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Panthers Signing of Michael Oher Proves the Team Doesn’t Get it

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was sacked 38 times in 14 games last season. Over the course of his four-year career, the former No. 1 overall pick has been brought down an average of 12.7 times he’s dropped back to pass.

This past season saw the Panthers throw Byron Bell out there as a replacement for former franchise left tackle Jordan Gross, who retired following the 2013 campaign.

It was an unmitigated disaster.

Bell, a former undrafted free agent out of New Mexico, graded out of as the worst pass-protecting tackle in the NFL last year. He also allowed nine sacks and 38 quarterback hurries while finishing as the second-worst overall tackle in the league (via Pro Football Focus, subscription required).

To say that Bell acted as a turnstile in front of the Panthers franchise quarterback would be an understatement. Now that Bell is a free agent and likely to move on to become another team’s problem, Carolina decided to address the offensive tackle position prior to the start of free agency.

The team signed former Baltimore Ravens first-round pick Michael Oher, who was released by the Tennessee Titans after a disastrous 2014 campaign. Battling injuries and substandard overall play, the man known mostly for the movie “Blindside” didn’t fair much better than the individual he’s being called on to replace in Carolina. Overall, Oher finished as the 64th-best offensive tackle in the NFL, according to the aforementioned Pro Football Focus metrics.

This came on the heels of Oher finishing in the bottom 10 in the very same category back in 2013.

Regardless of whether Oher will be tasked with playing left tackle in 2015 (a real possibility), this move made little sense for a struggling Panthers front office. General manager Dave Gettleman failed to address the offensive tackle position last year. His failure to do so was even more glaring considering Gross announced his retirement early in the offseason.

Considering just how much Newton has been hit throughout his career, the expectation had to be that Carolina would address both tackle positions last year. That obviously didn’t happen.

Now, a year removed from Newton hitting the turf more than almost any other quarterback in the NFL (215 pass attempts under pressure in 2014), Carolina decided that it made sense to pretty much choose the first available offensive tackle on the market. An offensive tackle that has been among the worst in the NFL over the past couple seasons. It did so with the likes of Bryan Bulaga, Doug Free and Derek Newton potentially hitting the free agent market on Tuesday.

With Newton one year away from free agency and likely prepared to discuss an extension within the new couple months, the Panthers front office isn’t inspiring much confidence that it’s prepared to do anything possible to help Newton stay healthy and succeed on the field.

This could very well be a reactionary piece based on an early signing, but it’s something that’s been a long time coming. Carolina could prove us all wrong by signing one of the aforementioned tackles. It could even spend a first-round pick in the upcoming draft on a franchise book end. But if history has taught us anything, we shouldn’t hold our breath here.

The sad reality is this: Carolina has failed to create the necessary talent around Newton for him to succeed on the field. In the process, it is putting his long-term health at risk. That’s something the quarterback must consider when he enters into extension negotiations with the organization.

Photo: USA Today

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