And then, they had time to kill.
It would be another six hours before their next deal, with Kenny Pickett to come in to compete for the backup quarterback job.
And they definitely wanted to get younger at that position, but the backup quarterback was also not the main focus of the first day, either.
When you’re looking for linebackers, you have the ability to use time as a tool, and that’s what happened on Monday.
After the rush of euphoria at the Phillips deal in the first hour, the Panthers had the chance to settle in and wait. People got up from Tilis’ office and worked on other things. There were more calls happening then, not as locked in on the one deal that would change everything.
So they did what football guys do at times like this. They cracked jokes. They scrolled through social media, reacting to the latest moves.
“Everyone enjoys it just like the fans out there, going through Twitter all day, it’s captivating,” Davidov said. “And it is thrilling to see the negotiation go from the starting point to the finish.”
But the starting point of the first one to the finish point for the last one was more than 10 hours. So that’s a lot of day to fill scrolling.
“At one point, I think Brandt asked if we should all go to the movies,” Davidov said.
They did not go to the movies. At one point before the Pickett deal, someone picked up sandwiches from La Lima, and they were stacked in the nearby boardroom with a hand-written sign that said: “Do Not Touch.”
But the mood was mostly light, because they knew they were in for a long night.
“As hard as they work, it’s also fun,” said Claire Stokes, manager of player personnel, who sits just down the hall between Morgan and Tilis’ offices. “It’s pretty common to hear that Brandt laugh coming out of there throughout.”