Deangelo is still an untouchable player

[unicar15]

With all the talk of trading Deangelo Williams, it won't happen. If a new coach came in and tried to change the culture then maybe we would see a trade to the top of the draft that involved Deangelo. However, John Fox leans so much on the run and tries to rely so little on the actual play-making ability of QBs that trading Deangelo is something that Fox knows he cannot do.

RBs are like QBs on our team. They dictate the flow of the game, they make the big plays, and when it is crunch time we try to lean on them instead of on a good QB. Therefore, as little sense as it makes for every other team in the league to have two RBs like Stewart and Williams...those two guys are the only reason John Fox will have a job here in 2010.

So...once again Fox and Hurney will do what is best for the immediate future (keeping Deangelo for one more season before he's a FA) and completely neglect that we have a stable of RBs that could get the job done without Deangelo. The only role we have with Deangelo Williams is that we are preserving his carries for the next team he plays for. The guy has 5-6 great years of football left in his tank and the next team he plays for will get those years...not us.

[countryboi]

at some point we are going to have to pay these dudes and most likely someone is going to have to go....till then we have to ride them to the wheels fall off

[Delhommey]

Why would you be unwillingly to trade him for anyone but a risky pick who would (at best) not contribute for a couple of years?

[Sloth]

I wouldn't trade him for Clausen.

Fox and Hurney have mortgaged the future before, now that they're on the last year of their contract you think they dial that back and hope for the best?

I'd actually think they're more likely to do something stupid like this (or the move up for Brown in last years draft), they pretty much have to win big next season.

[Ricky Spanish]

because deangelo williams is such a nice dude, always smiles and has fun and is the best RB in panther history.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

We have a stable of D Will's?

You can just grow stellar running backs on a horse farm until they're a dime a dozen now? No wonder Delhomme got that extension.

[pantherj]

Coming out of college I thought Williams was a bigger version of HOF RB Barry Sanders. I still feel that way. Williams is the best RB in the NFL imo, and he's not going anywhere.

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

I would explore this option of trading D-will if Jonathan Stewart can go one season without a chronic foot-toe-heel injury.

I still think D-will is the better back of the 2. Other than Suh I would not take any player over Deangelo in this draft let alone any of these QB's. This draft has the trap QB's like the Akili Smith, Cade Mcnown, Tim Couch year. Let other teams like the Rams, Brown, and Seattle get a franchise setback from 1st round qb busts.

There is too much obsession over a first round pick. We will pick high in the second and not have the big payout obligation to that player. Fox would not play him anyway.

[kdrh5]

If it's for Josh Cribbs and a second rounder, I'd take the trade ALL DAY.

[unicar15]

Why would you be unwillingly to trade him for anyone but a risky pick who would (at best) not contribute for a couple of years?

I'm not saying it would be a happy solution to trade Williams all I am saying is that if we don't then he is going to get an offer that is more than we "should" match from another team.

When he becomes a FA he is going to have probably around 1000 carries in his career. Ladanian Tomlinson (a similar back) had 2500 carries before he started falling off. That means Deangelo probably has about 1000 more carries in his tank...or roughly 5 years.

Unless Deangelo just wants to give us a hometown discount he is going to sign somewhere for probably around 40-50 million bucks. Do you really want to shell out 50 million bucks for a RB when we have an equally talented runner as his understudy?? I have always been a believer that the OL makes the running game. No running back in the league is worth that much money...

Knowing how good Jonathan Stewart is, knowing how good our OL is, knowing how unpredictable RBs career paths are...you wouldn't agree to trade Deangelo Williams for:

Matt Stafford?

Joe Flacco?

Matt Ryan?

QBs that can lead a team and put up points are INFINITELY more important than RBs. Average career of an NFL RB is 3 years...

Who cares who is rushing for 200 yards a game? Whether its a combo of Sutton/Williams, Stewart/Williams, or Stewart/Sutton. No matter what we have been running the ball down team's throats.

Its a tough call...and a call we wouldn't have had to make had Fox/Hurney known how good Williams was before spending a first rounder on Stewart. But now is the time to make the call...not next year when we are possibly a wildcard team and have to match an offer for 50 million bucks.

[Delhommey]

Right now I'd take Williams for a Larry Fitzgerald before I'd take a Williams for a Joe Flacco.

As it is, I'm happy sitting pretty.

Don't get me wrong though, there is no player untouchable, especially in their last year of contract.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

at some point we are going to have to pay these dudes and most likely someone is going to have to go....till then we have to ride them to the wheels fall off

It will be easy to pay them now because the NFL is uncapped after this year.