Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper hasn’t gotten to where he is by being a bad businessman. And although his major foray into football hasn’t gone that well—at least as far as the on-field product is concerned—he won’t start making bad business decisions now.
This past week, Mike Sando of The Athletic revealed the thoughts of numerous league executives regarding this offseason’s particularly dramatic activity. One official—in speaking about the Panthers—believes that despite head coach Matt Rhule’s czar-like influence, Tepper won’t allow a pressure-filled 2022 campaign derail the franchise’s future.
“I don’t see Tepper giving Rhule the authority to mortgage the future of the team for his own sake,” an exec said.
The honeymoon between Rhule, Tepper and Carolina has quickly come to an end, thanks to two largely disappointing five-win seasons that’s left the organization in desperation mode. Rhule’s seven-year $62 million agreement has thus far resulted in zero playoff appearances, zero answers at quarterback and almost little to no confidence in the team moving forward.
Seeing as though 2022 will truly be make-or-break time for the third-year coach, the concern around Rhule making impatient short-term decisions on the roster isn’t exactly a farfetched one. Not to say he is—because he hasn’t yet—but the dog-eat-dog nature of the sport is a very real one.
So will he, for instance, use resources on a “pro-ready” or mediocre veteran quarterback that can keep the team barely above water? And would that, in turn, leave Carolina without further assets and a potential superstar answer (Malik Willis, Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud) in a longer-term solution?
Well, we may not have to worry about that—as long as a cooler approach prevails.
