Mr. Scot

One thing I like about this pic is that their facial expressions really show their personalities. Benjamin comes off as a guy who knows he's making money playing a kid's game and is enjoying himself (which is cool, not a criticism). On the flipside, Luke is deadly serious and will trample anyone standing in his way

I'd love to know where the order to dump everybody but Rathman came from. You'd assume it came from the team. Would make Tomsula look like an a--hole if it were from him. (could be argued it makes him look like an a--hole anyway) They definitely let go of some decent coaches, Fangio and Brad Seely in particular.

Dude, that part's just not gonna happen. The NFL doesn't feel they did anything unfair putting Hardy on the exempt list. As far as us getting screwed on the cap, they'd put that in the old 'YP' category (i.e. 'your problem') for franchising a volatile guy in the first place.

Not Kalil?

Lack of trust by "Richardson and others in the building" (probably Gettleman) would be the reason.

"Act natural. Don't look them in the eye. Don't do anything to draw their attention."

Disagree on the article. I think it's a legitimate story, worth paying attention to. The disconnect is people making too much of how big a 'chance' there really is. Voth states in the story that the probability of this making a difference is pretty slim and he still ultimately believes Hardy won't be a Panther. But people latch onto his 'saying there's a chance' like a lovestruck Jim Carrey, so...

Two more names to consider... DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart

Honestly kinda surprised that only two people have mentioned Cam Newton, and one of those was with a big 'maybe' attached. Granted, pretty much everything I said about Luke Kuechly applies equally to Newton. But that said, Cam is the quarterback as well as being his team's former number one pick. Do you not see Newton being part of the inner circle?

That would knock both Greg Olsen and Derek Anderson off the list though as this past season was only the fourth for both. This coming year will be number five, but we're not there yet.

Lemme add a little something to this... I think some folks on here have trouble with respect to distinguishing what's 'fair' and what's 'fact'. Is it fair that Hardy faces increased scrutiny because the NFL royally screwed their handling of the Ray Rice story? Probably not. But is it fact? Oh yeah. It's a lot like when someone gets suspended for marijuana. You'll get some folks who wanna argue it shouldn't be against the rules. And you have a right to that opinion, but it has pretty much zero bearing on what's actually going to happen. Bottom line: You can spend a lot of effort talking about what you think should happen, but in most cases, those of us who see Hardy being gone and/or suspended are talking about what we think will happen more so than what should.

Harper hasn't been a Panther for long, but he's been in the league longer than most of the team and the young guys on defense already talk about him like a mentor. Plus he's a vocal leader with a great attitude. No, he's not originally a Panther, but technically neither is Olsen (though he's been here longer). It probably is a stretch, but I could kinda see it.

So...no. And to be clear, the rap video itself wasn't such a big deal as the timing and the situation. It lent further credence to the notion that he "just doesn't get it".

While I'm at it, lemme throw out a name for discussion... Yea or nay: Roman Harper

Does Kuechly have to be on the list? Luke may indeed be the best linebacker in the game and arguably the best player on the team, but neither he (nor Newton for that matter) is yet locked up long term and Luke is only coming into his fourth year as a pro. If you were running a billion dollar business, how seriously would you take the ideas of a guy with only three years experience in the most basic level of that profession? Little doubt that Luke will have the ear of Richardson if things continue as they are, but has he really earned it already?

Pretty solid writeup.

We're not talking about cutting a player from a Madden roster here. This is a multi-million dollar decision, and you can bet that all factors will be taken into account when that decision is made. You throw millions of dollars at that guy and he makes another "questionable decision", you just screwed your team, your cap, your coaches, your fans, etc. If you wanna get an idea of how much this means, answer this: Would you be willing to go to a bookie and bet, say five to ten thousand dollars of your own money that Hardy will be a model citizen from here on out? If you're confident enough to suggest the Panthers should bet millions of their cap room on that notion, then you oughtta be confident enough to put your own money on the line too, right?

No owner in the league polls fan opinions when making business decisions, nor should they. Olsen I completely agree with. Johnson is possible, but I'm not as certain.

Thomas Davis is the most obvious choice. Doubt anyone would disagree with that.

It's amazing that technically an innocent man

In his Black and Blue Review article about players lobbying for Greg Hardy, Bill Voth mentioned that among those doing it were players who "have Jerry Richardson's ear". Now to be clear, this thread is not about figuring out who's lobbying for Hardy. Feel free to start that discussion in a new thread or in one of the half-dozen Hardy threads already active if you like, but that's not the point here. Instead, I'm throwing out this general question... What Panther players on offense, defense and special teams have enough standing on this team that owner Jerry Richardson is willing to give real weight to what they have to say? (I'll save my own thoughts for later, except to say my general sense is it would be a relatively small number of players)

Why limit it to your lifetime?

Then why do Jerry Richardson and "others in the building" think he isn't trustworthy?

And yet we still managed to field one of the best defenses in the league by season's end. Believe it or not, our entire fortunes next season aren't going to rise and fall on Greg Hardy.

There's pretty good evidence he was gonna be too expensive to keep anyway. And 'blank check' negotiations put us in the kind of cap hell that we're just now starting to climb out of.