The Carolina Panthers’ decision to fire head coach Matt Rhule after just five games set into motion rumors that they could be heading into firesale mode.
Following Carolina’s ugly 37-15 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, the team finds itself at 1-4 on the season and has lost 11 of its past 12 games dating back to last season. This led to Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer suggesting that Carolina could look to trade off pretty much all of its valuable draft assets. That now doesn’t appear to be the case.
Jeff Howe of The Athletic notes that Carolina wants to build around the likes of running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver D.J. Moore and edge pass rusher Brian Burns rather than moving them ahead of the Nov. 1 NFL trade deadline.
“They plan to build around their young core, despite having some players who would undoubtedly be attractive to rivals in a playoff push.”
Report on Carolina Panthers NFL trade deadline plans
To an extent, this makes sense. Embattled Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer retained his job despite the wholesale turnover on the team’s coaching staff earlier this week. Owner David Tepper has given no guarantees that Fitterer will be back next season.
However, the fact that he’s still a member of the organization likely bodes well. It’s in this that winning in the relative short-term would help him remain with the Panthers. At issue here is the current trajectory of the downtrodden organization.
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Carolina Panthers trade assets are attractive
While a contending team taking on the remainder of Christian McCaffrey’s four-year, $64 million contract could prove tricky, he’s a former All-Pro player and has looked like his old self this season. It stands to reason that Carolina would be able to net multiple early-round pick in a McCaffrey trade. It’s also important to note that a running back isn’t necessarily going to help the Panthers expedite their rebuild.
Brian Burns is a bit of a different story in that he’s just 24 years old and is coming off a Pro Bowl season. A first-round pick back in 2019, Burns has registered six QB hits and four sacks in five games this season. He will be entering the final year of his contract in 2023.
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That’s where it gets tricky for the Carolina Panthers. They must know that short-term contention isn’t in the cards. It also makes sense to hold on to their youngsters, star wide receiver D.J. Moore included. It will be interestnig to see if Carolina is able to find a happy medium ahead of the NFL trade deadline. For now, the team doesn’t appear to be shopping its big-name stars despite another disastrous outing last week.