Well for those who didn't want Asante Samuel....

[rayzor]

hurney knows things aren't working. feels bad about it. but isn't going to deviate because he thinks it's a proven formula. it might be somewhere, but if it hasn't worked here it probably wouldn't.

using bounties was a proven system. still not something that should be emulated.

the rams showed that you could take a guy stocking shelves at a grocery store and win a lombardi with him at QB. that's a proven formula. it should work, right?

just because a system or philosophy has worked for someone...even several teams...that doesn't mean it will work for everyone and it's not a matter of just sticking to your guns, either. if you're a midget and you see some 6 ft guy jumping over a fence, keeping at it isn't going to get you the same results. you've got to find what works for you to get you where you want. don't look elsewhere. look at what you have and try to find something that works.

hurney with fox avoided putting too much responsibilities in too many young players hands. the team was very old because of that with a quickly closing window of opportunity. now he went the opposite route and tried to put too much responsibility on too many young guys...and that isn't working. he's got to find balance and that balance is only going to be found in reaching out and finding some good vets to come in and fill in holes.

next year this team is very much going to be in "win now" mode. hurney's going to have to quit petering around and put a team on the field that can get the job done rather than one he hopes at some point can. if he wants rivera and cam to succeed, he's got to get better players on this team.

[mwright350]

I'm beating a dead horse but I think the root of Hurney's problems are being mired in the "old" NFL before the transition to the passing league it is now. 4-3 LBs are just not a good place to stack all of your damn money on Defense anymore. You need more than one good corner because teams have more than one good WR. My wife couldn't come in off the street and play Safety anymore, they have to be able to cover because there are so many damn WRs flying around the field now. You must have at least one player on defense other than one of your top two corners who can cover the converted basketball-player style of TE that is super popular now (especially in a division with Gonzales and Graham who you see twice a year) Granted we might have this now in Kuechly but how many years have we been looking at 3rd and 10, as fans, and yelled at the TV "fug it they're just going to throw it 11 yards to a TE over the middle. We don't cover TEs"? On the offensive side of the ball we are fuging LOADED at RB but we can't bring in a solid 2nd receiver? This team is playing ball decades ago and refusing to evolve...and it's hurting us.

We've seen what's happens when he or his coach are in a "win-now" position. We trade away future draft picks for a 10 mile reach trying to find a player that flew under everyone else's radar for the epic upset draft victory. Also we'll draft that player 3 rounds too soon when we do it. I'm more terrified of Hurney going into an offseason with even an imagined "win now or you're gone" threat over his head. There's no telling what kind of Hurney Magic will happen that will hurt us for years.

Alas we can't lobotomize / retrain him...so I think we're fuged as long as he's here.

[Marguide]

Gamble will drop off very soon and has never been elite on his best day but after Gamble it is definitely not elite..or good.

Gamble is only 29. He should be good for 4 years.

[mwright350]

Gamble is better than we give him credit for.

He's not flashy or a superstar, and he did have that boneheaded "I just don't give a fug" year, but he's better than we seem the collectively think.

[Argus Plexus]

Oh hey this thread again

[carolina-chuck]

Who gives a fu(k retard. Are we going to make a list of players we could've have? If so, add Carlos Rogers and Red Bryant names to the list

[Mr. Scot]

should have tried for samuel.

should have tried for rogers the year before.

lots of guys we should have tried for.

hurney did find a decent balance in acquiring talent on offense the last couple years bringing in olsen, shockey, tolbert (even though he just threw himself at us) and murphy (even tho he's kind of meh....). he should have done brought in another WR, but ehhh...

on defense, tho, there hasn't been nearly the amount of work done to bring in good vets, esp. in the secondary. downright pathetic and feeble, tbh. soo many reasonably priced options passed over.

Hurney's free agent/trade philosophy has long been to look for "contributors" rather than "game changers". My guess is he believes in this philosophy because some other teams have been successful with it. Said other teams, though, are generally either better at drafting than we are or not afraid to go after the occasional "game changer" even if it isn't regular practice.

Sadly, the Panthers don't draft well enough for a free agent philosophy like this to work.

All that said, I'm not the world's biggest Samuel fan. He makes highlights on both sides.