The trade table was where it all came apart. The Panthers shipped out far more than they hauled back, and no amount of spin dresses up the bill. Call it a C- and check back in two years.

They covered a lot of ground and still skipped cornerback, which is a strange place to end up. The cost of the Jefferson reach is exactly the players who went right after him.

On value alone, Gould makes the weekend a net positive. The Panthers clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.

Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a middling class.