Richardson is No. 3, Yahoo says

   Yahoo's Michael Silver, a good writer with deep roots and sources in the NFL, ranked the league's owners in a two-part series that concluded Friday.

    At the bottom is Al Davis, and next to the bottom is Mike Brown of Cincinnati. But you knew that going in.

    At the top are Jerry Jones of Dallas and Robert Kraft of New England, who tied for first.

    Carolina's Jerry Richardson is third.

    Ratings are subjective. They're also an effective way get people talking before the season begins.

    I'm biased, but I would put Richardson at, or near, the top. 

Comments

[Mark]

Jerry is also drawing a thin line between what he believes is best for the owners and the league and alienating his fanbase. He does have a responsibility to the Panthers fans to put the best team on the field every year. This year, he goes cheap and gives us ridiculous excuses like they go through a transition every 6 or 7 years.

He needs to be very careful.

[darin is an idiot]

JR lost all credibility when he raised ticket prices this year then told the fans he's not going to spend any of it to make the team better. He doesnt deserve to be anywhere near the top of the list after giving a big "F you" to the fans this year.

[appstategrad2008]

There is no way Jerry Jones should be ahead of Jerry Richardson... but I guess that's to be expected. Say what you want about Jerry not wanting to spend money this year, but he's just practicing smart business and it looks like we're still going to have a pretty solid team this year.

[adam carter]

@ darin is an idiot

If thats the case, we won't see you attend their games, right? Since JR gave the fans a big "F" you to the fans?

Btw was people complaining about how JR overpaid for players in FA/resigning his own players. Now everybody is talking about how cheap he is in the lack of spending.

Seems like no matter what they do, we will hear complains everytime. One minute they consider playing the young guys, get rid of the over the hill players. Now fans in general are crying wanting Jake D, Peppers, and the other guys back.

This fan base seems to not make up their minds.

[heelfan#1]

Wow you guys sound like you need to be Redskins fans. Dan Snyder will spend all the money you want him to spend.
The fact is Richardson is being finacially responsible in uncertain times and sending a message to other owners. Plain and simple JR is the best owner in the NFL.

[darin is an idiot]

Adam.... the aka king of hyperbole

Find me a fan that was mad about Jake getting cut then get back to me will ya?

Its one thing to be cheap and refuse to spend any of money that you SAVED by cutting all the dead weight. Its another thing when you then raise ticket prices (some by more than 10 percent) knowing that you have your psl owners by the balls and knowing they cant do anything about it. If he is going to raise my tickets by that much then he BETTER be willing to spend it to make this team better which he failed to do. No one is saying we had to go out on a spending spree and sign Brandon Marshall. They could have had TO for a measly 2 million or TJ Housmanzadeh for even less. Instead JR would rather spend money a nobody like David Gettis or Armanti Edwards because they are much cheaper even though they have no talent. As a PSL owner I can definitely say that this is completely unacceptable!!

And to answer your question yes I will be at every game since I had no choice but to pay for them. However, I will not spend a dime at the concession stands or on merchandise like I do every year. That is my way of saying "F you" right back to Mr. Richardson.

[darin is an idiot]

Seriously, the only reason why JR gets such a huge pass in this town is because we are in the bible belt and JR has pregame prayers before the game. People around here are suckers for that kind of crap. Thats why everyone around here voted for George Bush. LOL!!!

[adam carter]

@ darin is an idiot

Lol,aka king of hyperbole? Really?

Btw their where many whiny fans,who was complaining about how they shouldn't have released Jake D. Based on his pre-season play.

You is right about TO and TJ H being cheper to pick up. But did they let go Mushin M, who is an aging WR? To me, it would be stupid to sign an agining WR, after getting a rid of one.

[ryan]

MR. RICHARDSON SIGNS MY CHECKS SO HE IS NUMBER ONE IN MY BOOK! RC

[Todd]

JR is a reclusive ultra-greedy owner, who, like others have stated, gets a PC free-pass from the media in this town and thus the lemming-like fan base.

Sorenson must have a relationship "with benefits" with JR.

[Eric]

Darin is a idiot is the idiot, how do you know this team is no good? Whats the lotto numbers next week? Yeah this does happen ever so often with going young, dude you can NOT keep the same players forever. And while you may think JR is a scumbag, remember this scumbag helped get this team to a SB in 15 years, there are franchises that took 43 and 30. Be greatful you SOB or jump ship

[CatMan]

darin is an idiot,

Wrong answer! You didn't have to buy the tickets; you could have sold your PSLs and graced some other team with your witty and intelligent comments.

[Brad]

Where can I get a job rehashing the work of somebody else? So-and-So did a study and these are the results, and by the way, I sort of agree with how they ranked the local owner.

Did you have pay for the stamp when you mailed this piece in or did you hand deliver it?

[MrBernz]

That "Darin is an idiot" person probably isnt even a Panthers fan. The way he cries is like the Panthers stold his gf or something. Or maybe Gantt stole his gf, hence the name he made up to cry like a little bytch. I also dont think anyones ticket prices went up 10%. The prices were raised between 1 dollar & 9 dollars, i cant see any 90 dollar seats being raised to 99 dollars. Therefore he probably doesnt own any psl seats or even go to any games. He is probably a Saints fan just here to talk trash.

[309-18-1,2]

I have been a PSL owner from the get-go. after the first 10 yr lease ended, i was given the choice of 3 different lease terms. the one I chose protected me from any price increases until 2017. so those who did not opt for the longer length were stupid

[MBPantfan]

Cant aford the ticket sell it to someone who can..thats all there is to it. Now who is greedy for the magic ticket.

[John]

It's rather amusing to read just how out of touch some people are. So cutting Kemo, damione lewis, diggs, hoover, and jake was a cost saving move? Or maybe it was just taking out the garbage in an uncapped year. And while the money may not be being reinvested this year, look for that to happen once the CBA gets taken care of. I for one, would much rather cut the dead weight now and be able have future cap space to lock up kalil, beason, davis, charles johnson, marshall, williams etc rather than hold onto washed up veterans.

[Joshua]

I agree with John. If you look at the guys we let go to other rosters, I think only Jake, Kemo, C. Harris and Peppers even made other teams' opening week rosters. And I'd say we're better off without them (although Pep and Jake contributed a lot in their best years).

Plus, who were we going to sign with all that cash? TJ Houshmanzadeh may be a decent player, but is he really the answer? I doubt we'd cut Jake and pay him millions to leave and then refuse to shell out an extra $800,000 or so to land a veteran receiver if we really believed they could help.

Think of it this way - next year, when other teams are panicking because all their young players are free agents and their cap situation is a mess in the new CBA, we can re-up our best guys and maybe have cash to buy some of theirs. Hardly anyone was worth that value this offseason.

[darin is an idiot]

Eric- Remind me how many TDs the panthers scored in preseason again? I told everyone we would suck last year.... and we did! Im telling everyone again we will suck this year....and we will!

Catman - Isnt it time for you get a new wig? Im sure you could afford to after you LIED to get a new truck from the FOX network. For the record, its pretty damn hard to sell my psls in this tough economy especially for a medicore team that nobody cares about and for a team that doesnt care about winning.

Mr. Bernz- last year my season tickets were $380 per seat....this year $430! Do the math son!

MB pantherfan- let me know if you are interested in paying thousands of dollars for my psls. I would much rather watch the games on my 65 inch DLP anyway. Otherwise, shut the F up!

John - No one is complaining about cutting all the dead weight. Doing nothing with the money saved is another dilema.

[PapaPanther]

Darn is an idiot is right on the money. Glad to see there is another fan out there who's not afraid to call it like it is!

[Joke]

I for one don't know what Richardson's plan is for the team. He's thrown his sons out of the management, he's gotten rid of a lot of high-priced talent, he's raised prices, and he hasn't hired any important free agents. It all spells a desire to clean up the balance sheet and prepare the team for possible sale. At the very least it's a "keep all options open" strategy.

[Rug Pe'er]

Guys, it was time to clean house, the window for the team had closed. Jerry couldn't make Delhomme get any younger, couldn't make Damieone Lewis get younger... Maake... nope, Chris Harris... nope, Muhs... nope, Hoooov.... nope & Julius didn't want to be here. It was time to go young & we have. Might be some growing pains this year, but it will work out, just watch. When they get the new collective bargaining agreement worked out, I think we will be set up to pick from a lot of free agents who will have to be let go to fit in the new lower salary cap. I think we will be sitting pretty next year.

[DJClifton]

I believe the moves Richardson has made this year are all a lead in to the CBA negotiations. He is getting ready for a lock out. He is positioning the team to be ready once a new CBA is signed. Also Fox is probably going to be out of here. Most of the guys who were cut have not signed with other teams. If they sign someone like Houshmandazeh, then who do they cut? This young guy David Gettis looks like he has a great deal of potential. At this time the Panthers appear to be looking to the future rather than the right now. Lets face it they have done much better with developing talent than signing high priced free agents.

[supermanwears89]

Charlotte has the worst football fans in the league. For proof, just read 90% of the comments to any article. We have an owner that is VERY smart, and willing to do whatever it takes to win. He pays whatever is needed for the players we target. He will fire his own children if he thinks that they are not the best person for the job. And he will cut his losses and start over if he thinks we are on a downhill slide.

Thank goodness Jerry is running this team and not the idiots that write these blogs. (Yes, including me)

[jay]

A lot of money had to be spent to send this Joke Fumbleromme packing. Jerry spent 18 million last year on Peppers. Notice how much better the line is without his lazy ass? Money has been spent to clean up the mess that has been made while he was laying in the hospital needing a new heart.