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With well over two months away, there’s no telling what the Carolina Panthers will do with the sixth pick in the NFL Draft. Mocks have them drafting a QB, an OL, or potentially trading back to acquire more picks to help address all the needs that exist on the roster. Many people believe they have to find their franchise QB sooner than later if there’s any chance that Matt Rhule lasts in the NFL beyond 2022. But with Sam Darnold, and his $18 million salary on the books next year, it’s going to be hard to justify drafting or trading for a QB, when you have that type of money already committed to a QB.
Steven Ruiz from The ringer joined the Nick Wilson Show, earlier today, and expressed why the Panthers shouldn’t draft a QB with the sixth pick, but cited a different reason:
“What I would do is hope they don’t draft a quarterback this year, let Matt Rhule coach out this year, and then replace him, and start over with a new coach, and quarterback.”
Ruiz would later expand by saying that he doesn’t believe Rhule has staying power in the NFL and that there isn’t a QB in this class that he’s in love with enough, to take that high. Matt Rhule won’t be a lame-duck coach entering 2022, as he still has 5 years left on his contract, but the pressure is on for him to deliver results, as he is just 10-23 as an NFL head coach. The first step to doing that, is t find a franchise signal-caller, something that currently doesn’t exist on the Panthers roster.
