Panthers get re-loaded for Bear(s)

USAFL Champs not sitting back this offseason
By "Bucky Katz"

Off-Season 2107 (Charlotte) - Despite winning their first championship under GM 'Trader' Lee Remley, the Panthers are not taking the offseason off by any means.

After seven players from last year's championship squad decided it couldn't get any finer in Carolina and retired to the famed mountains of that state, the Panthers GM has been working the phones to keep his team on top another year.

'Not Pete, Repeat' reads the shirts the players wear in the Panthers locker room these days. It looks like their GM is taking that to heart.

The Panthers selected DT Terry Walker from Penn State at the end of the first round after many of the players they targeted went by the wayside to the rest of the league picking before them.

'Plans A through H pretty much went in the garbage before our pick,' Remley joked to reporters after the draft. 'We think Terry will help us in the future at a position where we are getting older.'

With FB Dwight Rhodes getting a free agent contract in Detroit, Carolina went out and got two young, bruising FBs to plug the hole he left.

'With Lenny Castillo around, we thought we owed it to Dwight to give him a chance to be the main man somewhere,' Remley commented. 'The two young backs we picked up are glad to open holes for Lenny until their time comes.'

With the retirement of Lane Hein as one of the Panthers fine corner tandem last year, Remley went out and got CB Gregg Mack and his $7 million contract from cash strapped Green Bay.

'We can afford to take on salary for once,' Remley joked, referring to the Panthers propensity for using every dollar of that salary cap. 'Gregg is a shut down corner so it's hard to turn down the chance to pick up that kind of guy and have two with Howie (Christie) still at the top of his game.'

The last acquisition was young DT Mike Rose, a former first round pick, also from Green Bay. Along with Walker, he should anchor the next generation of Panthers defensive linemen.

'He's a big ol' Iowa farmboy,' Remley said about Rose. 'He kind of reminds me of Oz (veteran Osgood Morrison) and he has him around to learn from.

With all this dealing, not all the Panthers wants were satisfied though.

'We were looking for an offensive lineman to replace North Duncan,' Remley pointed out. 'I'm always looking to improve that line, but it looks like Klusmire or Owens is going to have to step up. Our coaches think they're up to the task.'

Remley ended the interview with a juicy tidbit. 'I also have to tell you, I was real tempted to call my old buddy Z-Bo about James Schad for our new 3-4, but in the end looking at our linebacking crew and talking to our defensive coordinator See Pi Yu, I thought that might be overkill.'

With all these changes, will the Panthers repeat? We'll find out once the season gets under way. The competition hasn't been sitting back this offseason, either.

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