The Panthers (and the entire league, for that matter) are going into a year shrouded by uncertainty. At the moment, we don’t know if the proposed CBA will be ratified or if the start of the new league year and the upcoming NFL draft will be postponed due to the coronavirus.

Once those issues are settled and the pieces begin moving, the team has to fill a number of roster holes and decide on a plan of action at quarterback.

To recap, Cam Newton is entering the final year of his contract, which has brought out a flurry of hot takes and bad ideas from fans and analysts alike. Some have suggested trading Newton, even if the return is only a third-round draft pick. Others have even said they should cut him and save around $19 million in cap space.

The team is in a tough spot and the choice is admittedly a difficult one, and it will depend a great deal on how healthy Cam Newton is. However, one thing we do know is this: tanking the 2020 season with the intent of landing a high draft pick to get a new franchise quarterback is a terrible idea.

Specifically, a surprising number of people seem to believe that tanking in order to get Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence in next year’s draft is a smart strategy. We don’t know exactly where this theory got started, but it’s categorically wrong.

First of all, the premise of tanking in the NFL is inherently flawed. It’s a different story in the NBA, where finding one superstar playmaker can transform a team’s prospects overnight. Proponents of tanking should remember a couple of things: that there’s only five players on the floor at any given time in basketball, which means individuals have a much greater impact on the outcome. One LeBron James can literally change an entire team’s fortunes. In football, one player – no matter how talented – is far less likely to elevate a team from being a cellar-dwellar into a contender. It’s the ultimate team sport and unless all 11 pieces are functioning as a coherent unit, it’s extremely difficult to win consistently.

A transformational player at quarterback certainly doesn’t hurt but it’s important to remember that guys like Patrick Mahomes who seem impervious to both defense and double-digit deficits are extremely rare. It’s also worth noting that Mahomes’ success has not come in a vaccuum. In addition to his own prodigious talents, he has one of the smartest offensive coaches in the history of the game and an absurd amount of talent at the skill positions. Nobody – even Mahomes – wins a Super Bowl alone.

In any case, right now, this Panthers team is not one player (or even two or three) away from fielding a championship team.

It’s also foolish to assume that just because a team has a high draft pick that they will land a game-changer. Lawrence has had a promising college career so far. However, there’s a chance he will pull an Andrew Luck and decide to return for another college season. There’s also a possibility that he will be a bust. Making the jump from college to pro football might be the most dramatic and difficult transition to navigate in all of sports. Every year, there are quarterbacks who get drafted that never pan out in the NFL. The speed of the pro game is simply too much for even some very talented prospects.

The Panthers got a taste of that this past year when they chose Will Grier in the third round of the draft. At the time, they got high marks all around. Pro Football Focus said Grier might be the steal of the draft and a lot of outlets (guilty) gave them an A grade for the pick.

When it came time to play the games, it became clear very quick that Grier was not ready to compete at this level. During the preseason, his slow processing speed led to several ghastly turnovers. When he got another opportunity late in the regular season, the same problem resurfaced. There’s still time for Grier to change the narrative and prove he belongs in this league, but right now it looks like a wasted pick.

Bottom line: Lawrence might turn out to be the best quarterback of his generation. However, we simply don’t know how his skillset will translate to the NFL or if he will even be available in the 2021 draft.

Save the tanking idea for your favorite floundering NBA franchise – even if John Paxson wouldn’t know what to do with a No. 1 pick if he got one.

The Panthers should not even consider it. Period.

Update:

The new CBA has been ratified by the NFLPA in a narrow vote. Tanking for Lawrence or any other player remains a terrible idea.