Yasinskas puts Carolina's 'purge' into perspective

[pantherclaw]

Does Smitty have a rap as someone who rarely completes a full season? Boldin did have injuries in 2007 and 2008 where he started 11 games but in 2006 he started 16 and last year he started 15. Smitty has only started every game of an entire season one time in his career.

I asked about Smitty because in the last 4 years Smitty has started in 58 games while Boltin has started in 53. The biggest difference being the jaw injury to Boltin. And that was a shot to the head.

Did we trade for smitty at a time he only has a good year or two left?

Nope, smitty has always been, and always will be a panther.

A bit different when ya start talking about trading for a player.

Boldin is a great compliment receiver. Big, strong, great hands.

That being said...when ya start talking about trading, the team is going to take into account the player's pro health, and the compensation to aquire him...not to mention his contract.

With the exception of a few players (smitty has a real close relationship with richardson), the team has decided to go with its youth. Boldin doesn't match up with the decision making. Like it or not, there it is.

[Wither]

First of all what is this? The huddle having a legitmate, semi-positive conversation about panthers football that doesn't involve a specific player thread in which people are being overly critical or overly praiseworthy of a said player's efforts. This is where Amazing happens.

Yeah, I'm highly disappointed.

Seriously though, it actually happens a lot more than people think.

[panthers55]

I do not think we are throwing this season away either. Are you guys honestly saying those players we released are THAT much better than the players we have now? No offense but they had their year last year and sucked it up. I honestly believe we are going to surprise a lot of people this year with a young, fast and hungry team and a relatively easy schedule. But things are definitely looking up for the Panthers future.

I don't really think that Richardson is throwing away the season. I just think that getting the best players and being "all in" which was a mantra as recently as 2008 has taken a back seat to going cheap and cutting as much as possible. Anyone of the cuts could be justified one way or the other and some make more sense than others. I think everyone hopes that this team surprises although I don't think this schedule is going to be all that easy.

As for things looking up, lets wait until we actually sign some of those young guys. Right now we have had lots of subtraction with very little addition. I will join in the excitement once Richardson spends all of his 60 million on Beason and company instead of lining his pockets like he is doing this year.

[panthers55]

Did we trade for smitty at a time he only has a good year or two left?

Nope, smitty has always been, and always will be a panther.

A bit different when ya start talking about trading for a player.

Boldin is a great compliment receiver. Big, strong, great hands.

That being said...when ya start talking about trading, the team is going to take into account the player's pro health, and the compensation to aquire him...not to mention his contract.

With the exception of a few players (smitty has a real close relationship with richardson), the team has decided to go with its youth. Boldin doesn't match up with the decision making. Like it or not, there it is.

Not really that different. You don't think that if Smitty wanted to play a few more years we wouldn't extend him despite all the problems. And it isn't because he has always been a Panther or Hoover, Moose and others would still be here. There is no loyalty to anyone at this point. If you are the best you play, if not you get replaced.

We have certainly taken flyers on guys who have been hurt just like we did with Vincent for example. We do usually want to get them cheap though.

I agree that we have decided to go young and cheap but that doesn't make it right. If we struggle again this year finding a number 2 you can expect us to revisit this again and perhaps we might make a different decision. And the reality is that many time signing a veteran doesn't have to be that expensive. Boldin cost a 3rd and 4th- and his guaranteed money was only 10 million. His 2010 money was 2 million. Almost the same amount Richardson wasted on Jake this year.

Honeslty since it didn't happen it is wasted to go on and on really, but honestly your logic makes little sense. Boltin could easily play for 4 years which is the length of his current contract. And he hasn't been as injury prone as you make him out to be. Just like Smitty and the broken arm, sometimes these freaky things happen. If Baltimore goes deep this year in the players and Boldin does great, he will be a bargain.

[AppStatePanther]

haloti ngata to the panthers in 2011

First thing that came to my mind.

[guyinchesapeake]

Purge or not, we're still obligated for what, $13 million or so for Jake this year? My concern about the players let go have to do with that they brought to the locker room? Certainly, you want young, fast, hungry guys out pounding on the field, but leadership is a great quality as well. I don't think Pep ever provided much, his work ethic (or lack thereof) was well known throughout the league, which no doubt had everything to do with why we couldn't unload him for anything of real value in return. But Moose and Hoover are guys who I wonder about when it comes to those 'intangibles' beyond their actual field performance. Jake was a leader and a standup guy, but it was obvious that he didn't have it anymore as a playoff caliber QB.

[Gin and Juice]

Reading Yas' article was a nice refreshing breathe of fresh air. Let's cut to the chase, FO had to do what they have now started for a long while! They needed to remove sentimentality from their decision making and put the team in a better finacial situation, along with cutting ties with fading talent, although popular talent, and that may include Smitty before it is all said and done.

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I see this season going really well or really bad! I'm looking at 5-11 or 11-5 and it all depends upon if we have found the hidden gems and certain young players evolve into stars that can carry this team! However, one thing for sure after this season, we will know if our talent is strong enough to carry us into the future. If not, then I believe JR will relieve Fox and make major changes! At least now he will have the money to do so and will know which additional fat to trim. If things go great then Fox is the man and our talent base is strong and we will still have money in the bank to make it stronger.

Essentially, the business plan is in place now and the rest of the year is about talent evaluation. By the end of the year we will all have our share of surprises, some good and some bad, but at least the FO will truely know what they are working with for the future!

[rayzor]

Wow... Yasinskas totally missed this, or is putting some spin on this...

If we are making roster moves to clear salary room for a future cap after a new CBA takes effect, we are absolutely "being cheap".

I've said it all along... I honestly believe 2010 is a throw away year for Richardson.

talk about putting some spin on it...

[GRWatcher]

Okay. I seldom do this. But I have to call out most of the posters in this thread. You are making assumptions that very well could lead to disappointment and Huddle implosion. In the few posts I've done about this topic, I have tried very hard to not make assumptions about the future and have stated as such. Because Yas' article makes you feel better, it's correct? You can't think for yourself?

First, you have to seriously read and think about Delhommey's post. Not with emotion, not with rose colored glasses.

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2629195&postcount=18

Then read p55's posts the same way.

Now I'm going to make some assumptions about the Panthers' future. These assumptions will be just as valid as any others in that article or made in this thread. Read on.

There will be no CBA signed in enough time to save the 2011 season. (Tony Dungy said on SNF that he doesn't think there will be one.) There will be no NFL football that year. {{moan}} JR extends no one. All our core players that are not under contract in 2011 are no longer Panthers.

Let me repeat that, those players that are not under contract in 2011 are no longer Panthers. Instantly.

Now, what do all those agents for all these players that are no longer a part of any NFL team do? Sit on their hands? I think not. "Hey, Shannahan, DeAngelo is available! Imagine Portis and Williams together. Let's talk pay in 2011 and a long term contract." Think Snyder isn't going to jump when he can? Or Jones? Or Kraft? They didn't listen to Jerry when he asked them to hold back on spending, why would they hold back then especially if it gives their team an edge in 2012?

Or, let's say the agents and players don't want to piss off the owners (depends on the atmosphere at the time, I'd say) so they first negotiate with their last team. Same approach. Except the Panthers also get, "You'll have plenty of cap room to sign my guy at $xxx million."

And Fox isn't signed and walks along with all the other coaches and Hurney. Makes signing players even harder.

What makes anyone think that a FO that does what ours has done with contracts (see Delhommey's post) will handle a mess with no CBA and few players under contract?

Okay, end of assumptions.

Few, if any, teams have been able to pull off anything like what the Panthers have done this year. Experience is the NFL coin. I'll stop holding my breath when, as p55 says, they start extending their own players.

[GRWatcher]

And as for: Great news, we'll be under the salary cap when there is one again, let's examine that idea. First, the long term successful teams manage their cap well, being near the cap ceiling is not a bad thing at all. San Francisco went over the cap a few years in a row in the late 1990's. Buffalo went well below the cap also in the 1990's. Both were successful teams who took different approaches towards the cap and they both sucked for a long time, at least a decade.

I don't want the Panthers to suck. I really, really don't.

[rayzor]

2012 the world is going to end anyway.

[pantherclaw]

Not really that different. You don't think that if Smitty wanted to play a few more years we wouldn't extend him despite all the problems. And it isn't because he has always been a Panther or Hoover, Moose and others would still be here. There is no loyalty to anyone at this point. If you are the best you play, if not you get replaced.

We have certainly taken flyers on guys who have been hurt just like we did with Vincent for example. We do usually want to get them cheap though.

I agree that we have decided to go young and cheap but that doesn't make it right. If we struggle again this year finding a number 2 you can expect us to revisit this again and perhaps we might make a different decision. And the reality is that many time signing a veteran doesn't have to be that expensive. Boldin cost a 3rd and 4th- and his guaranteed money was only 10 million. His 2010 money was 2 million. Almost the same amount Richardson wasted on Jake this year.

Honeslty since it didn't happen it is wasted to go on and on really, but honestly your logic makes little sense. Boltin could easily play for 4 years which is the length of his current contract. And he hasn't been as injury prone as you make him out to be. Just like Smitty and the broken arm, sometimes these freaky things happen. If Baltimore goes deep this year in the players and Boldin does great, he will be a bargain.

I'm sorry that you don't see the almost father/son relation that richardson has withsteve smith. It is different than moose and hoover. Moose wasn't alwayas a panther, and his relationship with the boss wasn't the same. Hoover? Always a panther, but once again, not the same.

It is that relationship that smitty has with richardson, that makes the comparison to boldin a moot point. I'm not arguing the value or the impact of boldin.

Anyways....I don't see things as doom and gloom as you and a few others. I'm certainly not a very, glass half full kind of guy, but I also don't see it tanking.

[jarhead]

It would really suck if we paid Jake 12million only to have him whip our ass this year

[PantherFanOne]

The statements in the article below say it all......

"If there’s a cap in place for 2011, I'll guess and say it's likely to be somewhere around $130 million to $140 million and those numbers could be on the low end. That means the Panthers will have at least $60 million to re-sign some of their own key players and go out and get some new ones. That’s not a bad spot to be in."