Blogger to Overreact Defensively to Contract Agreements That Didn't Even Happy (It's me. I'm overreacting.)

Sure, Preston. Whatever you say. Why Panthers CB Mike Jackson is a better extension candidate than Bryce Young

Defense wins championships, yes. However, winning with Ty Law did not exactly mean that Tyrone Poole is worth more to the Patriots than the early years of Tom Brady. In fact, let’s talk about that for a while here. In 1995, Tyrone Poole and Ty Law were ironically selected next to each other in the NFL Draft. In 1996, they both helped significantly to bring their franchises to the conference championships. The Panthers with Tyrone Poole lost to the Packers. The Patriots lost with Ty Law to the same Green Bay Packers. Ty Law would have an elite career. Tyrone Poole would play well but would find himself leaving Carolina eventually and share some bench space with Ty Law on their way to a Super Bowl in 2004… against the Carolina Panthers. One of these guys, around the same age give or take that Mike Jackson is today would find himself running slowly behind Muhsin Muhammad breaking an NFL record with an eighty-five yard slippery move to the endzone. Who let the Moose loose?

Muhsin Muhammad’s 85 Yard Touchdown in Super Bowl 38 vs Patriots (4K) It was a pretty good cornerback at what should be the healthiest years of his own career. Trick fact. That was actually Ty Law. But even having an elite cornerback does not collect the wins that Preston here seems to think it does. They would win the Super Bowl anyway with a quarterback in his fourth year in the league. Who was more important to keep for long-term excellence? Do we extend the above-average and reliable quarterback or do we go try to sign Drew Brees in two years so we can keep Tyrone?

Today, it may seem ridiculous to believe there was a time when Tom Brady was just maturing before he was ready to be the primary reason the team would win Super Bowls. With an elite defense featuring Mike Vrabel and Tedi Bruschi, Tom Brady did not need to be as talented as Kurt Warner. He just needed to be trustworthy and patient with his growth on the Patriots. Even that season, the Panthers with an elite defense, still were far from giving Steve Smith an extension ahead of Dan Morgan or Kris Jenkins. Both of those guys would struggle with injuries for the remainder of their careers, while Smith was still a full season between his triple crown moment.

Now that I made my point about workplace team quality, let’s consider some factors. Mike Jackson is on a great tandem as far as cornerbacks go. Preston was not lying about that. But he does make it seem like the production is 50 percent Jackson and 50 percent Horn. It is probably closer to 60 percent/40 percent or even 75/25 percent. That is not to say that Mike is not playing great. I expect him to have a great season similar to Josh Norman’s thrilling run in 2015. However, noting that Norman entered that season exactly where Mike Jackson is now, it very well could be that this is the only elite year for Jackson.

Either way, four or five years from now, Michael Jackson may be just getting ready to relax his professional quality. At that time, Bryce Young, like Tom Brady, in his eighth season, may be just getting started at playing his best football. When I think of how productive they may be, Bryce Young could be as good as Drew Brees if he can stay healthy. Mike Jackson can be as good as Chris Gamble. Gamble was reliable and lasted a long career. Fans respected having him. But they would never pay him the way they wanted the team to make sure they kept Steve Smith.

Good quarterbacks are hard to respect unless they are elite. Elite quarterbacks are even removed disrespectfully and uncomfortably. Teams think they can do better by watching Tom Brady win a Super Bowl for the Buccaneers instead of letting him take the Patriots there again. People in media think this is a great idea, because it’s attention-getting.

But the attention to details that are missing include measuring the growth someone has within an organization. Mike Jackson is growing and performing well. But it was Bryce Young that took the blame for the 2023 season. It was Bryce Young who took the bench temporarily in 2024. He took that pain with class. Now, someone wants the team to find another quarterback while Bryce Young potentially does the same thing to the Panthers that Christian McCafferey and Sam Darnold already did? The team has to find another quarterback to win the division like Baker Mayfield did? It is taking this kind of bad advice that led to water spilling away to opponents’ joyful laughs from Carolina’s half-full cup rather than their thirst being quenched.

If the team should choose between a cornerback who seems to somehow be stuck in the ceiling or a quarterback whose ceiling has a wide open sunroof, I like sunroofs personally. I also like quarterbacks, as they are harder to find even in the sixth round of the NFL Draft.

NFL quarterbacks are given more patience and trust initially than most other positions in the NFL. However, as starters, fans and media are quick to seek an employment termination regardless of the circumstances. The argument is that Bryce Young is good. But it may be time to move on from him. That may be true but it does not make sense. It may be a business decision. However, the most responsible business decisions are more personal than professional.

We have already mentioned why the professional decision should be made. Fans love their quarterbacks. They want player familiarity, especially with the quarterback position. When a quarterback has struggled and grown, fans want to see success as a result. To eliminate Bryce Young for any reason is to abuse the fans’ trust that the team has learned and grown. Mike is liked and we liked to be liked. But pay Bryce or pay a bigger price.

The fans put a lot of hope into the quarterback. They did so with the expectation that loyalty would be invested into the decisions the team makes. Even if the team magically finds an undrafted winner like Kurt Warner out of nowhere next season, it would be hard for the fans to try to support someone they think the team will abandon at the worst time.