smith on WFNZ right now

[heel31ok]

Bingo, listen to the people in the know. This wasn't a business decision at all. A business decision would be asking the dude to take a pay cut or restructure first. Not cutting the guy after things became personal, without having a replacement secured. This is bad business exemplified....

and booms goes the dynamite! Very bad business...

[jarhead]

Could you guys please leave your logical explanations and reasoning out of this...  I am trying to stew in this rage.

 

I know the reasons, but this one just hurts.  I'm angry.  I'll have to get over it, but I'm not happy about it and I'll probably have some beef with Gettleman for awhile - although, I'm sure that doesn't have much affect on him, lol.

 

I will say this though, there are three things that concern me from this debacle -

 

1)  This is the second player, and a leader, that has come out and said they didn't like Gettleman very much, with Gross saying it jokingly and now Smitty saying it wholeheartedly...  I don't think that does much for us with players around the league that we may be looking to sign, so that concerns me.  He seems to rub a lot of guys the wrong way, initially at least.

 

2)  If you're going to make a bold move like this and humiliate, then unceremoniously cut the greatest player in franchise history, you better have a "wow" move to follow up behind it.  Instead, he cuts Smitty, has Nicks in for a visit, who then immediately leaves to go to Indy, and then we bring back in Donald "Hands of Stone" Lafell for a visit after it pretty much being accepted that he wasn't in the plans going forward.  Oh, and then we missed on our top OL target to a division rival and bring in possibly the crappiest safety on the market from a division rival in Harper.  I thought we couldn't have a worse day than yesterday...  I was wrong. 

 

3)  Lastly, even if we all agree, something had to be done to remedy the situation with Smitty - which I don't believe he had to be removed to turn the locker room over to Cam and Keek - then, why not give him his just due?  Hold a presser.  Let him say his piece.  Treat him with the respect and class he deserves as our greatest player to ever suit up as a Panther.  Instead, he talked about him in the past tense before even talking to him or his agent, dangled him for a trade, then released him and put him on the street.  That's garbage.  And it reflects badly on us as an organization if that's how we treat "that" guy.  JMO...

Well said...my sentiments as well 

[cbully]

Glad he says he's never going to leave Charlotte and never NOT going to be a Panther.  

yea but that does nothing for us as a team though. sure it sounds nice in theory but the reality is they did the guy dirty and a new contract elsewhere can erase that statement. We should have retired him far better than Gross was. shame, smh

[Proudiddy]

I get the emotion, and as a fan you can afford to have that.  When running the team is actually your job, not so much.

 

As to the points...

 

1) Teams like the Patriots pretty regularly dump players in a less than gentle manner (ever seen Belichick look warm and fuzzy) but players still want to play there because they win.  That's the goal here too.

 

2) You're not gonna get every guy you go after, especially in a cap situation like we have now (not Gettleman's fault, by the way).

 

3) I'm sure they'd have loved for this to end better, but he comments that came from Smith's agent made it pretty difficult to do things that way.

 

Worth remembering they tried to trade him before the release.  had the comments out of Smith's camp not hindered that effort, who knows what could have been?

 

1)  For me, the difference is, the Patriots have been able to do that recently because they won 3 championships in 4 years (IIRC).  They weren't doing that before.  But, they also weren't signing guys like Ted Johnson or Willie McGinest to lifetime contracts either, lol.  We just came off our first winning season in YEARS, we don't have the pedigree to go around treating respected players like crap yet, IMO.

 

2)  Understandable, but you can't do what he just did and appear to be scrambling to make something happen.  He should've KNOWN Nicks was going to sign before making that move, if at all possible.

 

3)  I don't fault Smitty or Fox for making those comments.  Again, he expected to be treated with the respect he deserved as a long-tenured player and the greatest player in our franchise's history.  Gettleman launched the offensive by referring to him in the past tense and inferring that he may not be a Panther in 2014, and we all know Smitty is waiting for a reason to feel disrespected.  Gettleman burned the bridge, and then Smitty and his agent nuked it.  I can't blame Smitty for that.

 

I'm sure Peyton Manning still has some sour feeling towards Irsay, but they were tactful and respectful enough to not go blabbering to the media in a disrespectful manner before they resolved it between themselves, and then came together to give him the exit he deserved.

 

We are not the Patriots, and players take notice of things like that.  Gettleman handled this horribly, and that's my biggest issue.  Not many people were going to be happy with releasing/trading Smitty, but if you handle it correctly, and give everyone involved, fans included, that cathartic moment to signal some sort of closure, EVERYONE feels a lot better about it - the player, the front office, the fans, and other players that see how he is treated.

[heel31ok]

Likely making less money than he would have made if he were traded under his current contract.  Solid move there.

 

Smith still could have been traded had the panthers gotten an offer they liked.  Didn't happen.

 

as has been said many times it is not about the money.That especially be true if you are shipped somewhere you don't want to be. I think having control of the situation is more important. Panthers made no move SS took control and made the move, he made the call.now the Panthers get nothing but the privilidge of paying him.

[Keep Steve]

I am going to commit suicide.

[RoaringRiot]

yea but that does nothing for us as a team though. sure it sounds nice in theory but the reality is they did the guy dirty and a new contract elsewhere can erase that statement. We should have retired him far better than Gross was. shame, smh

 

 

He actually made a point to say a new contract and new team would not erase that.  Sooo.....there's that.  

[Mr. Scot]

1)  For me, the difference is, the Patriots have been able to do that recently because they won 3 championships in 4 years (IIRC).  They weren't doing that before.  But, they also weren't signing guys like Ted Johnson or Willie McGinest to lifetime contracts either, lol.  We just came off our first winning season in YEARS, we don't have the pedigree to go around treating respected players like crap yet, IMO.

 

2)  Understandable, but you can't do what he just did and appear to be scrambling to make something happen.  He should've KNOWN Nicks was going to sign before making that move, if at all possible.

 

3)  I don't fault Smitty or Fox for making those comments.  Again, he expected to be treated with the respect he deserved as a long-tenured player and the greatest player in our franchise's history.  Gettleman launched the offensive by referring to him in the past tense and inferring that he may not be a Panther in 2014, and we all know Smitty is waiting for a reason to feel disrespected.  Gettleman burned the bridge, and then Smitty and his agent nuked it.  I can't blame Smitty for that.

 

I'm sure Peyton Manning still has some sour feeling towards Irsay, but they were tactful and respectful enough to not go blabbering to the media in a disrespectful manner before they resolved it between themselves, and then came together to give him the exit he deserved.

 

We are not the Patriots, and players take notice of things like that.  Gettleman handled this horribly, and that's my biggest issue.  Not many people were going to be happy with releasing/trading Smitty, but if you handle it correctly, and give everyone involved, fans included, that cathartic moment to signal some sort of closure, EVERYONE feels a lot better about it - the player, the front office, the fans, and other players that see how he is treated.

 

If we want to be a winning franchise, then we can't make emotional decisions.

 

And honestly, I seriously doubt there was any easy way to part with a guy like Smitty.

 

You don't wanna go back to the way it was under Hurney, do you?

[heel31ok]

I am going to commit suicide.

come on don't be such a GM.

[TheRed]

One can be more media savvy, and have better PR skills without being Marty Hurney.

Enough of that terrible argument.

[C47]

If we want to be a winning franchise, then we can't make emotional decisions.

 

And honestly, I seriously doubt there was any easy way to part with a guy like Smitty.

 

You don't wanna go back to the way it was under Hurney, do you?

 

Our GM sure did....

[Keep Steve]

Watch the news closely in the future, they may mention me on there.

[Mr. Scot]

as has been said many times it is not about the money.That especially be true if you are shipped somewhere you don't want to be. I think having control of the situation is more important. Panthers made no move SS took control and made the move, he made the call.now the Panthers get nothing but the privilidge of paying him.

 

Tell me you're not really dumb enough to think Smith made the call to release him :unsure:

 

That's one of the absolute goofiest ideas I've ever read on this board.

 

[Keep Steve]

If we want to be a winning franchise, then we can't make emotional decisions.

 

And honestly, I seriously doubt there was any easy way to part with a guy like Smitty.

 

You don't wanna go back to the way it was under Hurney, do you?

Awesome signature.