Nestled in the Foothills of western North Carolina, Old Fort is a quaint town that’s just as wholesome as it is mundane and economically barren.
It’s also my hometown. It’s where I nurtured my love of sports. It’s where I learned the value of a close-knit community and learned how to work, fight and advocate for myself.
Hurricane Helene came through my small hometown and decimated it-turning something so serene into a post-apocalyptic, unrecognizable shell of itself. National Guards stood in the middle of Ground Zero for days directing traffic and making sure cars wouldn’t fall off of what’s left of the bridge on Catawba Avenue and into the creek. Foundations of where houses once stood protruded from the muddy soil. Chunks of asphalt scattered downtown while leaning power poles struggled to stand.
As one of the storm’s hardest hit areas, Old Fort’s recovery can’t be fixed in a matter of weeks or even a few months. Their recovery is long-term with a plethora of steps involved.
Ravaged by torrential mistakes in recent years, the Carolina Panthers went from a proud and competitive franchise to an incompetent, impotent shell of itself. Restoring this franchise to competitive relevance will not be easy and will take years and one step at a time. The compounded mistakes have crippled this franchise and there’s not much they could do to rectify them. What they could do, however, is start the rebuild and recovery efforts.
The Starting Point
Carolina is crippled cap-wise. According to Sporttrac, the Panthers only have $87,832 in cap space and an estimated $55.5 million tied up in dead cap this season.
In terms of draft capital, the Panthers own their own first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth picks in 2025. They also own the Rams’ 2nd round pick, the New York Giants’ fifth-round pick and their own seventh (unless it’s lower than Arizona’s). Next season, the Panthers would have $41.4 million in cap space and all of the dead cap will be off the books, which gives them some flexibility.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales is keeping mum on whether or not Bryce Young is on the trade block as the trading deadline is two weeks away.
Sometimes the best move to make is to make no move and I believe that the Panthers have nothing to gain by making a move ahead of the deadline.
Trading Young makes no sense now, because there is a precedent of trading young QBs on their rookie deal that doesn’t favor the trader. For example, The Chicago Bears traded Justin Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a conditional sixth-round pick. The New England Patriots traded Mac Jones to the Jacksonville Jaguars for a sixth-round pick. At best, the Panthers would receive a fourth-round pick for the second-year QB, which wouldn’t move the needle much.
Any moves the Panthers make before the Nov. 5 deadline are senseless, because they do not want to use all their capital and assets to save this season.
To QB or Not QB
While Young has an opportunity to redeem himself in Week 8, his future in Charlotte still remains to be seen. If they move off of Young for good and ship him out, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Panthers select a QB with the first-round pick. If there’s an upside to this it’s knowing that the Panthers finally have a solid O-Line in place to protect him.
On the other hand, the Panthers could draft the best player available since they can’t specifically focus on one need. If they draft the best player available, it’s feasible to pick up a quarterback in free agency at the turn of the year.
Offseason Moves
Carolina’s cap space is too tight to make any sensible moves this season. However, they would have more flexibility in 2025. Granted $41.4 million isn’t a lot, but it’s a far cry from what they currently have. The Panthers could use this space to address the defense, specifically the edges. They could also use the space to improve their secondary and receiving corps. This team has so many needs that any offseason move in free agency would be logical.
Old Fort and the Panthers are unrecognizable, and their needs are long-term. Their recovery efforts will be long and tedious. Having them restored and made whole once again is a process in which both have to start where they are with whatever they have.
A few steps at a time will change everything.