitch Trubisky handled that extremely well, as good as anybody could have handled it.”
In his four seasons with the Bears, Trubisky started 50 games finishing with a 29-21 record. He has completed 64.1% of his careerpasses with 64 touchdowns to 38 interceptions.
He found success in the Bills’ preseason game against the Bears in 2021, finishing 20 of 28 for 221 yards and a passing touchdown.
“[Trubisky’s] a marry your daughter type of guy,” general manager Brandon Beane said. “… The whole year was ready if his number was called. Fortunately, Josh stayed healthy, but I got nothing but positive things for him, and I feel sure he’s going to get a good opportunity to at least compete for a starting job this year.”
Beane noted that the criticism of Trubisky is higher because of where he has picked and because of what other quarterbacks in his class have done, “just was never going be able to live up to some of the things that [Patrick] Mahomes, [Deshaun] Watson and some of those guys did.”
As for the Bills, Allen is currently the only quarterback under contract for 2022 and Beane said that he will look at all potential avenues to find the right backup.
“I want Peyton Manning or somebody like that if you got him,” Beane said. “But in all seriousness, yeah, I mean, that’s an important position. … We’re going to look high and low.”
Browns wide receiver Jarvis Landry tweeted Tuesday that he would “like to stay” in Cleveland, but added that he is confident he can still be a contributor for another team in “winning a championship.”
Landry struggled with injuries throughout the 2021 season, beginning with, as he noted in the Twitter thread, a Week 2 knee sprain.
3/3 I have put the ball in CLE court by telling them I would like to stay but if not then I’m confident enough in myself to be a better healthy me this year and moving forward to helping do my part in winning a championship elsewhere.
— Jarvis Juice Landry (@God_Son80) February 22, 2022
He finished the season with 52 catches while playing in 12 games. Landry had just 570 yards receiving with only two receiving touchdowns.
Landry did not interview with reporters through the team the rest of the season following wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.’s release in early November. Landry and Beckham are close friends dating back to their time together playing at LSU.
On Twitter, Landry explained why he stayed silent as the Browns struggled down the stretch on the way to an 8-9 finish, saying he was “focused on getting on the field as healthy as possible during the week and after games.”
Landry is not a free agent but has no guaranteed money left on his deal.
TAMPA, Fla. — Life after quarterback Tom Brady: That’s what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are trying to figure out this offseason.
Sign or trade for a marquee free-agent quarterback, and the window to contend stays open. But if they come up empty and are forced to turn to Blaine Gabbert, who hasn’t started a game since 2018, or Kyle Trask, who was their fourth quarterback on the depth chart last season, it will be a rebuild, even if general manager Jason Licht and coach Bruce Arians won’t be calling it that — preferring to instead use the term “reload.”
Even before they attempt to reassemble their roster, their daunting list of opponents outside their division will make for an uphill battle: They face the Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Arizona Cardinals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
Projected salary-cap space: $7.9 million
Top free agents: WR