The Panthers stand at a crossroads heading towards the 2020 league year and this offseason has already seen some remarkable personnel changes.
Matt Rhule has replaced Ron Rivera’s old staff with a group of mostly untested college coaches. All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly suddenly retired, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the defense. Long-time tight end Greg Olsen was released and has signed with the Seahawks. More huge changes may be coming down the line, as well.
There will always be questions about quarterbacks going into the last year of their contracts, especially ones who have had three surgeries in as many years. Cam Newton’s future seems to be particularly up in the air, though after team owner David Tepper’s comments about his health and an unusual lack of public commitment from the front office for a franchise QB.
What comes next for Carolina depends on what they plan to do with Newton. If they want to keep him, it will affect how they retool the roster in profound ways.
If not, then it makes sense to embrace a total rebuild.
Should the Panthers decide to go that route, the first thing they’ll need to do is start accumulating draft capital. The team has massive gaps on its depth chart at several important positions and addressing them all will be impossible unless they add more picks.
Trading down from the No. 7 spot in the 2020 NFL draft (and perhaps trading down again later) is a good place to start.
It’s also worth considering dealing the team’s most valuable players in order to accumulate more capital. With that in mind, here are the top three guys with the most trade value on the roster.
CB James Bradberry // RB Christian McCaffrey // QB Cam Newton
3. CB James Bradberry
The value: There’s some debate as to whether or not Bradberry is worth a long-term contract extension. Giving him elite cornerback money ($14 million+ per year) could be problematic in the long run. However, the perception of Bradberry’s game may not be entirely fair.
Remember, he has to compete against an absurd level of wide receiver talent around the NFC South. No other corneback in the league has to trail Julio Jones, Mike Evans and Michael Thomas a total of six times a season. If Bradberry gets traded to a division with softer receivers, he might finally break through into that top-five corner conversation. Dealing a potentially elite defender at a crucial position should net a very respectable return in draft capital for Marty Hurney.
The catch: Of course, trading away your team’s top cornerback is a dangerous propostion. The Panthers have learned the hard way how important it is to have depth at this spot and right now there’s not enough of it to absorb the loss of Bradberry. Unless they’re all in on getting a prospect like Jeff Okudah (who probably won’t even be there at No. 7) it’s tough to imagine letting Bradberry go, no matter what he might fetch in a trade.
CB James Bradberry // RB Christian McCaffrey // QB Cam Newton
2. RB Christian McCaffrey
The value: Derrick Henry forcing defenders to make business decisions is undeniably fun to watch. McCaffrey is the best back in the NFL at this moment, though. He’s coming off one of the greatest seasons anyone at the position has ever had, totaling 2,392 yards from scrimmage and 19 touchdowns. McCaffrey is also just 23 years old, so he has plenty of quality football ahead of him.
Given what we know about paying running backs huge contracts, now might just be the perfect time to sell high and maximize their return. If the Panthers can pin a RB-needy team down and get them to offer up a high pick for McCaffrey, they’d have to at least consider it.
The catch: The Panthers only won five games last year and if McCaffrey hadn’t been involved there’s a very real possibility they’d have gone 0-16. With an unfortunate situation at quarterback, McCaffrey carried Carolina’s offense as well as any back could. Trading him now might get a massive return in capital. It would also take away the team’s most productive playmaker. That’s a hard sell for a fanbase that’s already lost Olsen and Kuechly. At the end of the day, this is still a business and McCaffrey will sell tickets. It would come as a shock if they actually deal him.
CB James Bradberry // RB Christian McCaffrey // QB Cam Newton
1. QB Cam Newton
The value: Newton’s value should be obvious to those who know what they’re talking about. The last time he was 100% was in the first half of the 2018 season. During that stretch, he went 6-2, which included a 36-point thrashing of the top-ranked Ravens defense and an incredible 17-point comeback win against the Eagles.
Newton was playing at such a level that he’d have been in the MVP conversation if it wasn’t rightfully exclusively centered around Patrick Mahomes. When he’s healthy, Newton is a legitimate top-10 QB and he’d be an instant upgrade for teams like the Bears, Jaguars, Colts and Chargers.
The catch: Under normal circumstances, dealing a former MVP quarterback would get a massive return in draft picks. However, trading Newton at this point means the team would be selling low. Cam’s value has been somewhat diminished by his foot and shoulder injuries and they might not get more than a third-round pick right now. If they decide to blow it all up, then dealing Newton make sense. If they want to compete in 2020, they should keep him.
CB James Bradberry // RB Christian McCaffrey // QB Cam Newton
