The Carolina Panthers are in desperate need of a constant—or at least a somewhat stable—presence under center. But are they this desperate?
On Tuesday, Pro Football Focus published their “15 trades to watch out for in the 2022 NFL offseason,” with a potential swap between the Panthers and Minnesota Vikings among them. In the proposed trade, Carolina takes quarterback Kirk Cousins off Minnesota’s hands while sending them their 2022 first-round pick and their 2023 second-round pick.
Salary cap analyst Brad Spielberger suggests that the hiring of new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo—along with his, uh, generous offer to the Vikings for Cousins—could help finally repair the team’s quarterback conundrum.
“The hope is that he can cater the offense to his quarterback’s skill set,” Spielberger writes of McAdoo. “While his up-tempo, West Coast-style offense with the quarterback in shotgun has not been one that Kirk Cousins excels in — it may have led to former Vikings offensive coordinator John DeFilippo’s firing — perhaps McAdoo can make some tweaks in a pivotal year for everyone in Carolina.”
Oh, so the Panthers would be giving up the sixth overall pick and next year’s second-rounder for a quarterback who doesn’t even fit the offense? And, not to mention, that quarterback is on what’s essentially a one-year, $35 million contract.
The skinny on Cousins is this: He’s a three-time Pro Bowler who threw for 33 touchdowns to just seven interceptions this past season . . . and it seems as though his own team isn’t really in love with him. So why would the Panthers mortgage more of their future (and a ton of it) for a 33-year-old who isn’t near the upper echelon of passers?
You could also look at this hypothetical trade for what it’ll leave Carolina with. They would have parted ways with a first-round pick (again, the sixth overall selection, no less), two second-rounders and a fourth-rounder for over $53 million worth of Cousins and Sam Darnold in 2022.
Um, no thanks?
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