Steve Smith is as good as gone

[GRWatcher]

^^

That is why football isn't run by women. Emotional and sentimental attachment cloud the judgment. I don't see a single bad move they made yesterday. Releasing Diggs made me raise my eyebrow but nothing else.

Wait, nevermind. The FO has no plan after these cuts. They all went back to the office and said "now what?"

lol You are dead!!!! lol :patriot:

I sooooooooooooo hope I am sooooooooooooo wrong. It's not Moore that concerns me, it's whats left of our defense.

[SnarkAttack]

ok, Carolina is getting young....and they are only gonna replace the spots through the draft. No quality FAs imo, just guys to patch a hole for a year.

Now, Jake is gone.

If Rhys is gone then I assume Kasay is coming....

That removes the 2 men that keep Smitty in check and that he legitimately liked on the team. Smitty will not want to be on a team getting young and looking to rebuild the next couple drafts

this imo will likely be Smitty's last season in Carolina....we better enjoy it. Only hope is for Moore to lead Carolina to the playoffs......but that would keep Fox here and this year isn't being planned out for success to be expected.

This is a brilliant post - let's put it on the homepage...

[necroplasm]

People don't realize that our defense struggled last year do to pretty shitty offensive play. When you throw 3 picks a game, defensive numbers will look bad

QFT.

By the way Steve Smith won't be cut or traded just cause the team is cutting mediocre veterans!

[Leeroy Jenkins PhD]

I wonder if Hoover is in jeapordy?

[CRA]

If we ever trade Steve Smith, I'll name my first born Jake Delhomme Jones... even if it is a girl...

yeah, b/c top tier WRs also and hung onto til the end of there careers. Sorry, but this is business....from both Carolian's and Steve perspective. What Richardson is putting into motion isn't paving a way for Steve to want to finish out his career in Carolina.

the thread isn't suppose to be popular....but those who think Smitty will retire and never play for another team aren't realistic about business.

[CRA]

QFT.

By the way Steve Smith won't be cut or traded just cause the team is cutting mediocre veterans!

never said or implied that......

said, Steve will not want to be on a team looking to rebuild and start over w/ a new coach (when he will be on the last leg of his career). A team that no longer has the few people he held in such high regard.

this isn't a prediction about this year...but the following.

[IAmLost]

I'm not sure Smith is going anywhere in the near future. He has stated on several occasions that he wants to stay a Panther till he retires and maybe even become the first or second Panther HOFers and I'm sure he'll get his wish as he's still playing on a high level. Even if he loses some speed, he'll still have his quick cuts and excellent route running to continue with well into his 30s.

Yes they may have gotten rid of some of the people around him that he had strong bonds with, but that's football and it happens every season.

[PantherPhann]

I guess what they say about opinions really is true, "they're like a&^holes, everyone has one". Smitty is the ultimate Panther!

[OneBadassCat]

I wouldn't say we are rebuilding. We are making alot of the moves that some us here expected to make, not sure why we act so surprised about it now. Lewis was average and overpaid, Kemo was had his place here but he got hurt and both Leonard and Thomas came in and outperformed him. Plus Kemo was due for a roster bonus. The only cut I'm having difficulty supporting is Diggs, he was a good a vet player who didn't seem to be slowing down that much. He would be worth keeping even as a back up. Though it is time to see what Conner and Anderson can do.

[MadHatter]

please, take off the homer glasses.....there is nothing on D. A horrible DL and and a very average secondary. Some good LBs ain't gonna be enough to keep the D average.

Calm down. You are way over valuing Lewis. He was average.

Kemo was not even here last season and is coming off a MAJOR injury.

Diggs played solid, but Conner and Anderson are younger, faster, and more athletic.

The D will be faster and meaner next season.

[Sloth]

#22 in defense, bad but not the worst. our entire defense stepped up late in the season after adjusting to Meeks' defense. If we had played like that all season we'd be much higher in all categories(I can't say #1 because Jets played like that all season).

I was mainly referring to your statement of the secondary being average. It's far from average.

Wasn't me who said our secondary was average. They were good, but our passing def numbers were inflated by how crappy we were against the run.

[IAmLost]

It looks to be building towards Meeks' defensive philosophy with a quick attacking style. Neither Lewis or Kemo could get the push we needed in the middle so they got sacked and we saved a ton of money in the process.

[g5jamz]

Diggs could lay the wood, but he was constantly getting hurt.

[carolinanimal]

you guys are missing the point entirely. you just dont go from a experience d with vets sprinkled in to a d with little to no starting experience and not a expect a major dropoff.

how can you guys seriously think we had the #10 d last year with last years starters and we jettison almost half of them and add inexperienced rookies and non starters who werent spectacular when they did start and we will not skip a beat?

there is a big difference from being a back up to being a starter.

also who will we get for back up anyway. everyone is dumping old vets. so why pick up other peoples old vets when we had them here already?