Can we even trade Smith right now if we wanted to?

[bLACKpANTHER]

^^^^

[Sword]

don't think so.

[Easyt65]

No!

[carpanfan96]

No the Panthers can't trade him during this draft. The NFL locked down this draft after they lost the stay and said that trades could only involve picks.

[mwright350]

No

[riddel]

No the Panthers can't trade him during this draft. The NFL locked down this draft after they lost the stay and said that trades could only involve picks.

Which is a violation of anti-trust laws and direct orders from the Judge. If the players show that the NFL refused to open for business by locking down the FA trades and signings, then the NFL will face collusion charges too. The Judge said teams do not have to sign or trade FA, but she didn't say to lock down transactions, only to use their discretion. An across the board lockdown on FA signings and trades is a direct challenge to the court ordered lift of the lockout.

It's going to get real next week, when this hits the fan.

[panthers55]

Which is a violation of anti-trust laws and direct orders from the Judge. If the players show that the NFL refused to open for business by locking down the FA trades and signings, then the NFL will face collusion charges too. The Judge said teams do not have to sign or trade FA, but she didn't say to lock down transactions, only to use their discretion. An across the board lockdown on FA signings and trades is a direct challenge to the court ordered lift of the lockout.

It's going to get real next week, when this hits the fan.

The postponement of free agency until the rules get ironed out is not a direct challenge to the court ordered lifting of the lockout. Nothing is going to be in stone until the appeal process is complete. First ESPN said the appeal court has granted a temporary stay and then rescinded the statement an hour later saying the stay was likely but not yet granted. With all the confusion and no clear direction on how free agency will be done given there isn't a CBA in place, these determinations will have to be made before free agency will start. Will it be the last best offer by the NFL, the 2010 rules continued or something else.

No one is locking down transactions simply waiting for some negotiations on what things need to look like going forward.

[Brooklyn Bully]

I don't know if the NFL hires someone to listen in on team to team calls during the Draft, but you can always sort of like...wink wink/nudge nudge a team in terms of Smitty. But yeah, you can't make an actual trade. I'd love to see Brady throw it to Steve...unless Cam can be like Freeman by the end of the year. If he can, I'd of course rather see Cam to Smitty. But Freeman had a piss poor first season. I think Cam will as well before he gets it together.

[SOJA]

no

[riddel]

The postponement of free agency until the rules get ironed out is not a direct challenge to the court ordered lifting of the lockout. Nothing is going to be in stone until the appeal process is complete. First ESPN said the appeal court has granted a temporary stay and then rescinded the statement an hour later saying the stay was likely but not yet granted. With all the confusion and no clear direction on how free agency will be done given there isn't a CBA in place, these determinations will have to be made before free agency will start. Will it be the last best offer by the NFL, the 2010 rules continued or something else.

No one is locking down transactions simply waiting for some negotiations on what things need to look like going forward.

In her ruling Wednesday, Nelson said the NFL must decide what to do about free agency.

"This court's order does not obligate the NFL to enter into contracts, nor does it proscribe the league's non-lockout conduct in general," Nelson wrote. "Like any defendant in any lawsuit, defendants themselves must make a decision about how to proceed and accept the consequences of their decision."

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: http://www.sfexaminer.com/sports/nfl/2011/04/judge-refuses-delay-enforcing-order-lift-nfl-lockout#ixzz1Kws8dFP0

The way this reads is pretty clear to me. The Judge will not demand that they enter into contracts, but the NFL will face consequences, meaning to me that if collusion takes place, such as a lock down on FAs until the appeal court rules, then the NFL will accept and face consequences. Basically, you don't have to sign a player if you don't want to, but to refuse across the board to sign or trade FAs is not what the judge allowed and WARNED that this action would have consequences.

[ThatGuy]

Not going to happen anytime soon. They think he will stay now that we have Cam. Hopefully D-Will will do the same.