Silence is a virtue . . . unless you’re the owner of the Carolina Panthers at this particular moment in time.
When David Tepper seized control of the franchise back in 2018, he vowed to hold himself accountable. He welcomed the challenge, the burden and the scrutiny that came with it all—even promising not to hide if the going got tough.
Well, the going has gotten more than tough—particularly after an embarrassing 2021 campaign—and Tepper is nowhere to be found.
Turmoil is abound in his organization, as he’s paid an unproven head coach a relative fortune to turn his quarterback position into a blackhole and his product into one of the biggest punchlines in the sport. His failure to then show support for Matt Rhule in the past month, or at least speak on it, has probably hurt his baby even more.
And that’s the sentiment MMQB senior NFL reporter Albert Breer has gotten from around the league. When hitting his mailbag for the week, Breer tells an inquiring Panthers fan that the billionaire’s disappearing act has likely stunted the team’s search for a quarterback and a coaching staff.
“Tepper still hasn’t publicly backed Matt Rhule,” Breer writes. “My feeling is that it hurt Carolina in its ability to hire staff, for the same reason it could hurt the team with quarterbacks—a lack of certainty regarding where the team will be a year from now necessarily means less stability for everyone involved. Now, maybe even if Tepper were to say something, it wouldn’t have made a difference with assistant coaches and won’t with a quarterback. But the silence certainly didn’t help with the former and won’t help with the latter.”
In addition to Rhule dismissing three of his assistants following the conclusion of the regular season, Carolina watched four more bolt elsewhere in lateral moves. That would, perhaps, suggest those coaches weren’t too sure of Rhule’s status beyond the 2022 season.
The Panthers also haven’t made themselves a desired destination for potentially available quarterbacks. Tepper’s missing vote of confidence (along with a lack of offensive identity and anything resembling a professional offensive line) might have them settling for whatever they can get.
“That’s why my feeling is the Panthers will probably wind up with a quarterback who sees opportunity in Charlotte to fight for his viability as an NFL starter,” Breer then added. “Which is to say my guess is it winds up being someone like Jimmy Garoppolo.”
Misery (or perhaps desperation in this case) loves company, doesn’t it?
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