Panthers quarterbacks have held DJ Moore back. Look out. This year should be different
It has never been easy for DJ Moore.
Since the Panthers drafted him No. 24 overall four years ago, Moore has endured arguably the worst quarterback play in the league.
Moore has had seven different starting quarterbacks — Cam Newton, Kyle Allen, Taylor Heinicke, Will Grier, Teddy Bridgewater, PJ Walker and Sam Darnold — since entering the league.
After the wide receiver’s solid rookie campaign of 788 receiving yards, he has produced three consecutive 1,000-yard-plus seasons. His 3,525 yards since 2019 are fifth-most in the league over that span. He led the team with a career-high 93 receptions last season for 1,157 yards and four touchdowns.
Which is why general manager Scott Fitterer did not hesitate extending Moore this offseason before his fifth-year option even kicked in. In March, Moore and the team agreed to a three-year, $61.884 million extension, with more than $40 million in guarantees. His average annual value (AVV) ranks sixth among wide receivers at $20.6 million. Only Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, DeAndre Hopkins, A.J. Brown and Stefon Diggs make more.
“Certain people got certain things. So, it wasn’t spent on me. At the end of the day, everybody around me, it was pretty happy. Share the glory,” Moore said about his new contract. “Charlotte is the place I want to be. I’m just glad that we got the deal done before all the craziness was going on with everybody getting traded and stuff like that.”
Things did get crazy this summer. Three of the top five highest-paid receivers were traded from the teams that drafted them to clubs willing to give up multiple picks and new lucrative contracts.
Green Bay traded Adams to the Raiders for a first-round pick (No. 22 overall) and a second-round pick (No. 53 overall). Las Vegas immediately extended him on a five-year, $141.25 million contract.
He was the highest-paid receiver in football for less than a month.
Three weeks later, Kansas City dealt its All-Pro playmaker Hill to Miami for five draft picks: A 2022 first-round pick (No. 29), second-round pick (No. 50) and fourth-round pick, plus fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 draft. Hill also quickly signed an extension worth $120 million over four years. Then the Titans traded Brown on draft day to the Eagles for the 18th and 101st overall picks. He agreed to a four-year, $100 million extension with Philadelphia.
Credit Fitterer for getting a deal done with Moore before the market complicated itself. The team has control of Moore for four seasons at a team-friendly number considering the receiver market keeps ballooning.
Now it’s time for Carolina to put a high-powered offense around Moore; one where he isn’t continuously shackled by double teams or has to routinely make one-handed grabs to secure wild throws.
At Wednesday’s practice, the final week of voluntary OTAs, Moore spoke highly about quarterback Sam Darnold, who had his best practice as a Panther.
“(Quarterback) gonna be a big factor,” Moore said. “But at the same time, everybody around the quarterback has got to do the job, too. So I just can’t solely put it on him. Every position group is going hard to be perfect for the main person that’s running the show.”
For now, that lead showrunner is Darnold, though the team has not ruled out adding a veteran quarterback after mandatory minicamp next week.
Carolina entertained a trade for Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield during the draft. Discussions stalled when Cleveland refused to pay a large majority of Mayfield’s 2022 salary. Like Darnold, Mayfield is playing on a fully guaranteed $18.9 million fifth-year option. The Panthers are only willing to pay about $5 million of Mayfield’s contract, leaving about $14 million in dead money for Cleveland.
Some Panthers staffers like Mayfield. Others in the building prefer the 49ers’ Jimmy Garoppolo.
Garoppolo’s detractors worry about his injury history and overall health. The 30-year-old quarterback is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery but is expected to be ready to throw by training camp. Both have been excused from their teams’ respective mandatory minicamps.
Whether Moore is catching passes from Darnold, a different veteran or even rookie Matt Corral, he has proven he can produce as a receiver. Don’t expect Moore’s fantasy football projections to change if Carolina does make a quarterback change, though, which speaks to how consistent he is and how Carolina’s quarterback options are about the same no matter who is under center.
New offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo will play a pivotal role in Moore’s production this season, as well. His West Coast, up-tempo and quick-release concepts should bode well for significant yards after the catch for a receiver like Moore.
“It’s long and it’s treacherous, but it’s built for the NFL,” Moore said of McAdoo’s playbook. “The playbook is long, like some of the verbiage is long. You just got to be able to study and comprehended. But it worked when he was calling it in New York and all the places that he’d been.”
At all three stops (Green Bay, New York and Dallas), McAdoo installed a high-tempo, West Coast system predicated on shotgun throws, quick deliveries and playmaking opportunities.
Equipped with Manning and a young Odell Beckham Jr., McAdoo called plays for the Giants’ offense in 2014 and 2015, leading to two explosive seasons for Beckham Jr. OBJ won Rookie of the Year in 2014, averaging a league-high 108 receiving yards per game.
Moore can take on a Beckham-like roll in McAdoo’s offense, thriving on quick slants for yards after the catch and advantageous one-on-one vertical matchups.
His diverse and unique skill set is perfect for what McAdoo asks of his No. 1 receivers. That exact skill set is why Moore remains one of the most consistent receivers in football and is on the verge of becoming one of the best.
“I was really excited about signing DJ. That’s what we want to do as an organization is draft, develop, and then if they do it the right way by coming out to perform, then we’re gonna reward them, keep them here,” Fitterer said of extending Moore. “These are the guys that we want in the building.”
