Spicy NFL Agent Survey Votes For Patrick Mahomes To Make $100M Per Year, Names Panthers As Most Unstable Team & More

When Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper threw a drink at an opposing fan last season, we all had a pretty good idea that the floundering franchise was among the worst-run in the NFL. The Athletic 's annual survey of 31 agents only seems to confirm that notion, among myriad other revelations about professional football. Since The New York Times ' sports coverage is behind a paywall, it's worth offering a breakdown of some of the biggest takeaways from said survey. Let's stay on the Panthers, though. Nine agents voted Carolina as the most unstable team, compared to seven votes for the Las Vegas Raiders. Speculation has persisted that Tepper was the driving force behind the Panthers' infamous blockbuster trade to acquire pint-sized quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick. https://twitter.com/ScottBarrettDFB/status/1829162264198250557 We'll see if new head coach Dave Canales can get more out of Young after resurrecting Baker Mayfield's career in Tampa, but that audacious move looks worse by the day. Tepper is cited by multiple agents as the common-denominator problem. https://twitter.com/TheAthleticNFL/status/1829170324010930429 As for the Raiders, well, it can't be easy as is when you're sharing an AFC West division with Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Mahomes is so freaking good, that six agents voted in favor of him earning $100 million per year. https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1829149550600470681 Five went as far as $75 million, with the consensus 13 votes checking in at $70 million. That's still well north of the current high-water mark of $55 million in average annual value held by Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, and Trevor Lawrence. The New York Jets received stern criticism, too, particularly regarding how they've handled Aaron Rodgers from the jump. https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1829167177683103815 I happen to believe Rodgers will lead the Jets to the playoffs this year in spite of all the nonsense and the relentless New York media circus. We shall see. There wasn't a real consensus on Dak Prescott's contract situation, so not much there or on any other contract-related issue for that matter. Most agents thought the Falcons' call to draft Michael Penix Jr. after signing Kirk Cousins to huge free-agent money was indeed weird. One low-key interesting superlative came from the question, "Which GM or front-office leader do you trust most?" The answer was Eliot Wolff, New England Patriots EVP of player personnel. The Pats have worst roster in the sport right now, but perhaps they're headed in the right direction under Wolff's roster-building guidance sooner than many of us think. Speaking of which, if you're a fan of an oft-bad team or are looking for the next team who could shock the football world, it might be good to be on the Commanders ( Jayden Daniels ), Chargers ( Jim Harbaugh ), or Bears ( Caleb Williams ) bandwagons. https://twitter.com/JeremyBranham/status/1829183477431861610 Glad to see that those three teams made my top seven favorite draft classes , including the top two (Bolts, Bears in that order). My favorite bits were actually toward the end. Topics about the future of the league included a potential 18-game season. That was an encouraging 16-14 "no" vote, and even the ones who said yes added caveats like the need for another bye week. Multiple agents advocated for college stars to be able to enter the draft early. Whether it's one-and-done or only two years out of high school, the thinking is it'd reduce wear and tear on taxing positions, and help running backs maximize their earnings window. A solution the NFL should listen to re: the ever-inflating QB contract market: Create a "separate salary bucket for quarterbacks." That makes a lot of sense to me so that teams don't self-sabotage or get penalized when they have to pay their quarterback. Three of the best changes proposed: No preseason football; just increase joint practices. No bye for any team prior to Week 7; add an extra bye week. Finally, all grass fields. No turf. Couldn't agree more with that last one in particular. Some good sh*t in here, Goodell! Improved player safety. Bigger earning upsides for all players. Sounds good to me.