Carolina Panthers spring practice underway!

Very excited because we have the NFL's job fair in India and there's no better place for a job fair, I think, than Indianapolis.

And Darren Gantt, panthers.com, is there as we ask the old guy, how's it going in Indianapolis, sir? It is delightful. I was just asking Victoria, there's a lot of dudes walking around here in quarter zips, bro-hugging each other in the hallway. What's the female equivalent of the bro-hug?

Is there such a thing? Is it just hug? No, I think it's like the Euro fake kiss. It's the cheek to cheek, cheek one side, cheek the other.

Ah, gotcha. Well, you know, she didn't have an immediate answer. She promised me she was going to research it and if I know anything of Victoria, she's behind the scenes working hard to get to that answer.

Yes, I will get it done, Darren. You know me well. So let's talk about what both Dan and Dave talked about. This is not a decathlon, even though I do think it is funny that we have Dan and Dave now running the show. Yeah, we're dating ourselves with those 1992 Olympics reference. Great work.

And neither of them made the Olympic team. Details, details. Reebok Tribe. Exactly. It was a good try by Reebok. Look, there was not really a lot that they could reveal, but they did focus on the offensive line. What do you think they hope to accomplish in that regard? Not that you're going to accomplish anything at the scouting combine, but do you think that maybe and receiver are their two biggest missions there? I think there's certainly I mean, the Carolina Panthers are not a position where they can focus only on one position. I mean, not with where they are as a roster, not with where they are in the draft order.

So I think they've got to cast a wide net. You just got to plan in a year like this. You've got to prepare for the whole draft and then see where you're picking in late April because it's not me saying I think they're going to move here or there. You just got to be smart all the way down the board and make sure you know the whole board because they're not in a spot.

For instance, if they get to the top around two or the end of round one on Thursday night and something's standing out on their board. Be that person, a middle linebacker, a pass rusher or a guard or a receiver. I mean, they can't really say no to any of those spots. You find the right guy. You find your highest rated guy regardless and go forward with that. I mean, you asked about offensive line. I think one of the most telling things yesterday was just the way they dismissed out of hand the suggestion that. Icky Aquano might somehow become a guard after spending his life playing tackle.

I mean, and here's the thing and Dan and Dave didn't say this, but this is my take on it. Could you upgrade from Icky Aquano? Sure, you can upgrade from just about anybody. Is there a guy available who you can afford given all the other needs on your roster right now? You know, I just think if you look at incumbent pieces and stack them up one through 22, you know, replacing Icky is probably not in the top five for me.

I totally understand. Would Brady Brady Christiansen as an every down left guard? Would that make Icky Aquano better?

You think it did in 2022? I mean, I just think having someone smart and stable next to Icky helps a lot. I mean, because listen, let's be honest, you go through a year playing, you know, seven left guards and eight right guards and the tackles are going to look worse than they are. Because there's no continuity. You don't know who's next to you.

There's no chance to communicate because you guys aren't even speaking the same language. So I just think it's whether it's Brady, whether it's you think about Austin Corbett on the other side next to Taylor Moten, I just think anybody for 16 weeks would be better than last year's hash that they threw out there. So it's it's going to be hard not to make that position better, even if health is the only upgrade. So I think they want to bring in more guys because, listen, you're shaped by your experiences and anybody who's adjacent to the Carolina Panthers last year is scarred by having to play so many guards. Bryce taken 62 sacks, almost breaking Steve Berlin's franchise record from 2000.

I mean, it's just there were so many things going wrong and they're not going to get caught in that position again. Darren Gann, panthers.com, joining us from Indianapolis, boots on the ground at the NFL's job fair. It's also really a place where GMs and some coaches, the ones who bothered to go because not all coaches go there. They're also making contacts about potential trades. We have not seen a franchise tag placed on Brian Burns, at least I haven't as of yet. Where where are the panthers with the pursuit of a long term deal with Burns or potentially relocation? They're working on it. I mean, they're working on talking to him. I mean, they've had some meetings with his agent while they're here.

Those conversations will doubtless continue. But I mean, if they can't come up with something between now and March 5th, which is what next Tuesday, if they don't come up with something between now and the fifth, they'll tag him. I mean, that's just the smart thing to do. And there's no, because it preserves your options. You know, it gives you the opportunity to either do a long term deal with him before July 15th, keep him for the year on that number and run it back again the following year.

If you want to do it that way or try to find value otherwise. And, and listen, Brian is a guy who has value to more teams than the Carolina Panthers. So if they get in a spot where you can't do a deal and you, then you would be forced, I guess, to move him. And if they do, they're going to get good value because he's 25 years old and he has 46 sacks.

And he's at that sweet spot. I mean, a lot of times in free agency, you're buying old guys, over the hill guys and guys who are on the downsides of career. It's reasonable to suggest that Brian Burns has still got five years of exceptional football in front of him. At what point do they have to, uh, when does the period end where you have to tag him? March 5th, March 5th, next Tuesday is the deadline to tag him. That gives you about a week in advance of free agency to make other plans and know what you're dealing with going in. And listen, if you tag Brian, that's 22 million bucks. That's a big number sitting against the cap. They've got good, they've got a good amount of space there in the upper third of the league in terms of cap space available without restructuring any contracts or cutting anybody or doing anything like that.

So they're in good position. Obviously, if you tag Brian, that's a big number sitting there like a rock on your cap and you know, it limits some of your flexibility, but it by no means takes them out of the market for some of the stuff they want to do. Darren Gantt, panthers.com, joining us from Indianapolis. They, like there was a story yesterday where all of the, none of the running backs are going to get tagged. Saquon Barkley not getting tagged. Josh Jacobs not getting tagged. Tony Pollard not getting tagged.

They're all basically free to negotiate with other teams. Was there anybody on that list that was intriguing to you for me? A.J. Dillon kind of jumped out?

You know, there's a lot of names on that list that are intriguing to me. I mean, and when you think about it, you know, the Carolina Panthers are starting to be Hubbard at running back. There's nothing against you, but you ran hard last year and kind of created a job for himself where he entered the years of backup. And, you know, I think he's a physical runner. He's not the most explosive guy, but he runs hard and he converts things. I mean, he just is a pretty good running back, but it's possible to upgrade there.

And I mean, if you start talking about the difference between Saquon Barkley and Tuba Hubbard, it's significant. So I think it's a possibility. I think that's going to be one of those markets that's fascinating for me and free agency just because it is.

It's obvious that everybody decided all at once. Yeah, we don't want to get in this business. We don't want to, you know, overpay these guys.

And did the Panthers overpay last year for Miles Sanders? I guess. Sure.

Yeah, there's not really any arguing that. So I would be surprised if they got in at the top of the market. But if that thing starts creating value with some of these dudes falling through the cracks after one or two of them get a deal, then I could see that. Oh, I would I would absolutely be on board with. Yeah, you don't do it right away because you're going to pay a higher price.

But you know, you wait, you know, you wait a month or so and there's a bunch of guys left. You know, OK. Yeah, right. I think, as you said, I'm pro running back.

I am. I still think that position has a ton of value to a team, if not the market and dollars and cents, because you've got to run. And Dave Canales talked about that yesterday. He said, you know, last year in Tampa, they were stubborn about running. They didn't run it particularly efficiently. But over the course of the year, they got better at it.

They want a division, want a playoff game. So I think you can be an effective running team without having an elite back. But if you look at what San Francisco did this year, you got a Christian McCaffrey.

You got a chance. Yeah, well, McCaffrey, I think we all agree. McCaffrey is the outlier, right? He's the guy that, you know, the I understand after he got the contract from Carolina that he got hurt for two years in a row.

But we all see what he is now. He's the outlier in that, just like Ladanian Tomlinson or Barry Sanders or even a Derrick Henry, because he's been around for such a long time now. These guys are outliers. But for the most part, it's funny how people talk about it. They talk about like, well, running backs don't matter anymore.

Well, that's it. There's two things at work here. The running back matters. It's who the running back is doesn't matter as much because of the drop off that happens four or five years, except when we're talking about those guys. And Christian McCaffrey is one of those. But for the most part, all of these guys ultimately become disposable. Well, I mean, that's the NFL, right? You know, that's also radio and newspapers, too, isn't it? We're all disposable. A hundred percent. I'm just trying.

I'm trying to reinvent myself. This turned dark in a hurry. I don't know what happened. We started out talking about bro huts and here we are staring into the abyss and it's staring right back. Terry can. Panthers dot com is joining us here. If you had to identify a spot on the defensive side of the ball where Carolina must get better, where is it? Pass rusher.

I mean, that's that's the job. I mean, even and that's with or without Brian Burns. I mean, if if it's without Brian Burns, if they end up tagging him or trading him or something like that, then you got to go get two of them.

You need to go get another one. Even with Brian, I go back this this defense in its purest form is a lot like what Dom Capers was coaching in 1995 and a three four defense that's built this way. Needs that second one to maximize the first one's talent. If you think back to 95, well, Marla Ethan was pretty good. Marla Ethan was great when he had Kevin Green on the other side instead of Darian Conner.

So that second one makes a huge difference. And you saw they gave it a shot with Justin Houston last year, and he was not as advertised. He didn't have anything left in the tank and didn't play a whole lot of football and didn't play good football when he was on the field.

But that's the point. I mean, they got to get a second one over there on the other side now. He tore gross mottos played well last year when he was on the field. I was unfortunate that he was hurt and missed six games because he would have created a pretty good market for himself with the way he played.

Um, I think he's a possibility. Maybe you bring him back, but you still need to supplement that position because Brian on his own can be doubled can be chipped. People can slide to him and all that stuff.

There's got to be somebody on the other side to make people pay for that. And I just think you've got to I think also with the stabilization on offense, and Dave talked about that a lot. It's not like he's trying to fix Bryce.

He's just trying to raise the level across the board. You know, get everything from the bottom to the middle and see how much better Brian Burns is a pass rushing. Oh, you've got a chance to play with a lead in a fourth quarter once this year, which they didn't do it all last season. You think his numbers would have been better? I think they would have been better. Yeah, they might have been. There's there's there's no I don't know that there's ever been a right didn't play a second in a fourth quarter with a lead. I mean, he was never under duress. There was never a moment where the other team had to throw to catch up.

So, I mean, that limited Brian's chances to do what Brian's best at. Darren Gantt panthers.com boots on the ground in Indianapolis, the NFL's job fair. I look forward to the athletic part of the competition, the swimsuit, the swimsuit competition is coming up. I appreciate your time. Always, sir. We'll talk to you again.

Sounds good. See y'all can't get panthers.com. We can ask the old guy all the time. Gosh, yeah, we went we did.

We went from bro hugs to staring into the abyss. Although Darren was the one who brought that up. He did. So nobody has reinvented himself better than Darren Gantt. He is just absolutely outstanding.