How many years did keeping Allen and signing Carr set back the team?

RiverRat said
DA doesn’t have to be the long term solution. You build a club to win as much as possible in the current year. Because nothing is guaranteed years down the line. There is no point in voluntarily being non-competitive for 5 Years while you hope and pray that your endless draft high picks work out. Cleveland and Jacksonville have been caught in this loop for generations. Cincinnati was there before Burrow and might be right back there soon. I’m frustrated with the team, but I’d rather be 3-4 with the division still up for grabs than be 1-6 saying “in 3 years we’re going to be good.”

Yeah but keeping DA keeps us from reaching that long-term solution. Paying a below average QB a massive contract keeps us from reaching that long term solution. There is equally no point in trying to keep a band aid on a aging team and going 7-10 every year. Your trading being bad for being mediocre. Being stuck in mediocrity is worse because at least if your bad you get a stab at a top pick.

The point I am trying to make that most people just can't see is that route you want to take has just as much chance at failure and can likely hurt the team more long term. Your sacrificing the teams future to maybe win a bad divison and go one and done in the playoffs.

The Panthers just tried to do exatly what your suggesting. They brought in Bridgewater in 2020, Darnold in 21 and Mayfield in 22. After three years of the band aid approach was finally forced to rip it off and start fresh. Yeah the Panthers suck this year and Bryce Young maybe a bust because nothing is guaranteed.

Its's a 100% fact that this team has to start a rebuild in the next 1-2 years. We have many aging veterans and not enough draft capital to replace them all. Dennis Allen is not the long term future and neither is Carr. The longer we wait the more years we waste, the sooner we rip the band aid off the more chances we get a getting lucky in the draft.