Panthers Paw Prints: Armanti Edwards Signed

Good Sunday afternoon, Carolina Panthers fans. There was a fanshot up the other day, but in case you didn't know, the Panthers locked up one of their third round picks this week, Armanti Edwards. I, for one, am glad to see him in camp on time because it sounds like he has the most to learn before the regular season. It's weird to think that a guy could "learn" his position in the summer and potentially be a starter in the fall. I guess that says a lot about the type of player he is. It is starting to sound more and more like his Div 1 AA domination may translate to success in the NFL. I've got a couple articles on Edwards and his signing. Also, below the jump there's a few links on Jonathan Stewart and Hunter Cantwell. Here are your links for Sunday July 11, 2010:

Panthers, Edwards agree to 4-year deal. (CharlotteObserver.com)
Edwards, the Panthers' third-round pick out of Appalachian State, agreed to a four-year deal Thursday. The deal is worth $2.5 million and includes a signing bonus just over $710,000, according to sources with knowledge of the negotiations. ... Edwards comes to the Panthers with a strong resume and lofty expectations. As the 89th overall pick in the draft, the Panthers gave next year's second-rounder to New England to obtain him in a draft-day trade.

WR Edwards signed. (Panthers.com)
"The versatility that he brings – he is an athlete; he is a football player. He plays the game with an intensity and a toughness that you like. He's got speed and he's just a competitive, tough football player," said general manager Marty Hurney. "Time's going to tell with him, but you just get a feeling that he's got something (that will make him) a very good player."

I think I found out more about Cantwell reading this piece than I knew collectively since the Panthers picked him up:

Cantwell moves to No. 2 on Panthers QB depth chart. (CharlotteObserver.com)
And it didn't take long for the lessons to attract the notice of one of the game's top passers. Whitfield recalled a particular workout on Newport Beach, with Cantwell alongside Pike and Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. He said the first ball Cantwell threw caused the two-time Super Bowl champion to take notice. "Ben looked like he saw a ghost," Whitfield said with a laugh. "The guy has accomplished a lot, but he wasn't so big-time that he couldn't say 'This guy is unreal.'"

I know these stories may not be the most interesting, but I love hearing stuff like this. Stewart lives in NC now. He doesn't have to come out of his own pocket to put on a camp across the country in his hometown:

Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart finds his footing on and off the field. (OregonLive.com)
Huber, who organizes similar events on behalf of ProCamps Worldwide for professional athletes, said athletes often receive as much as $20,000 in appearance fees and camps charge participants in order to make a profit. Not Stewart. Huber said the former first-round pick waived his fee, found sponsors on his own and then picked up the rest of the tab himself -- including paying about a dozen coaches -- to make the camp free. "That is big because some of these kids might not be able to be here if it wasn't for that and that's big for us," Bowes said. Said Huber: "Stewart is truly one of a kind. I've been doing this for years and have never seen anything like what he does."

Fantasy football link of the day:

I think I like the case for Mendenhall better, but this is funny and has one heck of a run-on sentence:

Spin Doctors: Steven Jackson vs. Rashard Mendenhall. (Sports.Yahoo.com)
The brutish Ram is the Rasputin of RBs. No matter how many times he's beaten, shot, stabbed or drowned he finds a way to eclipse 100 total yards every single week. In '09, the nearly invincible rusher managed to finish No. 12 among backs in points per game (13.2), an amazing accomplishment when considering he was hampered by a painful back injury, running behind a decimated line against stacked defensive fronts and playing in a dreadful offense that ranked dead last in the league.