Did he earn this?

[Eaglesfan27]

The Panthers just signed Delhomme to a 5 year, 38 million dollar extension. I'm a fan of Jake, but I don't consider him an elite quarterback, yet. Seems to me to be a big gamble. If Jake continues to develop, it will be a great deal. However, if he doesn't progress I think the Panthers overpaid by a significant margin.

Here is the link:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=1823834

[Glengoyne]

I can't imagine he's earned it yet. Without knowing how much they gave him up front, it is hard to say if they overpaid. If all of that money comes down the line, they will just release him if he doesn't pan out.

[MIJB#19]

How about:

Bonus 12M
Year1 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year2 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year3 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year4 6.2M ----> cap 8.6M
Year5 12M ----> cap 14.4M

3 years to show he's worth it, if not, he's cut at hits of 2.4M in year4 and year5 each.

[Franklinnoble]

How about:

Bonus 12M
Year1 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year2 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year3 2.6M ----> cap 5M
Year4 6.2M ----> cap 8.6M
Year5 12M ----> cap 14.4M

3 years to show he's worth it, if not, he's cut at hits of 2.4M in year4 and year5 each.
I think that's reasonable... a little high, but not bad. The Panthers are definately taking a risk. If he flops in the next year or two, they're screwed.

[TroyF]

I think it's a pretty reasonable contract myself.

[Young Drachma]

yeah, I think it gives the guy an incentive to do something and if he flops, then oh well its not a huge hit to them. I mean, its nothing like Kurt Warner's old contract. So, it can't be all that bad.

[JAG]

I think it's a great move, even though you can argue he's only done it for one season. That one season was impressive though, he's still pretty young, and he improved quite a bit as the season went on. The only way the contract would be a huge dud is if he completely bombs the next couple of years and they have to cut him. But the reward side is pretty big: for three years, a pretty decent starting QB for a cap number of only $5 million / yr. If he had had a great year this year, they would've had to pay through the nose for him, so it's basically a compromise between the two sides.

[MIJB#19]

FWIW, I was just guessing on the contract, except the 12M bonus, as that was mentioned in the article. Sorry if this confused some people... :o

Still, If that is what the Panthers pay Delhomme, with the usual NFL-like baloon last years, I think it would be a reasonalbe contract. It would give Delhomme at least 3 years to prove himself and then they can sit around the table again to avoid the big salary increase or simply cut him by NFL standards.

[Sharpieman]

Delhomme has proved he can win. So why isn't he worth it?

[judicial clerk]

I think it is a reasonable contract. he relly showed improvement towards the end of the year. And his superbowl performance was great. i kept waiting for him to fold, but it never happaned.

[Desnudo]

Delhomme has proved he can win. So why isn't he worth it?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Panthers offense pretty anemic during the regular season? Run, run, run, and run some more? And I don't remember being particularly impressed in the NFC playoffs. Again, if I remember, he got lucky with a some bad throwing decisions against Green Bay and then was only able to move against the Patriots after two starters in their secondary were gone.

[Glengoyne]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Panthers offense pretty anemic during the regular season? Run, run, run, and run some more? And I don't remember being particularly impressed in the NFC playoffs. Again, if I remember, he got lucky with a some bad throwing decisions against Green Bay and then was only able to move against the Patriots after two starters in their secondary were gone.
He hit a few homeruns to Steven A Smith during their playoff run, but I think the biggest thing he has going for him is that he doesn't make mistakes that cost the team the game. That is a pretty good foundation. If the contract is similar to what MIJB surmised above, then I'd say it is a good deal for the team. I'd also say that he has earned it, with the caveat that no contract in the NFL is worth much more than the signing bonus plus the cost of the paper it is written on.

[Radii]

If its a backloaded contract then it's fine. Delhomme has potential, but he didn't show me anything special last season. He showed some fits of absolute brilliance, beginning with the comeback win in the first game of the year over Jacksonville, and he showed an ability to make some very big plays to keep the pressure off of Davis. He also showed a propensity to make 1-3 terrible, unforgivable throws a game. The falcons loss in Vick's return was due to one of these throws. Delhomme very rarely scrambled, sometimes with huge open lanes, opting instead to desparately throw the ball into double coverage. He improved later in the year to where he was throwing the ball away in most of these situations, but he really has to work on recognizing when he could crawl for 10 yards before a defender could get to him and taking off.

I hope he works out, but, despite last years success, I still wonder what the panthers future would look like if they'd traded ahead of Jacksonville to get Leftwich, something I desparately wanted Carolina to do during that draft.

[ISiddiqui]

I think it is pretty reasonable. One it is backloaded. Two he friggin brought them to the doorstep of a SuperBowl championship! Three the man doesn't make too many mistakes and once in a while can play some amazing football.

[gstelmack]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the Panthers offense pretty anemic during the regular season? Run, run, run, and run some more? And I don't remember being particularly impressed in the NFC playoffs. Again, if I remember, he got lucky with a some bad throwing decisions against Green Bay and then was only able to move against the Patriots after two starters in their secondary were gone.

The Panthers offense got better as the season wore on. They definitely pounded it early to let Jake get some confidence, but slowly opened it up more as he gained experience.

I think some of the contract is a reward for having had a good year that he was likely underpaid for. But if you think you have the next Tom Brady on your team (who may not look spectacular but does nothing but win), you lock him up.

[Fritz]

5M per for your starting QB is not high

[thesloppy]

I am reminded of the big-ass contract Bobby Ross gave to Charlie Batch while he was with the Lions...that didn't work out so well for Detroit. I'm skeptical of this deal just because the Panthers O-line has been shuffled in a big way during the offseason, and that can completely change the dynamic of a team...if the Panthers run game suffers Delhomme could be playing under a different set of circumstances than he was last year, making his big contract a big gamble.

[Passacaglia]

I am reminded of the big-ass contract Bobby Ross gave to Charlie Batch while he was with the Lions...that didn't work out so well for Detroit.

I don't think the problem was signing Batch to that deal -- the problem was deciding to cut him the next season, eating a tone of bonus money, and doing it after the regular season started, leaving them with no quarterback.

[Yossarian]

Delhomme really came on late in the season.

Dont forget he wasnt even starting QB till after the first game.

The team was insanely conservative last year. Theres no way Stephen Davis can withstand that kind of beating for too long (averaging over 30 carries per game).

On a panthers forum I frequent, they named the offense the Fromunda - because it was like Dan Henning called the plays from under his own nutsack (due to his severe fear of doing anything risky).

[cthomer5000]

Pretty reasonable. I hope he proves to be worth it, I like him.

[Radii]

The team was insanely conservative last year. Theres no way Stephen Davis can withstand that kind of beating for too long (averaging over 30 carries per game).


Hopefully with DeShaun Foster around he won't need to get that many carries for Carolina to win anyway.

[Yossarian]

Yup... Foster is set up real nice for being 'the man' eventually.

In the playoffs (and onto this year..) they used him more and I reckon he'll be in a position to get 5-10 carries per game. Giving him the experience he needs without tiring out his legs.

Foster has the goods - did you SEE his TD against the eagles? man.

[cthomer5000]

Yup... Foster is set up real nice for being 'the man' eventually.

In the playoffs (and onto this year..) they used him more and I reckon he'll be in a position to get 5-10 carries per game. Giving him the experience he needs without tiring out his legs.

Foster has the goods - did you SEE his TD against the eagles? man.Foster does appear to be the real deal. They have a max of 2 more years of him and Davis together probably, and i think they will do their best to take advantage of it.

[SteelerFan448]

Tommy Maddox had one good year with the Steelers. It's a darn good thing they didn't sign him to a contract like that. Bad move by the Panthers at this point of time IMO.

[Glengoyne]

Tommy Maddox had one good year with the Steelers. It's a darn good thing they didn't sign him to a contract like that. Bad move by the Panthers at this point of time IMO.
I have no idea how the stats that Maddox put up compared to Delhomme's year. I didn't really follow the Steelers much, but I saw the Panthers a bunch of times last year, and I never once thought of putting those two in the same category. I think Maddox is probably more physically talented, but I think Delhomme has the "right stuff" in other ways.