Scott Fitterer, the general manager of the Carolina Panthers, said on Friday that Sam Darnold was in the lead for the starting quarterback job.
We want him to take it and run with it. The quarterback position needs to be stable to play winning football.
That is what we are working towards.
The failure to acquire Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson in a trade with Houston has altered the thought process of Fitterer.
Cleveland was picked over Carolina, New Orleans and Atlanta. According to a league source, the panthers were ruled out because they wouldn't guarantee the third and fourth years on the contract.
He got a new five-year deal with the Browns in which he was guaranteed over 200 million dollars.
The roster is better than it was a year ago and the team is two steps closer to winning the division.
Fitterer didn't rule out using the No. 6 pick of the April draft on a quarterback or adding another quarterback before the draft to compete with Darnold.
The most high-profile quarterback available is Cleveland's Baker Mayfield, who requested a trade when the Browns began pursuing him. According to a league source, the panthers are not interested in trading for him.
We are monitoring all that and nothing will be done immediately.
Carolina has salary-cap room that could be used to make a move on a quarterback or other player that could improve the roster. The door is still open to bring back Pro Bowl defensive back Stephon Gilmore.
Fitterer said that the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player would have to want to return to Carolina and understand his role for another reunion to occur.
The Carolinas madeNewton the top pick of the 2011 draft, then released him in the 2020 season, and then brought him back on a one-year deal late last season with Sam Darnold on injured reserve with a shoulder injury. The starter was 0-5 in 2021.
The Carolinas spent the past week attending pro days for Liberty quarterback and Pittsburgh's Kenny Pickett and Mississippi's Matt Corral. Fitterer wouldn't say if one could be an immediate starter in the NFL for competitive reasons.
"Ideally, every quarterback, no matter who it would be, would sit a little while and learn."
The goal is for the rest of the roster to be strong enough so that the team can win. He says the moves made in free agency have the roster closer to that, adding that most of the deals would have been made even if the team got him.
The best way to build a roster is to drop a young quarterback into the mix and build around him because established veterans get such big deals.
He helped Seattle build into a Super Bowl team with Russell Wilson, a third-round pick in 2012 who went on to become a nine-time Pro Bowl selection.
It would be a good plan for us moving forward, but we are open to all options.
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