Carolina Panthers minicamp update with Darin Gantt

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast. Brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group. Visit us at CapitalFinancialUSA.com with Adam Gold.

They're both miserable. Three things that can improve the area around PNC Arena in Raleigh. And I mentioned an outdoor music venue at one end of that entertainment district. And that's exactly what I was thinking about. Right? I mean, I'd been to this like the third or fourth time I've been to Cocoa Booth.

But I think I mentioned Red Hat, which is a little smaller, which is in downtown Raleigh, and maybe that's more along the sides. But Cocoa Booth is just a really, really cool, chill venue. And we plopped down lawn chairs right by the kettle corn.

Nice. It's powerful. It's a powerful aroma.

Kettle corn. It assaults you for like, you know, a hundred minutes. It just beat me over the head. But it's all right. We had a good time. Robert Plant, still very good.

Alison Krauss, still very good. So that was fun. And apparently there were some listeners there last night because I tweeted out a picture of actually about a 30-second video of where we were sitting and whatnot.

And there were some other listeners like, hey, I was there. Yeah. All right. Well, I'm glad you were there.

They all had better seats than we did. All right. Let's let's get this show on the road. All right. We have championship series to discuss.

We have including a potential clincher tomorrow. So we're going to start real quickly with the ongoing conversation around the Panthers and their hot pursuit of the generously 25th best quarterback in the NFL, Baker Mayfield. I mean, I don't know. It could, he could be better. He could be 24.

It could be 24. Are we getting into 95 or 96 degrees? We are exactly. So here's Chris Canty, who is he and Chris Carlin are filling in for Mike Greenberg during the NBA Finals, you know, in many days. Anyway, Canty, former giant, former Cowboy defensive lineman, former Virginia Cavalier, by the way, says that the Panthers should be, should be in hot pursuit. If you're the Carolina Panthers, if you're Matt Rule, a coach that's on the hot seat, looking at the situation in your quarterback room, Baker Mayfield is clearly an upgrade. So Scott Fritter, the general manager for the Panthers, do the right thing.

Don't be Pennywise and dollar foolish. Don't try to extort the Cleveland Browns and make them eat a piece of the Baker Mayfield salary, because, Carlin, if we're being honest, 19 million dollars for a starting quarterback this day and age is a very reasonable salary. So go ahead and get Baker Mayfield in the building to give your head coach the best chance that he has in 2022 of being able to save his job. And oh, by the way, while you're at it, why don't you get competent quarterback play so that you could take full advantage of what Christian McCaffrey is bringing to the table? Because there's a shelf life on how great he's going to be in the National Football League as well. I got questions for Chris Canty because none of this happens in a vacuum. You're right, 19 million dollars for a starting quarterback is inexpensive in the NFL. Yeah. What about 19 million dollars for a backup?

That's expensive. I mean, no offense to Chris Canty, but I don't think you thought that through. I really don't think you thought that through because you bring Baker Mayfield in and I agree Mayfield is an upgrade over Darnold. I don't know that it's to the point where it's putting you over the top, right? It's not tipping the scales, right? It's not shifting the balance of power. It's not putting you in the playoffs.

So I just don't even understand the reason for it, but I agree. Mayfield is an upgrade. Not that much, but you can't just say, well, man, 19 million dollars for a starting quarterback. That's nothing. Yeah, but that's really not the point. Well, here's the thing. They already have 19 million dollars in their starting quarterback and Sam Darnold. So here's the thing.

Just because he's a starting quarterback doesn't mean that he's worth it. That's the thing. Yeah.

I keep saying this about Mayfield, he wasn't really given a chance to be good last year because of the injury. Yeah. Okay. But I'm also thinking about where the Panthers are.

So because it is way more complicated than just paying Baker Mayfield 19 million. What's the goal by the way of the Panthers? Yes. Okay, I you know what that sneaky brilliant because it's hard to discern what the goal really is. I think you're right Dennis. Yeah, we're not a hundred percent sure based on actions.

We're not a hundred percent sure. I think we all know that the goal is to get yourself at some point a franchise quarterback and make progress towards being a regular player in the playoffs and winning a Super Bowl. Okay, is Baker Mayfield that guy? No. Is Baker Mayfield the franchise quarterback? And I think we'd all say no, not really.

Is he better than Sam Darnold? Yeah, but really how much? But there are other complicating factors here, which is why the Panthers. First of all, they have salary cap implications. They wanted to leave themselves 10 or so million dollars of cap room during the season to make additions, right? They wanted to leave themselves that and that would be completely wiped out if they go out and get Baker Mayfield.

Anyway, this keeps I keep reminding people of this. There isn't anybody in the league that wants to help out the Cleveland Browns. Nobody. Dan Graziano kind of speaks to this. Teams feel like they have the Browns over a barrel. They know they have to trade him.

They know the money is guaranteed. So the Browns don't want to cut him because they have to pay him anyway. So if you're the Panthers and you want him, then it's at a certain price. It is, you know, hey, we'll take a shot on Baker Mayfield, but we don't want to pay him 19 million dollars.

So you guys should pay whatever, 10, 11, and we'll pay the rest, whatever that figure is. They and the Browns have not been able to come to an agreement on it. So I think it's a matter of who blinks first. Yeah, look. If the goal I get back to the goal is the goal to win a Super Bowl is a goal to get a franchise quarterback. Yes. Is Baker Mayfield it? No, then we should really move on, right? But if you do want Mayfield, even if it's just to kick the tires on him for a year, I get that. I get that. But you don't just automatically meet Cleveland's price.

No, you have to do what's best for you. Again, I don't think Chris Canty thought it all the way through. I just don't.

He's an otherwise really, really smart guy. Adam Gold in studio with my man Coach Pete DeRuder with the Capital Financial Advisory Group. We are talking retirement. Coach, let's say I have more than a million dollar balance in my 401k. Congratulations.

Thank you very much. How can that actually come back and bite me? Well, because, and this is a thing that we, it's a mirage.

You see mirages, I've written in the desert before, you see what's water ahead, but it's not there. Well, your financial mirage is thinking that that total balance in your 401k or your IRA is yours. We have two people that want to get ahold of it, two uncles.

Uncle North Carolina and Uncle Sam. Both of them are going to do some damage to that balance depending on what kind of other income you have. You could lose 40% of your value.

So if you're looking at a million dollar IRA, maybe it's only worth $600,000 to you. So how do we get around this? Well, you don't get around it because you end up in jail if you try to do that. But you can do tax planning to minimize the effect of taxation into the future. The tax train is coming, Adam.

We need to make sure to minimize the effect of the derailment of our financial accounts. And for the next 10 people, we'll do it at no cost or obligation, put together your very own tax and retirement plan. 800-661-7383 or text ADAM to 21000 for coach Pete DeRuta. I made Dennis include a joke in the poll today. Oh, did I? Yes. And I actually kept doing this and you might have put it in the poll and it's my fault because there is no game six tonight.

It's tomorrow. Oh, I know. Right.

Okay, you knew this. I mean, I basically throughout my my document here, I've been writing tonight because we had never game last night. So like other sports would have another game. Yeah, here we don't have a game until tomorrow. So is game six a must win for Boston? Haha. Haha.

Haha. So does that mean but just to can you know, kind of continue out the joke if the goal is to win an NBA title then Boston definitely needs to win tomorrow. I think we'd all agree on that right because the fourth loss probably detrimental to the pursuit of winning a championship.

But here's my question. How does Boston reverse the trend of the last couple of games where their offense disappears in the fourth quarter? And I would even say that if I go if I remember this correctly even in game three. I think they only scored 23 points in the fourth. I mean, they completely shut down Golden State. I think they outscored Golden State 23 to 11 in the fourth quarter. So and they might not have needed offense. So it didn't really matter but their offense has gotten worse other than game one. Their offense has gotten worse as the game has worn on. Golden State's obviously been amazing in the third quarters and Boston reversed that trend in game five. Boston was I think they outscored Golden State 35 24 in the third, but they fell apart in the fourth. So how do they reverse that?

And we have to explore that a little bit today. Also, if you're Boston. You executed a brilliant defensive game plan in game five. You shut down Steph Curry. Like it almost bothered me to hear that well Steph Curry had an off night as though he just missed shots. No, Boston shut him down. It's fair.

It really is. It's a fair statement to make. Boston was the reason Steph Curry only scored 16 points. Wasn't Steph. They frustrated Steph into making uncharacteristically, you know, uncharacteristic mistakes. They forced him into attempting shots.

He should not have attempted especially at times of the game when he did when Golden State had a pretty comfortable lead. And I've always said this about great defense. Great defense has a cumulative effect. Because if you are playing great defense possession after possession after possession. And then all of a sudden at one point that great defense isn't there. So in other words, you allow Steph an open shot here and there which didn't happen a lot in game five, but it did happen. Steph is a like already in frustration mode. The only problem with that is that he realizes that, wait, the defense is coming because it's been here all game long. So I better get rid of this quickly.

So it forces you to speed up even when it's not there. And that's what great defense does. And Boston's defense on Curry was spectacular in game five.

The only problem, it didn't work. It didn't get him a win. These other players scored a lot of points. I don't know, was it 110, 114? No, it was 104-94. If you told Boston that you'd hold Golden State to 104 points again, they'd take it.

Oh yeah, we should be able to get to better than 104. Boston's problem is that their offense has gone away. And part of that, and I want to be consistent here, part of that is Golden State's defense. Golden State's defense has been outstanding when it's needed to be. And it's needed to be that in the fourth quarter. Boston has to be better. They have to stop turning it over, all of that. So bouncing back after that game plan, that's going to be absolutely paramount.

Again, we'll talk about it more tomorrow. Off of the crossbar! And the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup! June 19, 2006. But it all started May 6, 1997 with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina.

It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Cane's Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina, listen now.

Find Cane's 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts. You got game one for Lord Stanley's Cup tonight. Let's do that hockey.

Alright. Tampa Bay's looking for a threesome of championships. The last team to win three straight titles? Was that Edmonton?

84, 85, 86? Or the Islanders who won four in a row between 80 and 83? Did Edmonton win three in a row, skip one, and then win another one? I'll have to go look that up. I was contact researched. There you go.

Yes, Adam Goldschutz, stats and info. So Tampa's looking to be the first modern NHL dynasty. The first post-salary cap era NHL dynasty. It was Islanders 83-83, Edmonton won 84-85, Montreal 86, but then won again in 87 and 88. And 90.

And 90. Calgary won in between, right? Yep. Calgary won in between. So Edmonton won five out of seven years. If that's true.

Five out of seven. Yes. That 96 or that 86 was, I believe, Patrick Waugh's rookie year, right? That was pretty impressive. Anyway, so Tampa's really setting the standard for what dynasties are about in the National Hockey League. And Colorado has not been to the NHL to the Stanley Cup final since 2001.

That, by the way, was also Patrick Waugh. And it was also Ray Bork getting traded from Boston to Colorado. This Colorado team has not had great playoff success, of course.

They have had great playoff success to this point this year. And that's the only thing that matters. But here's where I believe, and we'll talk to John Forsen about this later. Here's where I believe the series has a tipping point. Colorado might be front to back, outside of the goal, the better team. Yeah.

Right? Elite top line led by Nathan McKinnon, elite back end led by Cale McCarr, but others. They're great skaters on the back end.

They have plenty of toughness. But when you get right down to it, and I think Braden Point will at least be available for Game 2. He might not play in Game 1 tonight.

It's going to be a game time decision. But I just don't know how Colorado counters Andrei Vasilevski. Vasilevski is the best goaltender on Earth. Darcy Kemper or Pavel Fransos is not.

Not does not. Kemper's good. Yeah. He's good. He's good. But he ain't Vasilevski. He's not Vasilevski. He ain't distracting.

And here's the thing. I think having watched the playoffs, what we find out, Colorado, in many ways like Carolina, makes their goaltenders look good. Remember, they allowed the Vezina Trophy winner to walk last year. Bye.

We're not interested in paying you. So, he went to Seattle. Kemper had a good year. Fransos looked pretty good at times during the playoffs. But neither of them are Andrei Vasilevski. And Vasilevski, who has been gettable in Game 1s of these playoffs, although Florida didn't get him at all. He only allowed three goals to Florida in the entire four-game sweep. But he allowed five goals in Game 1 of Toronto. And he allowed six goals in Game 1 of the Rangers. So, if you're going to get him, you better get him in Game 1 Colorado. I think they probably will. But you still got to win four.

My money is still on Andrei Vasilevski to figure it out. All right. Let's go back to football because Deshaun Watson met the media for the first time since, I believe, signing the contract with the Cleveland Browns, right? Yeah. I believe he may have spoken to them back in March, I believe. Right. That was pretty much right after signing the deal, right?

Somewhere around that, yeah. And I don't think they took questions, right? I don't believe they took questions at that initial media briefing, if you will. But let's just put it all into context where we are with Deshaun Watson. As Watson is meeting the media, it comes at a time where we're finding out that there are more lawsuits coming. And the New York Times investigative story done by Jenny Vrentis, where there were 66 different massage therapists booked by Watson over a 17-month span. And I just listened to a podcast with Jenny Vrentis, and I know she was, I think, on Spain and Fitz yesterday, so we'll bring you that soundbite, but I just listened to a podcast with Jenny Vrentis, and she said, yeah, that's 66, and that number could be higher than 66. And she said, that's just what we identified.

Anyway, here's Vrentis from Spain and Fitz on where we are at this point. What we've discussed with the Browns' investigation as being a major flaw, not trying to reach out to the women or their attorneys, not trying to hear directly from the people who are in the massage room with him. For me, starting to cover this story in March of 2021, I didn't know what to make of it at first.

I think we all were kind of caught off guard. And for me, the first time I spoke with someone who had been in a massage room with him and explained his inappropriate behavior in her account, I think that was really eye-opening for me. And I think you can understand a little bit better some of the behaviors these women say are at play.

You can understand sort of the pattern of facts that is established through their accounts and also the power imbalance that exists in a room between a prominent client, a star athlete, and a massage therapist. All right, here's the other thing about this, and we're going to hear from Deshaun Watson here in a sec. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports has a really, really interesting piece up in which they actually got their hands on a copy of the deposition of one of the investigative officers in the Houston Police Department into eight of the 10 criminal complaints levied against Deshaun Watson. Remember, this went in front of a grand jury in Houston and then in a county outside Houston, and both grand juries declined to bring charges. So just say that up front. But in a deposition of, as it turns out, two, but I'm just citing the opinions of one of the investigative officers, the question was asked in the deposition, do you believe that Deshaun Watson committed crimes?

And the flat out answer was yes. So, I don't know why criminal charges were not brought by a grand jury, two different grand jurors. I don't know why. But the investigator into eight of the 10 criminal complaints said she believed that crimes were committed. Now with that said, the NFL doesn't need crimes to levy punishment.

They don't. And it'll be interesting to see what's going on. As for Deshaun Watson, he's met with the NFL, or about to meet with the NFL, and they asked him about potential suspension.

I can't control that. You know, I met with the NFL a couple weeks ago, and I did everything they asked me to do. I answered every question, truthfully, that the NFL asked me. I spent hours with the people that they brought down, and that's all I can do is just tell them and be honest and tell them exactly what happened. And I know they have a job, so I have to respect that, and that's what we want to do is cooperate, and they have to make a decision best for the league.

All right, how is he handling all of this, and there is some uncertainty here? It's been tough. You know, just trying to make sure that I stay balanced with my mental and just my social life. But I have a great family. I have a great legal team, and I have a great support cast here in this organization.

So when I walk into the building, all that stuff is outside. I've got to focus on football and my teammates, building that trust with those guys in the football field and off the field, and just really just coming to work, because the game plan is, you know, the season starts and getting everyone on the same page. I don't know if he's going to be part of the start. If you're the NFL, you just can't wait. You just can't let it just sit around and sit around, you can't wait for the final product. You have enough to make some sort of a statement now and leave yourself wiggle room at the end to adjust accordingly.

I don't know why they're waiting. All right, Panthers mini camp is into day two, and we're going to go to mini camp with the old guy, Darren Gantt, panthers.com. We will ask him questions. Next.

As my as my buddy Brad, you guys will probably would probably know him. Anyway, as he points out, we were discussing that that run from 84 through 90. Glorious time for Canadian hockey. Ninety three was the last title, right? I was Montreal in 93.

So that was it. I haven't had one since we've had a couple of appearances, but we haven't had one since. But that was that was a great time for Canadian hockey with the Oilers twice Montreal, the Oilers twice Calgary, the Oilers men was at 91 and 92 were Pittsburgh.

And then 93 was Montreal with Ron Francis and the Pittsburgh Penguins all the way back then. So Darren Gantt will will chat him up in just a second. Look, the Panthers have a lot going on.

And I'm going to bring this up with Darren. The. When you look at what's going on in the.

In the mini camp. With all of the the conversation around. Baker Mayfield and the acquisition of Baker Mayfield, and this is on the heels of OTAs, where I believe Matt Rule said it was the best that Sam Darnold ever looked.

I mean, I might be. Kind of overstating that meaning with with Carolina. But Sam Darnold is having to deal with something that you probably shouldn't have to deal with in mini camp. But in a strange way, I think it's good, maybe not for Sam. I think it's good as a fact finding mission for the Panthers.

If. If Darnold has to deal with. A whole bunch of things on the field, whether it's a young offensive line, and we're going to talk about that with Darren. I don't know that the off the field stuff and the the uncertainty around Baker Mayfield. I'm not sure that doesn't help Carolina find out because during the regular season, it's not just football on the field.

It's everything that goes around it. Darren, again, we're going to ask the old guy that question as he joins us from Panthers Dotcom in this whole stuff. All of all of this uncertainty regarding the potential acquisition of Baker Mayfield. It's giving Sam Darnold maybe some other things to get in his way. But in a way, isn't that kind of good for the organization to find out if Sam can really handle all of those things? Or do we already know that he can or can't wait Baker Mayfield who never heard of it?

What do you mean exactly certain? No, I think listen, this business is hard and everybody walks into it. I think every player I've heard a million of them say over the years. It's a business. Somebody's coming to take my job and it's that is true for Sam Darnold as it is true for about 88 other people on this roster, basically. I mean, and every one of them.

I talked to vets this week who said some version of it. That's just kind of mindset. I think most of these guys adopt very few players in the league are so truly secure that they're never in danger of being replaced.

So I think you just kind of have to roll that way and accept it to be honest with you. Darren Gantt is joining us. Is it kind of in a way kind of a, I don't know, a simulation of added distractions and added outside things that can get in your way for the regular season? In terms of Sam in particular, I mean, he had to open up last season against the New York Jets. I don't think it's going to get more than that in turn. I mean, honestly, we knew in April that the very first game of the year, we're going to find out if this guy's got anything or not.

And, you know, against his old team. It's almost like our friends at 345 Park Avenue gave us that one on purpose. But, yeah, I don't know that it's necessarily going to be any different than that. And Sam is I can I can promise you, having watched him do his work for a little bit over a year now, it doesn't get to him or he doesn't show it getting to him because he's one of the most even keeled with it. You know, regardless what happens on the field, Sam Darnold, the human being who plays quarterback, is one of the most regular and even keeled people in terms of the way he approaches his stuff.

All the other stuff outside the outside the line. He does exactly right. And he approaches it the right way. I mean, he understands how to function in an environment with a lot of distractions. He's been a high first round pick for the New York Jets. This isn't necessarily anything new for him. Right.

Played and played in New York for as many years as he did. So that's that obviously kind of toughens you up. How does how is Matt Corral looked if there's even any way to gauge? I appreciate you putting that important addendum on that one, because one of my pet peeves for being as old as I am is when we overstate the importance of unpadded drills in June, simply because there's no other football to talk about. And obviously, this one pass I saw to a tryout wide receiver against air is indicative of everything he's going to do in his 12 year professional career or not. Yeah, he's looked fun.

He's looked like a rookie. I think the thing that is interesting to me about Matt Corral is he dives right in. He is like and Sam is also this way. He is a show up early and stay late guy. He's a sponge for information. He's done all that all this stuff you can do, right?

Yeah, I mean, you can't be good at quarterback in June, but you can be bad at it if you have bad habits. And in that from, you know, just talking to people around the building, being around him a little bit is one of those guys who has the correct approach to this thing. And he throws a good ball. It gets out quick. That's the stuff we knew about him based on watching it Ole Miss and based on, you know, if you if you had an opportunity, you see Panthers confidential on Panthers dot com and all our related channels. You would know that this coaching staff really believes in his ability to get it out fast. They love the arm.

They love the accuracy. Yeah, when he's in the pocket. So I think a lot of it's going to be learning for him. And, you know, in an ideal world, he doesn't necessarily have to play immediately. And I think if he plays a lot or if he plays soon, that's probably a bad sign on a couple of fronts. It means either something bad happened or things are going really unfortunately in a number of other ways. Darren Gant asked the old guy.

We are going to get to one of the things you wrote most recently as well in just a second. But, you know, just in reading about what what we've seen through, again, OTAs, it's hard to tell that. Matt Matt Rule said that Icky Aquano has a lot to learn, which is obvious for a rookie.

Is there any inclination that he won't be the starting left tackle game one? Nobody, nobody actually believes that, do they? I mean, yeah, I, I think there is a natural and you see it every year. And again, I do feel like an old, old person. But I've heard 30 years worth of, oh, we've got to get these rookies broken in slowly. There are certain rookies, you know, we're going to play right off the bat. I mean, when Julius Peppers walked in the door. Oh, he's got a lot to learn. Yeah, I don't.

But different. And, you know, you drafted him to start at. I would be again, that's another one of those situations. I think if Icky is not starting at left tackle on September, the whatever against the Browns, then that's probably a bad sign for some reason or another. I mean, and there is no indication. I mean, then talking to the vets about him, he's another one of those guys. He got drafted where he got drafted for a reason. He's pretty good at football. And he's good at football, A, because he's incredibly gifted. But B, he's also got the right mindset for it.

I mean, he's a kid that works. And I think he's going. Yeah, I think he's going to be all right at this.

That's my suspicion. Obviously, you never know how these things are going to work out. But every indication we've gotten is that he has the capability to be that kind of. And I and I hate to put unfair expectations on a kid before he's played his first NFL game. But at least in terms of the talent he already has and the situation he's being brought into, he's got the opportunity to be that Jordan Gross type guy, not that level player necessarily, but a guy you put in a spot and let him man it for 6, 8, 10 years. Yeah, look, I think there's an argument to be made as good as Jordan Gross was.

We look at the athlete that Aquano is. I don't know who knows if he reaches his potential. Maybe he can take that position even higher. Like at some point, somebody is going to be better than Jordan Gross.

That would be a phenomenal development for him. But no, no question. And listen, let's be honest. And again, as you know, was discussed on Panthers dot com and then Panthers confidential. This guy was the highest rated player on their board.

And they were not the only team that had them ranked that way. So I think it's it's not necessarily a newsflash that a lot of people think this guy's got the chance to be really good at football. And I think he's probably going to have the opportunity to do it sooner rather than later. All right. So let me ask you about something else you wrote.

I believe it was on Monday about Frankie Louvou. I want I want people to hear this. Frankie, I know you do. I want people to hear this first.

This is Frankie Louvou in the in the defensive huddle firing up his team. All right. Now, do we have to bleep any of that out? No, we do not. OK, that's that's perfectly good.

And if we did, it's too late now. Right. That's true. What is that? I know the words you can't say on the radio, Adam, but those words are Samoan, but they are perfectly clean for a radio audience. And if that doesn't get you fired up, I mean, guys have a visceral response when Frankie starts breaking it down. And, you know, I think a lot of people know it as the haka because they've seen the New Zealand rugby team do it. His culture is from Samoa.

So in his culture, it's called the sea, the towel effectively the same thing. Frankie gets these guys going. And when he breaks it down, you see guys light up because, again, how do you not get fired up when you hear Frankie breaking it down like that? But that's also the way he plays. I mean, he he is one of those to use one of my favorite old football cliches.

He's one of those hair on fire guys. And that's how he plays football. So seeing him break it down like that. And it's cool to to hear him talk about his coach, his old high school coach, King Tupa Olo, who taught him that and taught him about the culture and everything and what it means to him. It was kind of neat to hear Frankie talk about it because, you know, I do think, you know, football talks about that brotherhood and having the guy next to you mentality.

And that's what that thing's all about. I know Brian Burns says, I have no idea what he's saying, but I like it. So here's my question about Luvin. Burns is like, it sounds dope. I know it's fine.

Look, I like all of it. The is he just a guy? Is he just a fill in or is there something more there? Because it wouldn't be the first time in the history of the NFL that somebody we only thought was going to play a bit role became more than that.

Right. And and let me preface this all by saying I am not predicting that Frankie Lou Lou will end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But Frankie Lou Lou's first coach, first position coach in the NFL with the Jets was Kevin Green. Kevin Green was five years into the league before he really became a regular right with the Rams and really became an every down contributor.

And the feared pass rusher he eventually became. I say that by means of Frankie's progression rather than his destination. You know, Frankie is five years into the league now and they're still experimenting with role. They're still trying to see where he fits best and giving him a lot more stuff. In the past, he was just here on fire guy, pass rusher. Now they're turning him into a linebacker. And he you know, he has the ability to play multiple spots, which gives him a lot of flexibility. You've heard them talk about that a lot over the last couple of years. But if Frankie can do a B and C, then it frees up Jeremy Chen to do X, Y and Z.

And any time you give yourself more options, obviously that helps. But he is a guy who is still developing and growing as a player. And I wonder, to be honest with you, and in all fairness, I think there is the danger of you reach the point of diminished returns with Frankie Lou Lou. I mean, because when he's on the field, 40% of the snaps, you get 40 high 40% of the highest intensity snaps you're going to see.

What happens when that becomes 60, 70%? We'll find out this year. And it's on him to continue to grow and develop.

But, you know, everything we've seen so far and everything that they believe internally is that he's a guy that can do a little bit more. Darren Gantt, ask the old guy, follow him on Twitter at Darren Gantt with two T's for extra talent, panthers.com. Stay out of the heat if you can. Good luck. As I just tweeted a moment ago, I think the devil is participating in minicamp this weekend as a tryout player. It's so hot in Charlotte.

It's ridiculous. All right, thank you, my friend. I'll talk to you soon. Yeah, man. Everybody stay safe. You got it, Darren Gantt. Panthers.com.

This is the Adam Gold Show. On with the crossbar, and the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup. June 19th, 2006. But it all started May 6th, 1997 with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Canes' 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts.