Panthers backup quarterback Andy Dalton bought a “very, very, very, very low percentage” stake in Leeds United.
On Monday, Leeds earned promotion back to the Premier League with a 6-0 win over Stoke combined with Burnley’s 2-1 win over Sheffield United.
“As an investor, that was great,” Dalton said, via Darin Gantt of the team website. “Buy low.”
He now has something — “very, very, very, very low percentage” something — in common with Panthers owner David Tepper.
“Yeah, we have owners meetings and stuff that we’ve got to go to,” Dalton said.
Dalton called it a “fun thing” to invest in, though he has never been to the city of Leeds or Elland Road, the home stadium of the club. He also admits he doesn’t know all the players.
Dalton grew up playing soccer and knew all the rules, but didn’t become interested in the business of the sport until watching Amazon’s “All or Nothing” documentary about Manchester City’s 2018 season.
“So I just watched it, and I was like, ‘I’m kind of hooked on this; this is sweet,’” Dalton said. “And you kind of figure out how the Premier League works. There’s relegation and promotion. I didn’t know any of that kind of stuff. So, it’s like, ‘OK, well, they’re playing a Premier League game, but now they’re playing an FA Cup game, and now they’re playing a Champions League game.’ They just mix games in, so they’re playing three or four competitions at once. It’s wild how the whole thing works.”
The first quarterback to be drafted on Thursday night, Cam Ward, is the overwhelming favorite to be the first player taken. The biggest question as the draft approaches is where will the second quarterback go?
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders continues to be the wildest wild card at the top of the draft. Many believe his window opens at No. 8, if a team were to try to cut the line in a trade with the Panthers before the Saints can get Sanders at No. 9. The window arguably closes at No. 21, when the quarterback-desperate Steelers are on the clock.
If the Steelers pass, there’s a good chance someone swoops back into the first round to take Sanders.
There are other potential permutations. While few think the Giants would take Sanders or any quarterback at No. 3, they could slip back a few spots before pulling the trigger. The Raiders are arguably a potential destination at No. 6.
And then there’s the nuttiest one we’ve heard in recent days. At least one experienced and accomplished evaluator of talent thinks there’s a chance someone trades all the way up to No. 2 to get Sanders.
I’ll believe that when it happens. (I still may not believe it, even if it happens.) The fact that the possibility is even being contemplated highlights the uncertainty of Sanders’s ultimate status.
The more important, and most overlooked, factor when it comes to Sanders is the possibility that the months of evaluation, investigation, and deliberation will be superseded by an owner who would rather get it wrong by drafting Sanders and having him not work out than by passing on Sanders and having him become a superstar elsewhere.
Owners have influence, even when they act like they don’t. Those who collect paychecks from the owner (and who hope to keep doing so) will pick up on the cues, in the form of questions or stray comments. Being a multi-billionaire means never having to give a clear order.
As a result, it’s anything but clear where Sanders will go. And, at the end of the day, an effort to land a potential franchise quarterback won’t happen unless the owner of the team is OK with it — or unless the owner is the only one in the building who wants it.
The 2025 NFL draft is a week away, and the first seven picks have come into focus.
The betting odds for the Top 7 picks are all in minus territory, meaning the oddsmakers have put a greater than 50 percent chance on one particular player landing at that particular pick. It isn’t until the eighth overall pick that there’s enough uncertainty about the selection that no player is in minus territory.
Here are the odds for the Top 10 picks, via DraftKings:
1. Titans: Miami quarterback Cam Ward is an overwhelming -20,000 favorite.
2. Browns: Colorado cornerback/wide receiver Travis Hunter is a -350 favorite.
3. Giants: Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter is a -300 favorite.
4. Patriots LSU offensive tackle Will Campbell is a -225 favorite.
5. Jaguars: Michigan defensive tackle Mason Graham is a -130 favorite.
6. Raiders: Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty is a -125 favorite.
7. Jets: Missouri offensive tackle Armand Membou is a -115 favorite.
8. Panthers: Georgia linebacker Jalon Walker is the most likely pick at +150.
9. Saints: Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is the most likely pick at +200.
10. Bears: Jeanty is the most likely pick at +300.
The odds at No. 10 show the uncertainty surrounding the 10th pick pick, as Jeanty is the favorite even though the odds suggest Jeanty will be off the board at No. 6. The next-shortest odds to go No. 10 belong to Penn State tight end Tyler Warren at +350, followed by Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks at +900.
All it takes is one surprising move from one team near the top to overturn the whole projected draft order. But at the moment, the odds suggest that we have a good idea who the first seven picks will be.
We learned late last week that Saints quarterback Derek Carr has a shoulder injury that could require surgery and that revelation led to increased speculation that the team will take former Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders with the ninth overall pick.
It also increased chatter that another team with interest in Sanders might try to jump ahead of the Saints in order to secure his rights. The Panthers have the eighth overall pick and their General Manager Dan Morgan was asked at a Tuesday press conference if he’s heard from teams about trading with them since the Carr news broke.
“I don’t think yet,” Morgan said. “It’s still a little early for that, but maybe down the line I’ll expect it a little more. Right now, things are quiet.”
Morgan had expressed a willingness to trade down earlier in the press conference and reiterated that “we’ll be waiting if somebody wants to come up” after being asked about the Saints angle. Sanders might not be the only target for a team looking to move up, so the Panthers will be ready for all possibilities next Thursday night.
Panthers General Manager Dan Morgan has decisions to make about what players to add in next week’s draft and he also has to make a call about one of the team’s past first-round selections.
Morgan and the Panthers have until May 1 to decide about exercising their option on left tackle Ickey Ekwonu’s contract for a fifth season. Ekwonu was the sixth overall pick of the 2022 draft.
Ekwonu’s option would carry a fully guaranteed salary of $17.56 million and Morgan said at a press conference on Tuesday that the team is taking its time before deciding whether to pick it up.
Ekwonu has started 49 games since entering the NFL and he turned in his strongest season in 2024, so the Panthers will either bet on his continuing improvement or they’ll set him up for a prove it year in 2025.
