Dear Panthers, in regards to keeping Gettis instead of pursuing Houshmandzadeh

[Jangler]

Irony would have Housh scoring the game winning TD against us when we play the Ravens. Well, irony on this board.

How is this irony? Were the Panthers pursuing him? I mean if he chose the Ravens over the Panthers, then I guess that could be considered irony.

[Zaximus]

We should have made a play, I hope we did.

1) We don't develop WR's. We got lucky twice, getting Moose and Smith that landed in our laps. To say our young guys look good, well, it's possible we have another Moose/Smith, but don't expect anyone to get developed.

2) Vet min. made him pretty cheap. Even IF our young guys panned out, WHY NOT? If he has a bad locker room whatever, so what, don't play him, VET MIN guys.

3) Don't compare him to Hackett, or Rod Garner, he's in a league ahead of them and has a pretty impressive resume. Apple to oranges.

4) Steve Smith is 31 years old. Hous is what, 32, soon 33? Should we dump Smith cause he's "too old and over 30" too? Especially since he gets paid way more than TJ got somewhere and has had a lot more injuries? TJ has been relatively healthy in his career and hasn't missed many games either.

5) You say he didn't do well in Seattle after leaving Carson. The Seahawks were terrible, and he still managed 911 yards and 3 TD's. If he came close to that in Carolina, as a #2, I'd call that a successful year (being a run first offense and all of that). Smith had a pretty down year for himself last year, but we're all OK blaming THAT on Jake, why can't TJ blame HIS QB?

Face the facts, we can make up all of the above, but if we didn't at least make a play at this guy, I'm pretty disappointed. You can say he wouldn't have came here anyway, that's fine, but we should have tried at least. We didn't pass on him because we want to use the young guys, we passed cause Richardson only cares about money and the NFL, not about winning and his fans (at least not as much as the previous). He's waiting for the lockout and that's that. The fact he wouldn't even (and I hope we find out we tried) go after a legit #2 for vet min. proves this.

[MHS831]

We are going to be fine. Many are paranoid due to our preseason. The problem her, if we have one, is Davidson--he's to blame!!

[GRWatcher]

whatever happens this year, at least we'll have next year.

:toetap05: :hand:

yeah, but you've got to at least give the new guys a shot at some PT or else they'll end up the same way. And then youll have definitely wasted the draft picks rather than just "maybe" wasted them.

:banghead: Please, please, please tell me you are not serious about these statements. I have read similar statements over & over on this board through the years and every time except this year it was ignored as it should be. This year too many people are using it as an excuse for what the Panthers have done with the roster. :out:

This is not peewee football which is the last time in a football career that "everyone gets a chance to play". This is the NFL where players, including rookies, earn the chance to play. If a player is better than everyone else on the team at playing his position, then he is the starter. If play seems equal, then coaches take film room, etc into consideration and experience counts. If James Anderson couldn't beat the vets at playing his position, then he didn't start because he wasn't good enough. Period. Same with Jarrett and every other young player that didn't start.

So what did the Panthers do differently this year? They eliminated that veteran competition. They basically cheated for the young players because those players couldn't cheat for themselves. And, oh, just happened to reduce the player payroll by a huge bunch without future penalty. Do you really think they ever would have done this in a capped year?

The Panthers have turned John Fox into a college coach with a college team playing in the NFL.

But IMO there are 2 sets of people who will be hurt by this. First are the players themselves. They haven't been able to learn from some of the best players in the league, veterans. It's not the skills that they miss out on, it's the mental part of the game, the tricks and tips, etc. to make them the best in the game. What would Smitty be if he hadn't played with vets? No, coaches can't do it all.

Consider Steve's comments and the state of our WR corps. He's following the team's philosophy to the letter. Maybe to prove a point to the FO, idk.

Second are the fans. It's not that they don't want to win because they do. It's that they are charging us NFL dollars for what IMO is an inferior product. I am not saying our players are bad because, as yet, we truly don't know. But the talent, except in a few areas, is almost college level. So don't expect the home crowd to do any more than cheer as if at a college game. It was like that in the 2 home preseason games. It may be like that in the 8 other home games.

[Cyberjag]

Just curious about something here. If Houshmandzadeh is so great why did he sign for the minimum in an uncapped year? Even Delhomme got more than that, and the Huddle certainly hasn't been shy about expressing his value.

So again, if TJ is so great, why no fat contract?

[CLTPanther]

He just preferred to take his talents to Baltimore

[frash.exe]

Just curious about something here. If Houshmandzadeh is so great why did he sign for the minimum in an uncapped year? Even Delhomme got more than that, and the Huddle certainly hasn't been shy about expressing his value.

So again, if TJ is so great, why no fat contract?

well, the browns had to sweeten the pot a little to probably convince Delhomme to go there

in Housh's case he's probably thinking "i've spent enough time playing on shitty teams that can't win playoff games and don't even make the playoffs most of the time so i want a ring" hence, Baltimore can lure him in for less money than inferior teams because they actually are contenders

[Cyberjag]

well, the browns had to sweeten the pot a little to probably convince Delhomme to go there

in Housh's case he's probably thinking "i've spent enough time playing on shitty teams that can't win playoff games and don't even make the playoffs most of the time so i want a ring" hence, Baltimore can lure him in for less money than inferior teams because they actually are contenders

I kind of think that's a reach. I would be really interested in knowing if any team offered him more than the minimum.

[KillerKat]

Ray Lewis also reached out to him. The Ravens also are preseason favorites to go to the Super Bowl with the current roster they have right now. Their offense has so many weapons right now and their Defense is still pretty good. Plus he's already getting 7 mill from the Seahawks this year.

[KillerKat]

"Baltimore was about a chance to win the ring,'' Houshmandzadeh said. "Five or six teams have a legit shot to win a Super Bowl this year and they were one of them. Without me.

"Although I had other options and I was seriously considering those, I just couldn't pass this up. Winning is why we play sports.''

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/09/tj-houshmandzadeh-ray-lewis-recruiting-him-to-ravens-to-help-win-super-bowl/1

[Cyberjag]

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/thehuddle/post/2010/09/tj-houshmandzadeh-ray-lewis-recruiting-him-to-ravens-to-help-win-super-bowl/1

If he really felt that way then we probably never had a chance anyway.

[KillerKat]

Reason why scoring no TDs in preseason means no big names wanting to come to your team. Yeah preseason is all about just finding out who has what it takes to make the team, but you also got to at least be a little bit creative with the game plan if you dont want your offense becoming the laughing stock of the NFL and driving top free agents away (when you know you have a weakness at a particular area and need help). And TJ was cheap too.

[Wither]

Face it guys, JR cares way MORE about money, than winning.

I do too. Give me about a million and I don't care if the Panthers ever win another game.

[PantherFanOne]

It's obvious this is a team retooling for the future with young players,so any 30+ free agent player can forget about being signed by the Panthers.Just saying.