Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule is definitely behind in the count.
It’s the bottom of the ninth with two outs. The bases are loaded and his team is down three. And he’s about to step back into the box down 0-2.
Time to sell out.
After a second straight five-win campaign and two huge misses in Teddy Bridgewater and Sam Darnold, Rhule heads into the 2022 offseason needing something grand to save his job. And that something grand, obviously, needs to come at the game’s most vital position.
The MMQB senior NFL reporter Albert Breer noted as much, stating that the Panthers are one of a handful of teams prepared to make an earnest effort at improving their situation under center.
“We still don’t know which quarterbacks are going to be available,” Breer wrote of San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. “There’s a good group of suitors out there ready to take a major swing at the position (the Broncos, Eagles, Panthers and Commanders). And the fewer top-end guys—such as Wilson, Watson or Rodgers—are available, the greater Garoppolo’s value will become.”
If we’re being honest, trading for Garoppolo feels like more of a weak groundout back to the pitcher than an emphatic walk-off grand slam. But with the uncertainty in that market and the eight-year veteran a likely fit for what offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo will be running, Jimmy GQ could be hitting the QC pretty soon.
Breer also adds, in another body blow to Carolina fans, that the team probably won’t be able to rid themselves of their $18.8 million paper weight in 2022.
“So yes, the Niners will be trading him and turning to Trey Lance. But just what he brings back is less certain. (By the way, while we’re there, I wouldn’t put Sam Darnold or Carson Wentz in that category. Neither of those guys played well enough, and both are too costly, for another team to move any sort of real capital to get them. Or at least that’s how I see it.)”
Oh boy. Well, if you look closely, you can see the umpire getting ready to ring up that strike three call on Rhule and the Panthers.
