Gerald McCoy wants to play for a contender, to visit Panthers anyway

Free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, having completed visits to the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens, is now going to visit the Carolina Panthers, flying in the face of his intent to play for a contender.

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The Carolina Panthers don't appear to have the ability to offer Gerald McCoy what he wants. The three things that have been reported that McCoy wants are money, to play for a contender and a scheme fit. Carolina can offer two of the three, but they look like a long shot to make the playoffs, let alone compete for a championship.

Look no further than the Panthers draft as a nod to their management knowing they aren't really ready to complete. Their first round pick, the supremely talented Brian Burns, could be great for the Panthers, but it doesn't seem like he's going to be ready to dominate out of the box. His physical ability is ridiculous, but he's light and he's extremely young.

With their third round pick, they selected Will Grier. A quarterback. This is more of a cautionary tale as it relates to Cam Newton than anything else. Newton is coming off of a serious shoulder injury and there are questions that only seem to have become more valid if they're taking a 24-year old rookie quarterback.

The Panthers have some legit young talent like Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore and Donte Jackson, but the team overall, the team doesn't look ready to beat out the New Orleans Saints or the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South, let alone the rest of the NFL.

The teams McCoy is visiting have been revealed basically as he's visiting them, so it's unclear how many more visits he plans to take before making a decision. But as it relates to the Cleveland Browns, at least when it comes to concrete factors, they have the best case to make of the teams thus far. The Baltimore Ravens aren't as good while the Carolina Panthers are notably worse. Money seems to be what this decision is really going to come down to, which seems to be the entire point of visiting the listless Panthers.