I feel like Jonathan Stewart may restructure

[Kevin Greene]

It's restructure favoribly for the team or hit the road.

[panther4life]

26 minutes ago, CRA said:

I like Stewart.  Always have as a RB.

But I don't endorse kicking the can down the road w/ him.   Given I doubt Gettlemen is going to go crazy and eat up all our cap space....based on his age and health I'd rather just eat his salary this year.  Then part ways.

If we had less cap room than I anticipate we will likely have then I might feel like we have no choice.  But I don't want to kick the can and then have Dave sitting on all that cap space.

after this next season he will then be a 31 yr old RB with a career of nagging injuries.  I'd part with him after that.  Focus by then should of been to of rebuilt our backfield.

and people don't like that talk about guys they like...but in reality there are VERY VERY VERY few players who should play every year of there career with one team.  The ones who should likely are the ones who retire early (like a Gross).  Sitting on old guys for sentimental reasons also delays you from building your roster the way you should.  That doesn't mean Stewart couldn't play at 31...but the value of him (or a comparable player on another team) at 31 would be for a team picking him up cheap not the team holding on to him.

but given how much I universally like Stewart.  I wouldn't complain as much as I normally would

This. If he's not worth the money then we move on. Were not up against the cap and dont need the temporary relief only to incur future cap charges down the road when we may need the cap space.

Also, this line of thinking isn't exclusive to him. No more restructure's. Pay cuts are fine and dandy but no more borrowing against future cap space for anyone. 

[cookinwithgas]

He'll restructure and play well for another year or two at least, and if he wasn't such a good RB his YPC would have been abysmal with that line. He was a beast this year when you add his terrible line. He works hard, is a team player, and doesn't do stupid things.

Random fact: when he is in line at an ATM he always needs to pee and doesn't know why

[CRA]

I was still living in last year when looking at his cap/dead money....

so I change my thoughts on what will happen based on that.  I think Dave basically does to Stewart what he did to Gross.  He forces Stewart's hand to take a restructure that essentially makes next season Stewart's last.

Stewart isn't a Dave guy.  Dave isn't going to care as much as we imply about the perfect ending of Stewart never wearing another jersey. 

[CatMan72]

Yeah, he's going to need to restructure if he wants to stay on this team. He's still a valuable asset but not at that cap hit. 

[CRA]

1 minute ago, Hammerin'Cameron1 said:

I honestly think what happens w/ Stewart is opposite of what happened with D-Will

why?  Stewart is a Hurney guy.  What happens to Hurney guys when it appears they are nearing the end?  Does Dave Gettlemen care about all this feel good "player X should never wear another jersey" stuff?

Pretty sure Dave setup the departure of Kasay, Gross, Williams, Smith, etc.  Could even included dudes like Beason.  Gettlemen isn't attached to these core Hurney guys.

The only player I think Dave would be forced to respect how his career ends is Thomas Davis.  That's it.

[CRA]

4 minutes ago, Hammerin'Cameron1 said:

It's about the production Stewart can still give the team, for what will be cheap

why is Stewart going to work for cheap? 

I go back to the long list of core Hurney guys that Gettlemen has no issue parting with.   I do think Stewart plays here next year.  I think that will be the last year and there will be little doubt when we see his restructure.  Most knew Gross' retirement date when he did his restructure as well. 

[Bartin]

14 minutes ago, CRA said:

I was still living in last year when looking at his cap/dead money....

so I change my thoughts on what will happen based on that.  I think Dave basically does to Stewart what he did to Gross.  He forces Stewart's hand to take a restructure that essentially makes next season Stewart's last.

Stewart isn't a Dave guy.  Dave isn't going to care as much as we imply about the perfect ending of Stewart never wearing another jersey. 

2017 is his last year on his current deal. His 2018 year is an automatic void.

[My Goodness My Guinness]

Same.  His deal is overpriced but only bc of injury problems IMO.  Dude is a beast when healthy and when our offense is actually threatening the other team with a passing attack.  I would love to see Stew restructure and get down to 215-220

I think his weight is fine honestly. It's not like he's getting fat like Tolbert/KB. Stewart is probably the most muscular guy on the team pound for pound and still has good speed. Not elite speed, but good.


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[Mvp2014]

4 minutes ago, My Goodness My Guinness said:

I think his weight is fine honestly. It's not like he's getting fat like Tolbert/KB. Stewart is probably the most muscular guy on the team pound for pound and still has good speed. Not elite speed, but good.


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That speed will continue to diminish is my point.  He used to have break away speed 2-3 years ago.  Freeing up some weight could not only make him quicker but also less likely to get injured.  

[grimesgoat]

I think it comes down to how many years you think he can contribute.  If the answer is 1, cut him or pay him doesn't make much difference financially.  If you cut him, you need to replace him so its going to cost about the same on the cap.  If you think he's got 2 years, you restructure, convert his salary to bonus and spread the hit over the contract term.  Save about 3 mil in cap this year without really hurting anything in 2018 and/or 2019.

[AceBoogie]

35 minutes ago, Hammerin'Cameron1 said:

See the thing you're missing is that no team is going to allow him to "bring in the money" - every other team also knows this draft is extremely deep at RB - he wouldn't get any less here than anywhere else, cause he isn't getting a big pay day anywhere

Just look at how it played out for 30 year old pass rusher CJ last year, nobody would offer him poo, so he just assume come back here and take poo

Ain't like Stewart is an elite Super Star QB who is now entering twilight of his career and will get one last big contract, no, no, no

I think he was actually offered double other places

[panther4life]

I almost feel like we will cut him. His current cap number is due to a restructure Gettleman did. The one he signed under Hurney would have already expired at this point.

He's def not worth the 8.25 million cap hit he has. If there was no dead money incurred cutting him would be a no brainer. Unfortunately the dead money makes it a more complicated matter. Are we better served having him for 1 year at 8.25 million or cutting him now and paying him 3.5 to be here? The savings = 4.75 million.

At this point id take the 4.75 million and allocate towards extensions for Short,Star, and Turner/ roll it into next year/spend it elsewhere.

 

[ECUPantherFan]

I'd like a 1-2 punch of Stew & Fournette... ease Leonard into the position for a couple years, and when Stew retires, it's a 1 man show.