The Carolina Panthers parted ways with Cam Newton to try their luck with Teddy Bridgewater. As it didn't work out, they paid him to leave and get Sam Darnold, who didn't get the job done either. They brought back Cam and just remembered why they let him go in the first place, and so it goes.
The Panthers put together a solid defense and had some promising assets on the other side of the field as well. But Christian McCaffrey's never-ending injury woes and their QB situation held them back last year.
Matt Rhule and company will reportedly try to put an end to those struggles in the offseason, orchestrating yet another quest to find a starting caliber QB. As it turns out, they're even willing to absorb Kirk Cousins' mammoth deal to get that done.
NFL Rumors: Carolina Panthers Called The Vikings About Kirk Cousins
“They have gotten a call. Now, from what I’ve heard, it went nowhere so far,” Judd Zulgad of SKOR North told Yahoo sports “But it’s interesting that the phone did ring at TCO [Stadium] in Eagen and on the other end of the line: the Carolina Panthers.
“Quarterback-desperate. Panicked, I’m sure. I think if Matt Rhule and the Panthers don’t have a successful 2022, he’s probably going to be fired ’cause that has not worked out," Zulgad added. "They cast their lot, in 2021, with Sam Darnold—didn’t work out. And so I’ve heard that the Panthers . . . now the Vikings supposedly said ‘Hey, let’s put a pin in that conversation. We don’t plan to move him now.'”
Vikings Could Look To Trade Cousins At Some Point
The Panthers have wasted dozens of millions in mediocre quarterbacks over the past couple of years, so trading for a 33-year-old Cousins would be right on point for them. That, assuming the Vikings fail to convince him to take a pay cut:
“But putting the pieces of the puzzle together—Kirk’s demands, or refusal to take a pay cut, leaves me to believe that the Vikings at least would have the possibility of picking that phone back up,” Zulgad concluded.
Cousins isn't a winning QB and won't likely be the answer for the Panthers. But he'd be a massive upgrade from what they have right now, so keep an eye on Carolina as a potential destination for him.
