Worried about morale this season....

[panthers55]

that was his message on day one but i think he backed off on that. he used to be a lot more hard core when he first got here but then he got complacent. did success come too early? don't know. probably.

he needs to go back to square one and right now he's being forced into it.

people have always said that he is better at (re)building than maintaining and that his best next stop if someone were to hire him would be a struggling program looking for a rebuild.

i wish i could find those first comments that he made to the locker room because they sure would be appropriate for his first meeting with the team this year. good thing is there are only a couple there who were part of that team so he could recycle old speeches.

good things can come from this and until proven otherwise i'm going to believe that they are going to. benefits might be hard to see this year but down the road this team will be in much better shape than many others.

these young players have a chance now to prove themselves in a way that few do. rather than having to fight for their chance to shine they are now having their chance forced onto them. no more playing games. no more waiting around. its time they showed this team and league what they got. they want respect? nows there time to get it. i just can't see people loving this opportunity.

You might be right, I certinly hope you are. But I wonder if there was another way to engender a feeling of "having our backs against the wall" than self inflicting all of these losses.

[hoover fanz]

You might be right, I certinly hope you are. But I wonder if there was another way to engender a feeling of "having our backs against the wall" than self inflicting all of these losses.

call him a lame duck, but how do you lose a job if you are noy calling the shots? He just has to motivate the players and make them believe in what they have to work with.

[rayzor]

You might be right, I certinly hope you are. But I wonder if there was another way to engender a feeling of "having our backs against the wall" than self inflicting all of these losses.

those feelings are the by product of their goal to build for the future. that is the lemon they were handed. now they have to make a lemon smoothie with it. doesn't matter what feelings have to be stirred within them to make it as long as they do. this is where fox is going to show just how good of a coach he can be. this is also these players chance to shine.

the team is going to be rebuilding or reloading or whatever you want to call it with or without them. if they want to be be among the group that this team (or any team) is built then they have to show it this year.

[panthers55]

those feelings are the by product of their goal to build for the future. that is the lemon they were handed. now they have to make a lemon smoothie with it.

I wonder if guys like Smitty will be happy to build for 2012 or later. I expect that he wants to win now. Up until this year I thought Richardson felt the same way.

[Kevin Greene]

I am a bit worried about the tensions between the players and the front office this season. If players see these moves as simply preparations for a lockout (true or untrue), they may and will resent it. How hard will a player play for a boss who is sticking it to them? Not very.

Do you feel damage control needs to happen at some point this offseason? Publicly or in the film room?

Conversely there will be a lot of players on this roster, some who aren't even here yet who will be extremely excited with the opportunity to start in the NFL or contribute in a big way as a reserve. Every day every player competes for a starting job in the NFL and all that brings with it. No damage control needed only an arrow pointed where they want to go.

[Vagrant]

Winning cures all ills. Football is a passionate game. You go out there with guys and it's as close as some guys get to going to war. You learn to love your teammates, if you're a good teammate, and when it's time to move on it's not always your fellow teammates that have to deliver that message.

The room loved Jake. We know that. The front office loved him too. That's why he had chance after chance to make good before his ultimate demise. I would bet you anything there are still guys in the room that think he's the best guy to lead this team.

These guys are mad, and they have every right to be mad, that their friends are no longer with them. But how mad can you really stay once the ball gets snapped and the guys you thought weren't ready are flying around the ball and making plays? You can't stay mad.... because these new guys are now your brothers too. And if you ever get your head so far up your own ass that you can't let go of the past and give props where props are due, then you need to get your ass off the team. Jenkins, for example. Horrible teammate. Only cared about his own numbers and cheeseburgers.

I would be more worried if all this veteran leadership leaving didn't piss anybody off and everybody acted like it was all cool. These guys like Chris Harris, DeAngelo Williams, everybody else is going to have to answer to these guys. Everette Brown, Charles Johnson.... you better get your mind right and prepare because you're the guys now. And if you think for one minute that you're going to get away with half ass play you can think again, because your presence lost a few guys some jobs. Guys that were liked on the team and guys that have been here a long time.

These players don't hate the new guys, the loved the old guys. The only tension that will exist is in the expectations that our leaders on both sides of the ball will have to enforce on the young guys in order to let them know how to play Panthers football. And i'll be damned if that doesn't sound like a good thing to me.

[Urrymonster]

I can guarantee you these players are pretty pumped for next season:

Fiamatta, Leonard, Tyler, Hayden, Robinson, Bernadeau, Brown, C. Johnson, Taylor, Connor, Anderson, Jarrett, K. Moore, M. Moore, E. Johnson, Irvin

Even players like Culberson, Cantwell, C.J. Davis, Ivy, Jackson, Landri, Martin, E. Moore, Schwartz, Senn, Warren & Wright will be looking forward to training camp

Why?

Opportunity.

In a league that is often described as a league of opportunity, the 28 guys listed above (which is more than half our roster) are staring their first real opportunity directly in the face. When over half your roster is given an opportunity to finally 'make it' in this league, you will not be disappointed.

The ONLY people who are going to be disappointed about these moves are the guys who have ALREADY made it and some of those will take responsibility themselves and become the 'leaders'.

I am not sure if many have seen this thing happen before, but I have. What can actually happen, is that a sense of unity can be formed in all the young guys, as they now know that the guy who performs, will start. They know that these 'big characters' will not be in the team purely on their experience and leadership abilities, instead of their actual play. They know that this is their opportunity and they are going to work their asses off to be the one who gets it.

I do not feel sorry for anyone of our 'vets'. As much as I love Harris, he is acting like a child, or a huddle poster. He should know, better than anyone, that this is just the beginning of the process. Their WILL be some pick ups, most likely a veteran DE, WR and possibly DT and they will sit behind the youngsters on the depth chart and act as an insurance policy. History also suggests that Fox will look around for some low value trades to bring in more hungry players around training camp, just like we did with Harris.

The most important reason I do not feel sorry though, is because them acting like this is a public knock against any young player looking to move into those vet positions and roles. DWill, Harris and any other outspoken player might just start alienating themselves from the rest of the roster who will more than likely be hungry for their 'shot'.

Why can't people just let the process play out before freaking out, (including the players) as people are assuming that we simply can't win with these changes, when I know from my experiences that these kind of moves can often bring the squad/roster tighter together and generate a better TEAM spirit. Characters can not take on the whole role, now it is up to the team to ALL step up.

Look at the changes properly.

1. Moore out played Delhomme and won us games. That is a positive change. No matter what P55 says, having Delhomme on the books would have given us cap nightmares in the future unless he was starting

2. Moore has lost his worst performing starting OL, being replaced by someone who started multiple games last year and has featured as a back up in the prior year. Worst case is equal performance.

3. Moore has lost Moose, but Moore also lost Smitty late last year and had to cope with Moose and Jarrett, which combination would you choose?

4. Diggs missed multiple games last year. Anderson started multiple games last year, Connor played the equivalent of a starter last year. When Diggs was out, there simply was little drop off in performance. Worst case is slight drop in performance, but considering Davis and Diggs were out together and we performed pretty well...

5. Kemo was not on the roster last year

6. Brayton was only in front of Johnson because of his experience

7. Lewis will be missed, this is one position that someone WILL have to step up

8. Pep will be obviously missed, but paying him $21 mil could have done more harm than good. Regardless we will need a big step up from our DEs

9. Hoover will also be missed. This could be a problem for us, however both our backs are more than capable of playing singleback backfield. We also have multiple players who can play int he fullback position, so if Fiamatta does not step up, then there are other options.

There really are only 3 areas of concern, which you would be a fool to think will not develop before training camp. The rest, our previous years have already shown that the replacements are capable at the worst case scenario.

[ladypanther]

oh look ladypanther has a bigger sack than most of the men on this board.

This just shows the problem most of you guys have - you your thinking with the wrong body part.

[Captroop]

This just shows the problem most of you guys have - you your thinking with the wrong body part.

God gave us genitals and brains, but not enough blood to operate both at the same time.

It's our cross to bear.

[Debil]

Maybe it's not damage control this team, and the coach needs. Maybe the team and coach were just too damn comfortable with the status quo, and needed to have a reality check. Sure, losing some of the vets we lost is gonna hurt... and maybe we aren't going to be 12-4 next season. It certainly looks like at least part of the motivation for cutting some of the vets is due to "I'm not gonna pay a lot for this team during the lockout" by JR.

But with the veteran loyalty program Fox subscribed to, and the "aw gee" attitude this team seemed to have when it lost, maybe having the fear of gawd put in them with an offseason like this is just what this team needs.

[methodtoll]

I can guarantee you these players are pretty pumped for next season:

Fiamatta, Leonard, Tyler, Hayden, Robinson, Bernadeau, Brown, C. Johnson, Taylor, Connor, Anderson, Jarrett, K. Moore, M. Moore, E. Johnson, Irvin

Even players like Culberson, Cantwell, C.J. Davis, Ivy, Jackson, Landri, Martin, E. Moore, Schwartz, Senn, Warren & Wright will be looking forward to training camp

Why?

Opportunity.

In a league that is often described as a league of opportunity, the 28 guys listed above (which is more than half our roster) are staring their first real opportunity directly in the face. When over half your roster is given an opportunity to finally 'make it' in this league, you will not be disappointed.

The ONLY people who are going to be disappointed about these moves are the guys who have ALREADY made it and some of those will take responsibility themselves and become the 'leaders'.

I am not sure if many have seen this thing happen before, but I have. What can actually happen, is that a sense of unity can be formed in all the young guys, as they now know that the guy who performs, will start. They know that these 'big characters' will not be in the team purely on their experience and leadership abilities, instead of their actual play. They know that this is their opportunity and they are going to work their asses off to be the one who gets it.

I do not feel sorry for anyone of our 'vets'. As much as I love Harris, he is acting like a child, or a huddle poster. He should know, better than anyone, that this is just the beginning of the process. Their WILL be some pick ups, most likely a veteran DE, WR and possibly DT and they will sit behind the youngsters on the depth chart and act as an insurance policy. History also suggests that Fox will look around for some low value trades to bring in more hungry players around training camp, just like we did with Harris.

The most important reason I do not feel sorry though, is because them acting like this is a public knock against any young player looking to move into those vet positions and roles. DWill, Harris and any other outspoken player might just start alienating themselves from the rest of the roster who will more than likely be hungry for their 'shot'.

Why can't people just let the process play out before freaking out, (including the players) as people are assuming that we simply can't win with these changes, when I know from my experiences that these kind of moves can often bring the squad/roster tighter together and generate a better TEAM spirit. Characters can not take on the whole role, now it is up to the team to ALL step up.

Look at the changes properly.

1. Moore out played Delhomme and won us games. That is a positive change. No matter what P55 says, having Delhomme on the books would have given us cap nightmares in the future unless he was starting

2. Moore has lost his worst performing starting OL, being replaced by someone who started multiple games last year and has featured as a back up in the prior year. Worst case is equal performance.

3. Moore has lost Moose, but Moore also lost Smitty late last year and had to cope with Moose and Jarrett, which combination would you choose?

4. Diggs missed multiple games last year. Anderson started multiple games last year, Connor played the equivalent of a starter last year. When Diggs was out, there simply was little drop off in performance. Worst case is slight drop in performance, but considering Davis and Diggs were out together and we performed pretty well...

5. Kemo was not on the roster last year

6. Brayton was only in front of Johnson because of his experience

7. Lewis will be missed, this is one position that someone WILL have to step up

8. Pep will be obviously missed, but paying him $21 mil could have done more harm than good. Regardless we will need a big step up from our DEs

9. Hoover will also be missed. This could be a problem for us, however both our backs are more than capable of playing singleback backfield. We also have multiple players who can play int he fullback position, so if Fiamatta does not step up, then there are other options.

There really are only 3 areas of concern, which you would be a fool to think will not develop before training camp. The rest, our previous years have already shown that the replacements are capable at the worst case scenario.

Thank You! Someone needs to tell these conspiracy doomsayers this!

[MadHatter]

It surely is salary dumping under the guise of getting younger and the ruse has apparently worked on some of you. The issue isn't getting younger and letting guys step up so much as it is dismantling the veteran leadership all at once. We have rebuilt at positions and turned over veterans with younger guys just like we did with Morgan by bringing in Beason. But we never made so many wholesale changes at once or expected so many inexpereinced new guys to step up all at the same time. Guys like Beason will be a leader but guys like Smith won't. He is a locker romm problem not a solution. Even now veterans like Williams and Harris are questioning these moves. That will divide the locker room not join it. And the reality is that a radical apporach wasn't necessary. We finished winning 4 out of the last 5. Our defense and offense were clicking. We could have gotten rid of Jake and Kemo for example without a big issue. But instead we went on a cutting spree and got rid of everyone over 30 save 3 players. We were already one of the youngest teams in the league.

Should we have made some changes, sure. But anyone can see this was alot more than getting young. This was dumping salaries and almost guaranteeing Fox will be a lame duck coach.

You have made up your mind that the sky is falling and this is a conspiracy by JR to tank the season. Anyone who thinks that JR would put the NFL above his own franchise knows nothing about the man.

[Guest DrewBreesIsGod]

I wouldn't worry about Moral. This is the first thing Sean Payton did when he arrived at N.O. It's the first thing Parcells does when he arrives at a place. It's the first thing Holmgren did when he arrived at Cleveland. Clean house. Make everyone nervous for their job. Make everyone feel like they have to earn their job EVERY DAY. I think this is a genius move by Richardson. Either you sink or swim as a player in this type of deal. Love it!

[MadHatter]

I can guarantee you these players are pretty pumped for next season:

Fiamatta, Leonard, Tyler, Hayden, Robinson, Bernadeau, Brown, C. Johnson, Taylor, Connor, Anderson, Jarrett, K. Moore, M. Moore, E. Johnson, Irvin

Even players like Culberson, Cantwell, C.J. Davis, Ivy, Jackson, Landri, Martin, E. Moore, Schwartz, Senn, Warren & Wright will be looking forward to training camp

Why?

Opportunity.

In a league that is often described as a league of opportunity, the 28 guys listed above (which is more than half our roster) are staring their first real opportunity directly in the face. When over half your roster is given an opportunity to finally 'make it' in this league, you will not be disappointed.

The ONLY people who are going to be disappointed about these moves are the guys who have ALREADY made it and some of those will take responsibility themselves and become the 'leaders'.

I am not sure if many have seen this thing happen before, but I have. What can actually happen, is that a sense of unity can be formed in all the young guys, as they now know that the guy who performs, will start. They know that these 'big characters' will not be in the team purely on their experience and leadership abilities, instead of their actual play. They know that this is their opportunity and they are going to work their asses off to be the one who gets it.

I do not feel sorry for anyone of our 'vets'. As much as I love Harris, he is acting like a child, or a huddle poster. He should know, better than anyone, that this is just the beginning of the process. Their WILL be some pick ups, most likely a veteran DE, WR and possibly DT and they will sit behind the youngsters on the depth chart and act as an insurance policy. History also suggests that Fox will look around for some low value trades to bring in more hungry players around training camp, just like we did with Harris.

The most important reason I do not feel sorry though, is because them acting like this is a public knock against any young player looking to move into those vet positions and roles. DWill, Harris and any other outspoken player might just start alienating themselves from the rest of the roster who will more than likely be hungry for their 'shot'.

Why can't people just let the process play out before freaking out, (including the players) as people are assuming that we simply can't win with these changes, when I know from my experiences that these kind of moves can often bring the squad/roster tighter together and generate a better TEAM spirit. Characters can not take on the whole role, now it is up to the team to ALL step up.

Look at the changes properly.

1. Moore out played Delhomme and won us games. That is a positive change. No matter what P55 says, having Delhomme on the books would have given us cap nightmares in the future unless he was starting

2. Moore has lost his worst performing starting OL, being replaced by someone who started multiple games last year and has featured as a back up in the prior year. Worst case is equal performance.

3. Moore has lost Moose, but Moore also lost Smitty late last year and had to cope with Moose and Jarrett, which combination would you choose?

4. Diggs missed multiple games last year. Anderson started multiple games last year, Connor played the equivalent of a starter last year. When Diggs was out, there simply was little drop off in performance. Worst case is slight drop in performance, but considering Davis and Diggs were out together and we performed pretty well...

5. Kemo was not on the roster last year

6. Brayton was only in front of Johnson because of his experience

7. Lewis will be missed, this is one position that someone WILL have to step up

8. Pep will be obviously missed, but paying him $21 mil could have done more harm than good. Regardless we will need a big step up from our DEs

9. Hoover will also be missed. This could be a problem for us, however both our backs are more than capable of playing singleback backfield. We also have multiple players who can play int he fullback position, so if Fiamatta does not step up, then there are other options.

There really are only 3 areas of concern, which you would be a fool to think will not develop before training camp. The rest, our previous years have already shown that the replacements are capable at the worst case scenario.

Great post.

The thing that all of the doomsday crew are forgetting is that the roster is not yet complete.

I assure you we will sign a vet DE...wiether it is re-signing Brayton or someone of equivalent talent.

I also would not be surprised if we signed a WR in the 2nd wave of FA...after teams make cuts to make room for their draft picks.

Maybe i am being too much of an optimist, but I still think that Leonard, Tyler, and Irvin are just as good as Kemo and Lewis. We lost Kemo last season and replaced him with a 36 yo guy off the street...that had not played for 2 years.

I am optimistic about the upcoming season, but am tempering that with nervousness.

We will not lack in talent...little dropoff to what we had (except fo rPep). However, the jetisoning of vets has me a little worried about leadership and chemistry.