Is it better to be good or to be lucky? Who knows for sure, right? But what happens when you’re hardly either? That’s the dilemma the Carolina Panthers will face again heading into the offseason.

Clearly, they’re not very good. They haven’t been for about three years now. Sunday’s 33-7 loss to the New Orleans Saints wrapped up their third consecutive losing season. They’re also not lucky. Unfortunately, that’s not a particularly great thing to be when you’re very-much in need of a new quarterback.

A 5-11 record, while good (or bad) enough for a top-10 pick, likely won’t put them in a position to land one of the upcoming draft’s more heralded prospects. Barring a trade-up, which’ll cost a prince’s ransom at the very least, they’ll have to look outside of Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Zach Wilson and perhaps even Trey Lance to secure the future of their franchise.

So they’re not too hot and they’re not too cold. They’re just . . .  cripplingly mediocre. That’s called football purgatory, folks—a place the Panthers have pretty much called home for the entirety of their 26-year existence.

They aren’t there by accident. It’s taken a string of failed evaluations at the quarterback position to stick them into such uncertainty.

The latest came with the signing of Teddy Bridgewater this past spring. Knowing they’d move on from Cam Newton, Carolina signed the 27-year-old to a three-year, $63 million deal, with the hope that he’d make the next step forward in his relatively average career.

Spoiler: He didn’t.

Bridgewater has proven to be the same quarterback he’s always been. He’s fine, at his very best. Fine is okay if you’re a backup, not a successful starter. Teddy’s not always composed in his game management, he becomes to easily unnerved in a collapsing pocket and he’s often too timid in throwing the ball downfield. And when he does, it’s usually not a fruitful endeavor.

That proved to be the case in today’s defeat to New Orleans. Bridgewater was noticeably more froggy than usual, unleashing past the sticks at a higher rate than he normally would.

Well, his Week 17 YOLO-type approach resulted in him competing just 13 of his 23 attempts for no scores and a pair of interceptions, both coming in the end zone. Bridgewater, while lucky enough to have not thrown even more nor lose the two fumbles he coughed up, can thank wideouts Curtis Samuel and DJ Moore for preventing his day from being far worse.

He would be replaced by P.J. Walker about midway through the third. He didn’t exactly pan out, either.

While his two-year, $1.6 million contract straight out of the XFL felt more like a flyer than it did a serious investment, Walker was discouragingly volatile. His play was frantic, his misses too wide and too often. Even in the shutout victory in his lone start in 2020, Walker was inconsistent, chucking a couple of ugly end-zone picks himself against the Detroit Lions.

Walker started his relief appearance in the season finale whiffing on each of his first five attempts. He’d end connecting with Saints defenders three times and his own receivers just five.

Then, there’s the quarterback behind him—Will Grier, who was again inactive on Sunday. Although he’s the lowest man on this quarterback totem pole, he’s perhaps the most glaring and alarming mistake the team’s brain trust has made at the position.

Grier, barely a standout on a national level at West Virginia University, was selected by the Panthers in the third round of the 2019 draft. That hurts considering they could’ve gotten their hands on a much-needed safety in C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who was scooped up by the Saints just five picks later. What hurts even more was that the Panthers and then-general manager Marty Hurney reportedly had Grier as the No. 3 quarterback on their board. And the two quarterbacks ahead of him? Drew Lock and Dwayne Haskins.

So, yes, that means they had Kyler Murray—the No. 1 overall selection by Arizona that year and one of the league’s most electrifying players—behind them. All of them.

Lock has been up and down in Denver, Haskins—who the Panthers have done due diligence on in what can’t be a great sign for any of those quarterbacks on the current roster—was just released by Washington and Grier has been inactive throughout much of his two-year career.

In his only action, a pair of starts in place of another Carolina quarterback flop in Kyle Allen, Grier was an absolute disaster. He completed 28 of his 52 throws for 228 yards and four interceptions.

Sadly, the last time the Panthers were good was when they got lucky—and that was with Cam Newton. They were lucky their 2-14 record was two whole games worse than any of the next closest teams and were lucky Newton burst through his ceiling.

If we travel back to 2010, the Heisman trophy-winning national champion was no sure thing. Hell, he wasn’t even the sure thing at the top of the draft for Carolina, at the quarterback position, or any other.

After missing out on the Andrew Luck sweepstakes when the Stanford QB elected to stay in school and delay his jump to the pros, the Panthers had quite a number of names thrown their way for their pick. Wide receiver A.J. Green, defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers and quarterback Blaine Gabbert were just a few of the possibilities other than Newton.

But, in a risk they had to take, Carolina opted for Newton—whose inexperience in a pro-style offense (among other thinly-veiled knocks to certain attributes) had many questioning his future. Luckily, again, it turned into the organization’s first MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards, four playoff berths, three NFC South division titles, and a Super Bowl appearance over their 10-year marriage.

Where, now, do owner David Tepper and coach Matt Rhule go from here?

Well, that begins with who they ultimately hire to run their front office as their new general manager. Then, is that general manager willing to spearhead a blitz into a higher spot in the spring?

If so, the Panthers, who currently sit outside of the top-five, could look to aim for the No. 2 and No. 3 slots. Those two selections are held by the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, respectively. If those teams chose not to move on from their quarterbacks in Sam Darnold and Tua Tagovailoa, they will very likely entertain trade-down options.

The draft capital needed to move into such a position, of course, would be immense. The Jets themselves sent their No. 6 overall pick and three second-rounders to the Indianapolis Colts for their No. 3 overall pick in 2018 to move up for Darnold. Two years prior to that, the Philadelphia Eagles sent two firsts (8th overall in 2016 and 12th in 2017), a second, a third, and a fourth to move up with Cleveland at No. 2 to take Carson Wentz.

Be it Fields, Wilson, or Lance, the Panthers will have to fall in love with one of the QB options outside of Lawrence to make that leap of faith. If they don’t, the 2021 Panthers could very much be Teddy’s Panthers once again.

As it stands, Bridgewater will be rostered next season at a cap hit of $23 million. The team does have an out for 2022, where he’d account for just $5 million on a cap hit if they chose to release him.

That could mean Bridgewater is still the starter for now. Whoever else gets added to the mix this offseason may just be holding a clipboard until further notice.

But that’s then, and we’re here—116 days away from the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. In that time, moves will be made, prospects will rise and maybe, just maybe, the Panthers could wind up getting lucky again.