Panthers May Pursue TE Alge Crumpler

The first article involves a rumor the Panthers will pursue UFA TE Alge Crumpler. If he is healthy what a great acquisition he would be. Word is he would be elated to come to Carolina given his NC roots. I like both Panther TE’s Jeff King and Dante Rosario but how could you pass him up. He has other things working for him:

Crumpler, 30, was a college teammate of Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers at North Carolina. Crumpler has made the Pro Bowl four times in his seven seasons with the Falcons.
He had 42 catches for 444 yards last season and five touchdowns, his second-lowest production as a pro. He was inactive for two games and frequently had to miss practice because of his knee problems.
Crumpler traditionally has played well against the Panthers. He scored in both games against Carolina last season, including a 30-yard game-winning touchdown with 20 seconds left in Atlanta's 20-13 win in Charlotte on Nov. 11.

It’s nice to know he won’t be tormenting us next year (unless he signs with the Saints or Bucs). Better yet, lets have him on our side.

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Panther Free Agency Run Down

Here’s a comprehensive Panther free agent analysis.

Here’s one nice little nugget:

FB Brad Hoover and the Panthers are already in talks to bring Hoover back. He'll come pretty cheap, so look for something along the lines of a three-year deal. However, he does have a lot of wear and tear on his tires.

I think Hoov still has one more good season in him. Glad hear we are already talking to him.

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Peanut Gallery Report

Andy Sutorius head lines a post on the Bleacher Report with "Do the Panthers Make Bad Personnel Decisions?" My problem with this post is he doesn’t actually identify any poor decision the Panthers have made, ever. It wouldn’t be hard to find one for sure (David Carr comes to mind first) but I’m sure every franchise had made a few stinker moves. The post is more accurately about Mr. Sutorius’ opinion that signing Crumpler would be a bad decision.

If they pick up Crumpler and place him as a starter I think that's a bad move and one that could cost Fox and Hurney their jobs and the Panthers another .500 season.

Huh? Who could blame the Panthers for signing Crumpler? If the Panthers end up .500 or worse next season I doubt you would point to that signing as the cause, even if Crumpler bombs. It’s not like we are used to big production from the TE position anyway.

If Hurney and/or Fox gets canned next season it’s more likely to be because the offense sucked again WITH Jake Delhomme. Another possibility would be they bombed the upcoming draft, made another FA blunder or had a locker room player revolt. Leave Crumpler out of it.