With the deal for New England cornerback Stephon Gilmore, Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has made a staggering 13 trades since he was hired in January.
From 2018-20, under former GM Marty Hurney, the Panthers made a total of 11 deals combined. So Trader Scott has closed more deals in nine months than the Panthers did over the previous three years.
But Fitterer isn’t done, and trade No. 14 should be looming for Mr. “In On Every Deal.” The need obvious enough that Fitterer was able to make a joke about it at his news conference about Gilmore, the 31-year-old corner who coincidentally was already Fitterer’s three-doors-down neighbor in Waxhaw, just outside of Charlotte.
When asked if he also had any neighbors who were left tackles, Fitterer quipped: “During Halloween, I’ll go knock on doors.”
That’s where these Panthers need to improve next. Their offensive line is already banged up and was a long way from great to begin with, and so once again they find themselves in search of O-linemen before the midpoint of the NFL season.
Said Fitterer when asked more about a potential offensive line trade: “Yeah, I think that’s something you’re always looking at. I mean, it’s not like there are offensive linemen available. I think every team’s in the same situation we are. … There’s just not a lot of offensive linemen on the market right now. No one’s letting them out (the door) — even their backups.”
That’s a problem, because quarterback Sam Darnold is playing well and Carolina (3-1 entering Sunday’s 1 p.m. home game against Philadelphia) has to keep him healthy. You can have all the talented cornerbacks you want, and the Panthers will have a ton of them once they get a few back from the injuries that caused this trade barrage in the first place.
But if you don’t have five good offensive linemen — as the Panthers haven’t in many seasons — your season is going to die a natural death anyway. Darnold won’t last the year and maybe not the month if he keeps taking the sort of five-sack pounding he endured in the loss to Dallas.
Gilmore can’t play until Oct. 24
Carolina could use more help at every offensive line position, and I’d give up a future draft pick or two to get at least one more starting-caliber lineman — even if he is just a one-year rental like Gilmore might end up being. That’s where the Panthers’ biggest need is.
As for the Gilmore trade itself, it’s a worthy risk, just as it was to trade for CJ Henderson nine days before.
The price for Gilmore was lower, because he’s 31 and hasn’t played the first month of this season due to a torn quad. He and the Patriots were at a contractual impasse, too. Carolina only had to give up a sixth-round pick in 2023 for the Rock Hill product who played collegiately at South Carolina. Gilmore wanted to come home; now he gets his chance.
The Panthers do have to give him around $5.44 million for 11 weeks of work, though, starting with the first game Gilmore is eligible to play — Oct. 24, at the New York Giants.
That sort of money is only an NFL-type bargain if Gilmore plays well, and Carolina will only consider a contract extension if he plays well. He should — Gilmore was the 2019 NFL Defensive Player of the Year. His skills are immense. but he also had a mediocre, injury-plagued season in 2020.
Couple that with the fact that New England’s Bill Belichick will coldly get rid of a veteran the second he thinks they’re not producing enough anymore, and the Patriots and Gilmore came to a mutual agreement that the cornerback was either going to be traded by Wednesday afternoon or released outright by Wednesday night.
While Henderson remains on his rookie contract and is a long-term player for the Panthers, Carolina outbidding a couple of other suitors for Gilmore on Wednesday means the team really does think it has a chance to make the postseason for the first time since 2017. Otherwise, there would have been no sense in renting out Gilmore.
“CJ is for the future,” Fitterer said. “And Stephon is to win now.”
Has Gilmore lost a step?
Like Richard Sherman, who Tampa Bay acquired under similar circumstances a week ago and who started immediately for an injury-ravaged secondary, Gilmore was a big name in the market who could contribute right away. But Gilmore also hasn’t played a game in 10 months.
The Panthers have had mixed results acquiring players in their 30s to shore up their defense: Sam Mills and Kevin Greene were big hits in the mid-1990s, while Reggie White was a shell of his formerly fearsome self when he played the final year of his career for Carolina in 2000.
It’s a young man’s game, particularly at positions where you have to flat-out run, and there’s no way Gilmore is as fast at 31 as he was at 24.
“The one thing you can see with these veterans is that they know how to play,” Fitterer countered. “They know how to keep themselves in positions and not to get beat. And whereas you may lose a step, you might gain that step back with your mind, and your ability to read and react. So I think Steph is one of those guys.”
Surely he will be good enough to contribute, and perhaps to start if he’s in shape and a quick study. I’m glad he’s here. But before the Nov. 2 NFL trade deadline, Fitterer needs to find an offensive lineman to go with him.
