Bartin

gotcha. I just remember him playing like crap then basically saying it would be the right decision to bench him. I agree with you about the no loyalty part. It's a business. The most unloyal franchise is the Patriots who are also the most successful in the last 15 years.

He got benched for being awful while trying to play injured then retired. That the big brouhaha?

What did the Ravens do to McNair?

A low round pick that their GM has a history of turning into very good players. It's not release him so he can get a ring. They get something from it too. Mutually beneficial

Oh I'm sure he would love to have his dad at home all the time, but I also think that at some point there was a conversation between the two where the son said the Ravens are terrible this year and asked if he would come home to play with the Panthers for his final year and Steve said he would. I'd like to think Steve's son knows better than to put stuff out like this on twitter regarding his father's career given that if it was something Steve didn't want at all then it might upset him. Steve could have also have just been placating his son to not make him feel like there was no chance even if he doesn't want to play for the Panthers again. Steve could also be willing to put aside his issues with Dave and the FO to give it one more chance at a ring and to do his family a favor. This could all be a ploy by Steve to plant the seed in the Panthers and Ravens minds that he wants to come back to Carolina. I don't know which of those or if any of those are true, but I'm certain we can't rule any of them out as possibilities. I still don't think it will happen and that the primary thing in the way of it happening is Gettleman, but I refuse to rule out the possibility it might.

Who says he has to force their hands? He could just ask nicely and if Steve has a good relationship with Ozzie and Harbaugh which I have no reason to believe that he does not then there is at least a chance they would be willing to do him a favor.

He states to Ozzie that under no circumstances will he be coming back next year, they're 1-7 and he asks to be traded. Even then they might not but to proclaim as zero chance of happening is stupid. What would they get from keeping him? A worse draft pick? A disgruntled Smitty poisoning the locker room? I'm assuming they like him and the effort he has given them so them being willing to do him a favor and giving him one last shot at a ring is not outside the realm of possibility. Especially since they could actually get something in return rather than the nothing they would be in line to receive if he retires. Ozzie likes draft picks and he would probably see the value of something rather than nothing.

If the Ravens lose their next two games(@ ARI, vs SD) which is very possible to fall to 1-7 then their season is over. Even Ozzie would recognize that. Harbaugh might not but he doesn't get final say in personnel decisions.

I'd be very surprised if his son tweeted this without first hearing an indication from Steve that he would want to come back to the Panthers so I imagine the interest is there on Steve's side. The Ravens probably wouldn't be too hard to convince if Smith went all in on wanting to be traded. The real obstacle is Gettleman. I really don't see any way he brings back Smith after the way he went out unless Jerry intervenes and tells him to pull the trigger. I still don't think it's happening, but it's a non-zero chance compared to last week where it was a pipe dream that had no chance of happening.

I'd take him back. Doubt it happens though.

Leave him in Seattle. Waste of a pick and wasted more picks to move up to get that bum.

Straight up bust. I don't care that it's 4.5 games into his career. He doesn't have it.

Because he wasn't a starter until year 4 and was behind Julius Peppers at LDE prior to that. He had limited opportunities but made the most of them and was productive in his first 3 years. Kony is the exact opposite.

That's wrong The Bears paid him $11.5M as a roster bonus already. We are only on the hook for ~$850k this year which is guaranteed.

Possibility we may be seeing CJ to IR-Boomerang

$1M in salary this year and nothing guaranteed on the final 2 years at $8.5M and $8M I really hope we didn't give up much because Allen doesn't have much left.

Poor run blocking causes that. There aren't any lanes for him to hit.

Yeah, he missed a bunch of throws. This isn't that controversial.

Bingo, you could easily find the same level of blind homerism and ignorance here or on any other teams message board and then generalize an entire fan base with a few cherry picked comments. I guess it makes for a fun discussion though.

Only in the last two years when hasn't played hardly any in the preseason. He got off to pretty good starts in the years prior when he played in 3 or 4 preseason games. This year he played in none and last year he only played a couple series in the 2nd preseason game.

Right at JJ Watt. Should be fun.

Olsen was only in to block on 6 pass plays out of 38 which should hopefully dispel the narrative that he was used primarily as a blocker. We also used 2 TE's on over half of our passing plays although I'm sure that won't stop people from thinking Shula never utilizes that scheme.

None whatsoever

I'm a firm believer in the saying that "you either have a QB or you don't" and Dalton is the baseline for "having a QB." It's called the Dalton Line.

I'd take Andy Dalton over JJ Watt and I'm not joking. An average QB is better than a DE playing at a GOAT level. That's how important the QB position is. This shouldn't even be a debate.