I was listening to Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule give a press conference today surrounding the trade for Sam Darnold, the draft, and how this affects the team and picked up an interesting tidbit while listening. Matt Rhule appears to have indicated that despite wide reporting to the contrary by ESPN, the Panthers have not yet acted on the fifth year option of their new quarterback, Sam Darnold.
Due to it being a live stream, I’m not able to wind back and get the exact quote, but here is my recollection of the question and Rhule’s answer:
Reporter: “was the team’s decision to pick up Sam Darnold’s 5th year option a business decision, or vote of confidence in the guy?