Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
Matt Rhule probably wasn’t even out of the building by the time opposing fans began posting jersey swaps of Carolina’s best players. Admittedly, your edits of Christian McCaffrey in Buffalo, DJ Moore in Dallas and Brian Burns in Philadelphia looked pretty cute. And although McCaffrey will now get an actual swap in San Francisco, the Panthers aren’t out here just selling off those marquee names—all of whom are young, proven and controllable talents that’ll appeal to whoever takes the head coaching job next. Thompson, on the other hand, could be shopped around given his age and the remaining year and a half on his contract. The 28-year-old, who is set to account for a $24.4 million cap hit in 2023, probably won’t be around for when the next regime really kicks in. So even though he’ll cost quite a bit in dead cap space, why not move the aging backer and see what you can get? – Anthony Rizzuti, Panthers Wire
