Thread by @Sam4TR

Washington signing William Jackson III represents a small but stark contrast to how Ron Rivera's past teams were built. Rivera didn't control personnel in Carolina -- Hurney, Gettleman, Hurney again -- but the team never spent big on CBs. (1/6)

Over the Cap positional spending data goes back to 2013, Rivera's third year with the Panthers. Carolina's annual cap allocation to CBs during his tenure vs. leaguewide allocation, ranked: 32nd, 32nd, 29th, 32nd, 27th, 24th, 29th. (2/6)

Carolina wasn't bad at developing CBs either. Team didn't retain good, young ones during that time -- Captain Munnerlyn ('13) and Josh Norman ('16) -- and another, James Bradberry ('20), departed after Rivera was fired but Hurney remained the GM. (3/6)

Last year, WAS marquee signing: CB Kendall Fuller. Team allocated the 21st-most cap to CBs, per OTC, the highest rate of Rivera's career. Before Jackson, team had $17.9M committed to CBs this year (12th-most); now likely north of $20M -- tho Jackson's deal structure is TBD. (4/6)

Washington could lower cap allocated to corners, perhaps by restructuring Fuller's contract, but that would still be a footnote to the broader point: 

For a Rivera-coached team, the amount of money Washington has committed to CBs is unprecedented. (5/6)

Lastly, to be clear: I'm not judging Carolina's decisions or drawing a 1:1 comparison. I'm just pointing out Rivera has never had a roster with this much invested in CBs before. 

For more insight into William Jackson III, read @nickijhabvala (6/6): washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/03…