Do the Panthers have eyes for Ryan Mallett?
You have to hand it to Ron Rivera. He’s only been a head coach for about two months but he’s already managed to keep everyone guessing when it comes to the No. 1 pick. (I guess some credit goes to GM Marty Hurney for that, too.)
After the Super Bowl was played, the majority of draft pundits had the Panthers taking Missouri quarterback Blaine Gabbert with the first overall pick. Then it was Auburn defensive tackle Nick Fairley. Now it’s Auburn quarterback Cam Newton. Give it another week and it’ll be LSU’s Patrick Peterson, Clemson’s Da’Quan Bowers and MTV’s Lady Gaga.
Or how about this for a curveball: Arkansas’ Ryan Mallet.
There are reports that Mallett is scheduled to work out for the Panthers on Tuesday in Fayetteville. While he isn’t viewed as a potential No. 1 overall pick, that doesn’t mean Carolina wouldn’t trade out of the top spot in order to acquire more picks and nab him later in the first round. They currently don’t have a second round pick after the aforementioned Hurney traded it away last year so that he could reach on Armanti Edwards. So it would stand to reason that the Panthers wouldn’t mind trading back in order to gain more picks this year, and the No. 1 pick would fetch quite a haul.
Of course, trading out of the top 5 isn’t an easy task – especially when teams don’t know what’s going to happen with the CBA. The one thing the NFL and NFLPA reportedly agreed upon was restructuring the ridiculous rookie pay scale. If teams don’t have to invest $67 billion in the No. 1 pick, then the Panthers might have an easier time trading down. But if the rookie pay scale is still an issue, then they might be stuck.
If that’s the case, then it still seems likely that the Panthers would select Newton or Gabbert at No. 1. Granted, they could always take a defensive player like Peterson and then trade back into the first round to nab Mallett, but how would they do that? They don’t have a second rounder and they have a ton of needs to address, so trading the rest of their draft doesn’t seem smart. Thus, moving out of the No. 1 slot could prove extremely difficult.
Either way, the Panthers have everyone in a state of mass confusion with their pre-draft antics. And with that in mind, I say well done, Rivera and Co.
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Tags: 2011 NFL Draft, Carolina Panthers, NFL Draft rumors, Ryan Mallett, ryan mallett draft rumors