Brentson Buckner Interview on NFL Sirius this morning

[CRA]

if you've got a young rookie QB, you have to have an RB corps that can carry the ball well over 30 times a game. you don't go into the season with a new QB like that and get rid of such a major part of your running corps. most teams try to shore it up. wouldn't help the team at all to let him go.

also...williams is a very positive minded person, which is something you need for a team going through changes like this is. that is something that you could never really accuse smith of being (since you brought him up), esp. in the past couple years.

the benefits of working a deal to keep williams around far outweigh any negatives. it just makes too much sense to keep him around.

it would help the team if they use that money elsewhere on a big time player.

run game will be fine with or without Williams. The degree Williams changes things isn't that great (2010 and 2009 support that train of thought). Need to get away from the Fox mindset of football.....building the greatest backfield in the game just ain't that wise the way the league and rules have changed.

Investing a lot of money at this stage of his career doesn't seem smart to me.....only if he gives Carolina a discount. Run game will be fine and the team as a whole likely could be improved if they went after a talented FA that fits a position of need.

[4Corners]

Over/under 5 stutters.

[rayzor]

with the amount of cap space that they have, williams new contract won't come close to having an impact on who they get in FA. they can resign their core (including williams), sign beason to a new deal, sign the rookies, and still have to find a way to spend to get even up to the cap floor.

doing a little copy and paste from another thread i posted in a while back...

panthers have almost $72mil committed to the cap for the 2011 season. the cap floor in '09 was $112.1mil. given that the floor goes up about 1.2% each year, the floor should be close to $115 mil. that means the team would have to spend at a minimum $43mil next year.

the cap should be somewhere around $140 and with the expanded season it could be near $150. it was $123mil in '09 which i would actually consider a target for the panthers to spend this coming year. if that is the case, they would have $50mil to play around with this year. there is a lot of talent that could be bought for that amount.

i would be looking for the team to spend anywhere from $45-55 mil this year. re-signing core players should only take $25mill...maybe $30 if they decide to front load some of them (which i don't think will happen). even with that, it still will allow a lot of room to bring in a lot of talent. of course, you have to consider cam newton getting paid, but even with that we'll still have a lot of room.

anyway...yes, the run game will be fine without williams, but why settle for fine? not only will the game be better with him, the run game will also be more secure. i trust a corps of williams/stewart/goodson/sutton/fiammetta more than that group without williams. it's very likely someone is going to get hurt. if the season gets expanded by a couple games, then risk of someone getting hurt grows. if, by some miracle, we happen to land a wildcard spot...we have to make sure we have as strong a RB corps as possible.

this isn't about a foxball mindset, either. it's a mindset of putting your rookie QB in the best situation to succeed. the teams that have had success with a rookie QB has made sure they have a strong running game. taking away from that strength is a recipe for disaster.

it would help the team if they use that money elsewhere on a big time player.

run game will be fine with or without Williams. The degree Williams changes things isn't that great (2010 and 2009 support that train of thought). Need to get away from the Fox mindset of football.....building the greatest backfield in the game just ain't that wise the way the league and rules have changed.

Investing a lot of money at this stage of his career doesn't seem smart to me.....only if he gives Carolina a discount. Run game will be fine and the team as a whole likely could be improved if they went after a talented FA that fits a position of need.

[CRA]

with the amount of cap space that they have, williams new contract won't come close to having an impact on who they get in FA. they can resign their core (including williams), sign beason to a new deal, sign the rookies, and still have to find a way to spend to get even up to the cap floor.

doing a little copy and paste from another thread i posted in a while back...

anyway...yes, the run game will be fine without williams, but why settle for fine? not only will the game be better with him, the run game will also be more secure. i trust a corps of williams/stewart/goodson/sutton/fiammetta more than that group without williams. it's very likely someone is going to get hurt. if the season gets expanded by a couple games, then risk of someone getting hurt grows. if, by some miracle, we happen to land a wildcard spot...we have to make sure we have as strong a RB corps as possible.

this isn't about a foxball mindset, either. it's a mindset of putting your rookie QB in the best situation to succeed. the teams that have had success with a rookie QB has made sure they have a strong running game. taking away from that strength is a recipe for disaster.

I am fine keeping him...but like I said, only if we get a discount. Williams won't be worth his market value (not being 28). Those big dollars are better suited elsewhere considering our backfield.

We don't know if it will be better with him....Williams will be getting worse and Stewart/Goodson will still be trending upwards and getting better. That just happens. Williams already peaked. Stewart/Goodson likely haven't.

If it comes down to making a play on a big time free agent on a weak position or resigning Williams.....I hope Carolina says good bye to Williams.

Plus, unlike with Williams....I want us to maximize Stewart in his prime. Stewart needs a heavy load. Putting him into spot duty doesn't allow you to get the best out of him. He runs better the more he touches the ball.

Carolina wasted part of DeAngelo's career with him on the bench......we won't get that years back. He will be 29 next year and that will be the first season back of legit football IMO. 29 is on death's door in terms of being a NFL RB.

[MadHatter]

I am fine keeping him...but like I said, only if we get a discount. Williams won't be worth his market value (not being 28). Those big dollars are better suited elsewhere considering our backfield.

We don't know if it will be better with him....Williams will be getting worse and Stewart/Goodson will still be trending upwards and getting better. That just happens. Williams already peaked. Stewart/Goodson likely haven't.

If it comes down to making a play on a big time free agent on a weak position or resigning Williams.....I hope Carolina says good bye to Williams.

Plus, unlike with Williams....I want us to maximize Stewart in his prime. Stewart needs a heavy load. Putting him into spot duty doesn't allow you to get the best out of him. He runs better the more he touches the ball.

Carolina wasted part of DeAngelo's career with him on the bench......we won't get that years back. He will be 29 next year and that will be the first season back of legit football IMO. 29 is on death's door in terms of being a NFL RB.

The fact is that we have the cap space to re-sign Williams AND make plays for several key FA acquisitions. It is not an either/or game.

[CRA]

The fact is that we have the cap space to re-sign Williams AND make plays for several key FA acquisitions. It is not an either/or game.

let's just assume, this season is a clusterfizuck....starts late, teams w/ new staffs don't have time to really install what they want, etc.

That brings us to the 2012 season. Even if we have room, it probably isn't a wise use of money to dump big bucks (even if you can afford it) into a RB that is 29 yrs old when you are ready to play the first legit season of his new contract.

I mean for that to be a good idea, Williams has be an exception to the rule of NFL RBs (and that seems like a silly gamble)....a real silly one if your backfield is solid without him.

To go back to Hurney.....Hurney has a reputation and track record of overpaying players who aren't worth the money. So using history, Williams probably lands a big deal......and in 2012 (or late that year) he finds himself watching Stewart explode like he did in 2008. But at least we paid a guy we really like......who cares if he drastically overpay considering the years he has left.

[SorthNarolina]

One thing I found interesting while listening to NFL Radio the other day is they were talking about how the teams with good to great running games, and solid Defenses will most likely be the better teams to start the next season the longer the lockout goes along. Main reason they were saying is a running the ball is fairly simple and it takes much longer for a passing game to get into synce etc.

That being said, if the Panthers are able to keep Williams.. him along with Stewart, Goodsen etc might result in the Panthers have a much better season than many are expecting.

the great defense and run game teams also took their rookie qbs to the afc championship game like the steelers, jets, and ravens. Although the lockout with a new coach isn't going to help it's nice to know.

[panthers55]

Instead of looking at Williams as an individual if you look at how much we are spending on the position you can easily see that we can tie up Williams for the rest of his career (3-4 years) for around 6 million per year. You can give him a huge contract like Steven Jackson for 6 or 7 years but given it isn't guaranteed (except for the guaranteed signing money) he won't receive much of it if he tails off or get injured.

Goodson and Stewart are still on their rookie contracts and combined will make around 4 million, if you add Williams 6 million you are committing around 10 million to the running game which is about equal to what Gross makes himself. Seems to me that if you don't guarantee too much up front you can easily keep all three and decide in 2013 when Stewart is in a contract year who to keep and who to let go. Sure you could let Williams go but at this point he isn't a huge cap eater.

[panthers55]

I wonder after Richardson was frequently caled cheap and unwilling to spend to build a winner last year, if he is going to spend a lot more and keep fan favorites like Williams not just because he is talented but also to avoid the criticism owners get when they get rid of very popular players. Knowing that Smith is on his way out by some reports, Richardson may need to keep Williams to avoid the negative label of being willing to spend to be competitive. Something that for example plagued Shinn for the Hornets when he didn't pay for Mourning and became known as cheap.

[rayzor]

I wonder after Richardson was frequently caled cheap and unwilling to spend to build a winner last year, if he is going to spend a lot more and keep fan favorites like Williams not just because he is talented but also to avoid the criticism owners get when they get rid of very popular players. Knowing that Smith is on his way out by some reports, Richardson may need to keep Williams to avoid the negative label of being willing to spend to be competitive. Something that for example plagued Shinn for the Hornets when he didn't pay for Mourning and became known as cheap.

this may play a big part in it.

i've said it quite a bit before, you don't make the team better by getting rid of a talented player like williams. you don't make yourself more popular by getting rid of the few stars you have either. we may be losing smith. that in itself will be a hard blow to fans. letting williams go would be too much, even with the addition of guys like newton and others that may get brought back in.

when JR had the house cleaning, it was motivated by budget concerns and to set straight a team that had gotten too old. neither of those are issues now. we have tons of money and the team is young. williams is still young (for now). no reason we can't get him a contract that will pay him nicely for the next couple years that he can be productive without hurting the franchise's pocketbook or ability to bring in more talent.

face it...he's part of the core of this team, not just for the talent on the field, but for how he is off the field as a leader, teacher, and positive personality. a team this young and going through this transition needs all of that.

they'll keep him around and the team will be better for it.

[CRA]

I wonder after Richardson was frequently caled cheap and unwilling to spend to build a winner last year, if he is going to spend a lot more and keep fan favorites like Williams not just because he is talented but also to avoid the criticism owners get when they get rid of very popular players. Knowing that Smith is on his way out by some reports, Richardson may need to keep Williams to avoid the negative label of being willing to spend to be competitive. Something that for example plagued Shinn for the Hornets when he didn't pay for Mourning and became known as cheap.

I think they pay Williams. I still think there is a reasonable chance Williams elects to go elsewhere.

Carolina has always paid guys more than they are worth for a vareity of reasons....if you want to play in Carolina and have been good in the past (they will pay you more than they should and keep you around far longer than other franchises).

[Ivan The Awesome]

Buckner said it left a bad taste in lots of fans' mouths and that getting Newton was a way to get the fans back and generate excitement.

I knew this a long time ago. It's the same reason they reached for Armanti Edwards giving up a second rounder. Sell Jersey's to the App state fan base, get them to turn into Panthers fans if they weren't already. Now Cam will generate "excitement". I just hope it doesn't backfire and newton becomes a bust..

[Happy Panther]

He reiterated what many felt which was that Richarson hung the team out to dry and sacrified the team success to save money and curb spending prior to the lockout which he wanted. It was to show the players that the owners were not going to spend big bucks even in an uncapped year and he did it with the Panthers to prove his point.

I'm glad most have come around to accepting this. Funny the people that still say it was Fox's fault or whatever.

The season was tanked. We've just begun to rebuild.

[jtm]

Simple fact that you don't let players walk that are talented when you have money. People keep saying we can spend the money elsewhere - why? He is a pro bowl talent and we have a young QB that will need help. Not to mention you need two RBs in the NFL now and Goodson has not shown that he can fill the void. He has shown tremendous upside, but we would be the laughing stock of the NFL to let Smith and Williams go after having one of the worst offenses in NFL history last year.

People are making something about nothing. Williams and Smith aren't going anywhere - you can bank on that. Williams will get paid because he is worthy and deserves it, and Smith won't go anywhere because no one will want a 32 year old WR that has a $8 million a year contract. Smith just needs to see some creativity and opportunity on offense and he will be happy. WRs are like women - they need a lot of attention.