Matt Rhule is the 2022 NFL season’s first head coach firing.
This was a long time coming. Rhule had an absolutely woeful time in Carolina, with that 11-27 record, and was coaching by far the league’s worst offense with Baker Mayfield at the helm.
Jimmy Garoppolo said this week that the Panthers were one of the “top couple” options for him this offseason. They went with Mayfield, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the 37-15 loss. Carolina is now in last place in the league.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for Rhule, who signed a seven-year, $62 million deal. He is guaranteed the remaining $40 million on his contract, though it is reportedly offset by what he’d make in college, so he may not be making any new money for the foreseeable future.
This leaves the Panthers as frontrunners towards the bottom of the draft and puts into question whether they may be sellers in the trade market, with a talented young core of players especially on defense.