The main Panthers talking point after yesterday remains the events which took place on the sidelines involving wideout Robbie Anderson. After a number of exchanges with receivers coach Joe Dailey, Anderson was sent to the locker room by interim head coach Steve Wilks. 
The 29-year-old addressed the matter when speaking to the media post-game, following a discussion with general manager Scott Fitter. His remarks, in turn, followed Wilks’ brief comments, in which he simply said, “no one is bigger than the team.”
“I was honestly confused, and upset by it as I should be,” Anderson said of his removal from the contest in advance of a third down play. “It’s third down, and I’m being taken out of the game. I don’t think I should be OK with that. So I made a comment, why am I being taken out. So that’s that.”
Anderson was on the field for 52% of the Panthers’ snaps in their loss to the Rams, but was not targeted. Carolina’s offense – led by quarterback P.J. Walker for much of the game, then Jacob Eason at the end – was largely centered on running back Christian McCaffrey, and struggled in a similar fashion to previous weeks, something which largely contributed to Matt Rhule‘s firing.
That move, coupled with Anderson’s underwhelming production, has led to increased trade speculation. During his post-game remarks, though, the Temple alum denied that he wanted out of the organization, adding, “I’ve been in trade rumors before. It’s part of the game. I don’t let it affect me.”
Nonetheless, a deal sending Anderson elsewhere is something which “he would welcome,” per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (video link). The Panthers would incur a significant dead money charge in the event of either a trade or release of the veteran, who still has one year remaining on the $29.5MM extension he signed in 2020. They have until November 1 to find a trade partner, so the urgency with which they work on this front will remain an intriguing storyline in the coming days.
“I don’t think I should be OK with that (being taken out on 3rd down)”
Well, there’s the problem. If your coaches don’t want you in for a play, no one cares if you’re OK with that, at least in that moment. If you want to raise your objection, do it after the game. But he’s putting himself above the team in the middle of a game, I would have sent him away too.
I get what he’s saying about not being okay with being taken out. An athlete should want to help his team win. I don’t fault him for that, and maybe you’re not saying you do either. It’s fine to disagree with your coaches.
He handled it poorly though by creating a circus on the sidelines. I don’t think Wilks was wrong either for telling him to grab a shower. You work it out after the game.
He’s one of Rhule’s guys, they go back to Temple so as soon as Rhule was gone he was being shopped. His days in Carolina will be over as soon as they find a suitor and figure out the cap hit.
He needs a haircut
ooook Don Imus… not sure what his hair has to do with the situation.
Depending on the cost, he’d be an upgrade for Green Bay and would become a likely target of AR.
Good luck with that relationship. Just wait till Rodgers calls him out for subpar play.
Winning changes things. Look at how many quality players worked with Rodgers. How many couldn’t?
Hard pass
Guess everyone wants to overlook that Anderson has been a malcontent all season, not just in yesterday’s game.
Who’s overlooking it?
He’s a diva Wide-Receiver. Very common in Football. Nothing to see here. Good luck in Arizona. Hopefully Robby contributes to the Cardinals.
The game seemed strongly to be an audition for McCaffery for the Rams to consider upping their trade offer (and the other teams interested, who surely know that the Rams would be watching him closely). When the reports came out about McCaffery being on the block, and I saw that the Rams were Carolina’s next opponent, I figured that the Panthers would feed him a lot of snaps for the Rams to get a look. Of course, with injury prone players, that also runs the risk of taking him out of trade rumors completely, so the Panthers should bear that in mind while attempting to showcase McCaffery’s value in the coming weeks…
Anderson, already malcontent, was probably moreso as plays where he’d normally be in were scrapped for McCaffery. His team also did just transition to an interim coach (a defensive one at that), so a shift to a heavier run game was likely coming independent of the other circumstances.