Jul 30th 2008 11:40AM by David J. Warner (author feed)
Filed under: Panthers, NFC SouthIf you weren’t certain that this was a do-or-die season for Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox and GM Marty Hurney, this should remove all doubt. Pro Football Talk — you know, the blog that hates Jake Delhomme — is reporting that Richardson will not extend the contracts of anyone in the front office or scouting department beyond the 2008 season.

In short, he’s secretly replaced everyone’s regular coffee with the threat of a pink slip. Let’s see how they respond.

The key here for Richardson? He won’t have to buy out anyone’s contract if he decides to make changes. He can just sweep everyone out the door and throw a ton of cash at, say, Bill Cowher, or someone else who can find more than two starters from 16 2nd- and 3rd-round draft picks.

So if the Panthers don’t make the playoffs this year, you’ll see a sudden uptick in the unemployment rate in Charlotte next January. Of course, given that draft record, some scouts might be gone regardless of what the team does this season.