The Kawann Short long-term contract snag has been an aha moment for many. That must be why the Carolina Panthers used their first-round pick in this year's draft on what wasn't a position of need.
But general manager Dave Gettleman preaches a 'best player on the board' mentality, and he said the value on defensive tackle Vernon Butler "was too good" to pass up.
So was Butler truly the best talent on the Panthers' board, or was he up there in part because he'd provide insurance if they can't work something out with Short?
Because it's unlikely Gettleman would admit to the latter, if true, here's a more general question: Do teams consider contracts of their current players when they prep their boards?
"Sometimes," Gettleman told BBR last week. "Yes and no."
OK, that doesn't clear much up either, but, he added:
"Obviously, if you know your roster you’ll say, ‘Who’s getting close to the end?’"
That "end" is more about a player's career than contract. Take, for example, the 2015 draft.
"You always want to be in a position like we were with Shaq [Thompson]," Gettleman explained. "Did we need a linebacker right there?"
Those who saw a roster with Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis and bigger holes at other positions would say no, of course.
"Well, Shaq's gifted as hell," Gettleman continued, "and T.D. ain’t playing forever. [Shaq] just stood out like a sore thumb."
365 later, the board played out similarly.
"Looking at the roster, did we need another defensive tackle?" Gettleman again asked rhetorically. "People can argue ‘no.’
"But you know how much I believe in the front. You know how much I believe it’s a big man’s game and [coach] Ron [Rivera] is right there with me."
So the answer to whether the Panthers had Short's contract in mind when they drafted Butler is maybe yes, maybe no. What's more clear is they made the pick mostly because of who they think Butler can be.
When they went on the clock at No. 30, a guy they assumed would be gone by then was staring them in the face. And not just any guy, but a 6-foot-4, 323-pound prospect who will jump right into what was already one of the better defensive tackle rotations in the league. How long the current form of that rotation stays together is a question at least a season away.
"If you look at the Super Bowl teams, the fronts on both sides of the ball are pretty damn good. You aren’t getting there with a crappy front on either side of the ball. At some point in time, you’re going to get caught," Gettleman said. "You can fool people for a while, but when you get into the playoffs, it’s a whole different game.
"If you can believe it — it’s faster, it’s quicker, it’s more violent, it’s all those things. And if you don’t have big, powerful men on both sides of the ball, you’re gonna go home. You’re gonna go home sad."