Lets be honest the only bad move Getts has made is releasing Smitty

[top dawg]

The Smitty release was NOT about money.....how many times does that have to be said.

 

And that perhaps is what makes it most perplexing.

 

Heath Evans called it the "single dumbest move this offseason".

[bLACKpANTHER]

Carolina will do you dirty? The Patriots are the most notorious team in the league for "doing players dirty" as you say yet every FA wants to play there. The Colts basically fired one of the best players in NFL history in Peyton Manning, has it hurt them in getting FA? The 49ers were trying to trade their coach that has turned the frachise into a perennial SB contender, has it hurt them? The Saints unloaded their most explosive weapon in Darren Sproles against his wishes, etc.....it happens every year on every team.

 

Carolina is finally doing what every other team in the league has always done. There is not a player in the league that is going to think twice about coming here because they are worried about being done dirty. They want to win and they want to get paid, that is all.

 

how in the blue hell can you paint the Smitty release as anything but "negative".. there is no way you can realisticly put a "neutral (wait and see) or positive" spin on this thing.. it didnt save us money, it made our WR depth 10x worse than it already is. our vet leadership sailed with Smitty and Gross and half our team. it looks bad to other FAs.

 

your arguement of "other good teams release players too" is bogus.

 

1st, the Pats have been in the playoffs every year for the past 2 decades it seems- thats why players want to go there. how does releasing good players make you better? Pats can release a good player because they have other good players waiting in the wings that will take less money. We have nothing but draft picks at this point and LET'S COUNT THEM- 3 wide open reciever positions

 

The Colts moved on from Peyton because his neck injury and they had Andrew Luck staring them in the face. it makes sense.

 

Sproles in a RB that can be replaced with an UDFA in todays game. if we were smart, we would have done Dwill and/or Stewart what NO did to Sproles. not to Smitty.

[panther4life]

I assure you that I fully get it.

 

Go over react somewhere else.

 

Since you fully get it...how much total savings did we incur by releasing him now vs next offseason?

 

[TheRumGone]

And that perhaps is what makes it most perplexing.

 

Heath Evans called it the "single dumbest move this offseason".

 

and you believe heath evans?

 

i'm not saying it could be correct but the guy is a dimwit.

[Thal]

Gettleman is just accepting this coming season to be a wash. That's all it is. If he wanted to build on from last year he wouldn't let Nicks go. Any team can figure out how to find just 3.5mil to pay for a potential superstar! He just want a complete rebuild.

[Carolina Cajun]

In a way, I kind of agree, but honestly in the end, as much as I'd get blasted for this, I don't hate the moves (or lack there of) that Gettleman has made.  I hate releasing Smitty, hell, he's the only players Jersey I own, and have wore it since 2008 deep in the heart of Saints country every Sunday, but it wasn't about this season, it was about the cap space needed in the next 2 years to lock up Cam and Keek to keep our new core of panthers together.  The flaw he has made in all of this, is the order he did it in.  IMO, you don't drop your number 1 receiver and expect all the other receivers to flock to you, you have the course of action and you get that player signed, then you talk to Smitty and politely let him know he will not be retained by the June first cut.  Now we're sitting here with no receivers for a move we could have waited to make.  I didn't like the Harper signing, but that is personal feelings about the player, I just don't like him, but atleast our #2 corner will probably be Melvin like it or not, and he did as well as any Rookie corner last year, and I expect him to fully fill the role this year.

 

We do need a LT, and we need WR's badly, but at the end of the day, this is what I ask myself, "Is Marvin Mcnutt and Taveres King REALLY that big a step down from Lafell", and my rational in my mind is always, I'm not sure honestly, but I do know for a fact that Lafell wasn't gonna win us a championship, and really, neither was Ginn (although he was very good in spurts last year).  We'll fill the roster with other bodies if neither of those 2 guys pan out, but it's too early to say that neither can be that big player for us until both have a full offseason to work with Cam.  Our #1's at CB, LT and WR will likely either be taken in the draft, or picked up for pennies on the dollar late when the free agent frenzy has calmed down and contracts become reasonable (IE, not pay Lafell millions of dollars to drop every big pass thrown to him).  I've had my freak out moments, but I think we'll be alright.

 

On a personal note, I was just given a job Offer to move to Charlotte, and I'm really excited about the prospect of being in The Queens city for us to make a big run over the next few seasons.

[iamhubby1]

seems no one this team is worth anything. ...paved paradise and put up a parking lot.

Pie for the Joanie Mitchell reference.

 

 

this is exactly what I've been saying this entire time!!! No one is concerned about the loss of all those other guys! We were never gonna be able to pay them & they are all replaceable anyway. The Smith loss is sure to hurt them no matter who else they bring in to replace him. Still don't see how it didn't make MORE sense to them to keep him for atleast another yr to show whoever the new guys were the ropes. I also think them releasing him has driven a lot of the FAs away. Ppl wanna come & play w/ a guy like smith.

If we would have kept Smitty it would have kicked in his roster bonus. 7mil this year, and 9mil next year. 16mil for Smitty as he is, is just too damm much.

 

 

it was personal.it will always be personal and that is why it is such crap to extoll the business virtues of g-man.

Yeah, let's forget about the 16mil we would have to pay him over the next two years. Let's just make it personal.

 

The Smitty release was NOT about money.....how many times does that have to be said.

So having to pay a not #1WR 16mil over the next two years is not about the money?

Smitty has, and always will have, a special place in our hearts. But, if you think he is worth what we would have to pay him? I am glad you are not my GM.

[CollegePanther]

Yeah that's the only bad move. What I'm mad about is all the moves he didn't make. 

[CRA]

I say his bad move wasn't 89....it was forcing Gross into retirement a year early last offseason

[MadHatter]

I say his bad move wasn't 89....it was forcing Gross into retirement a year early last offseason

 

Gross was already contemplating retirement prior to Gettleman approaching him last season.  Heard that from a friend of his.

[NFLFangirl19]

Pie for the Joanie Mitchell reference.

If we would have kept Smitty it would have kicked in his roster bonus. 7mil this year, and 9mil next year. 16mil for Smitty as he is, is just too damm much.

Yeah, let's forget about the 16mil we would have to pay him over the next two years. Let's just make it personal.

So having to pay a not #1WR 16mil over the next two years is not about the money?

Smitty has, and always will have, a special place in our hearts. But, if you think he is worth what we would have to pay him? I am glad you are not my GM.

he is said to have been released because he was a "distraction". I have yet to hear one analyst or anyone in charlotte media say it was because of money. In fact they keep reiterating that it had very little if anything at all to do w/ it. So why should I listen to u? if it was really a $$ issue then they probably would have just asked him to restructure right? but his agent claims they never did. Now they're stuck looking stupid w/ no recievers on their roster probably until the draft

[NFLFangirl19]

Everyone has a price. If he wasnt intrested he wouldn't have come to vist or say he could see hisself catching passes from cam Newton. Not to mention his father saying the deal to carolina was nearly done. Lot of smoke to say he just wasn't coming.

his father posted a pic of analyst on nfl network talking about how he was PROBABLY coming here & just assumed. I figure he hadn't spoken to his dad at all about that & he clearly didn't or else he would have never posted that & made himself look silly when he ended up going else where. He was obviously interested & that wasn't the only interview where he had spoken about playing here but both interviews def took place before Smitty was actually cut. & when asked about what made him chose Indy & over CAR he says "the situation". That was him saying a whole lot w/out saying much at all IMO.

[iamhubby1]

he is said to have been released because he was a "distraction". I have yet to hear one analyst or anyone in charlotte media say it was because of money. In fact they keep reiterating that it had very little if anything at all to do w/ it. So why should I listen to u? if it was really a $$ issue then they probably would have just asked him to restructure right? but his agent claims they never did. Now they're stuck looking stupid w/ no recievers on their roster probably until the draft

Smitty was on record as saying he would not restructure. Whether that was a bottom line way of thinking? I don't know.

Gman has to trim the fat. 16mil for Smitty over the next two years is an awful lot of fat. Plus, to me, it makes more sense than trying to say he is a locker room distraction. Unless players were coming up to Rivera and Gman and complaining about Smitty, saying he would be a distraction is just an easy way out. And I never heard, or read anything that claims Smitty was a distraction. The possibility is there, what with his emotional state and all. But I have no proof of him being so.

As I said. To me, 16mil for the next two years is just too much money.

[LinvilleGorge]

SVP and Russillo are just thrashing us right now.