Lets be honest the only bad move Getts has made is releasing Smitty

[SauceBoss]

1000 posts. cmon man.

[Cpt slay a ho]

i can agree with that being the biggest mistake some ppl forget how big smith has been for this franchise and wanna throw that this is a business bullpoo out there.

 

i for one think he wasted a prime chance to make this club a consistent winner and play-off team year in and out NOW, who knows if guys like mitchell,ginn,and cap could have been resigned for cheaper before hitting the market but telling by his recent dealings with other FA it doesn't look like he even tried hard.Then add the smith situation and DG completely fug himself in most fans eyes..............were hoping for the best but if ish turns sour everyone's going to look back at moments like this.

[heel31ok]

Cutting Smitty was not a bad move just by what Steve was saying in interviews. He said he wasn't a number 1 receiver anymore. Every receiver that has signed elsewhere has been paid as a 3. I find it just a tad bit funny that we played last year with 3 number 3 receivers. No wonder

Cam's numbers were down.

yeah that's why!

[El Chingon]

I for one have complete confidence in Gettleman. The man knows what he's doing, even if it might not make sense to us fans. It's the second week of free agency, look for Gettleman to start signing most of these guys he's brought in for visits.

Let's say we sign Cotchery, Kenny Britt, Cason, Terrell Thomas, Darian Stewart etc  things would be looking pretty good once again. 

[Toundra]

OP imho everyone is agree about that our reaction is just a litle different.. anger for some (me), pragmatic for the rest of us.

Well add Harper to the list for me.

[ChinaPanther]

yeah that's why!

 

Thank you! I appreciate that 

[kman72]

I didn't like it because I thought Alexander and Addison could fill in and we could (maybe) draft a player to groom.  However, I would like to add to your opinion by saying, it would be worse (in my opinion) to lock him into a long-term deal before the season begins.  The reason?  You don't buy stock at its highest point.  I am guessing Hardy does not get 15 sacks this year.  If he does, pay the man and (maybe) Johnson's deal is at a point where it can be adjusted. If he does not, negotiate a more reasonable contract or let him walk.

 

I would rather have 3-4 free agents than one Hardy, but that is me.  Gettlemen is from the Giants where they appreciated their pass rushers.

 

To me, only a QB is worth $13million. 

 

 

 

Well you are going to be stunned when the QB gets closer to 20. I'm hoping Cam settles for closer to 18 but I'm expecting 20-23 mill to get him back

[jarhead]

We will not know until we play this season but several things need to happen: Hardy need to sign a reasonable long term contract. We need to sign some veteran wrs( you do not pay Smith 4 million not to play for us without some assurance to replace him). He better have a plan at LT after restructuring the Gross contract to expire this year.  

 

I know what the man is trying to accomplish (fix the cap) but it is the way he is doing it. The man is either a genius or an idiot.

 

Stay tuned

[BelgianPantherFan]

Cutting Smitty was the correct decision, business-wise (that's why Gettleman's here). He does have to do something about the Godfrey situation (but is it possible, I don't think Godfrey has been cleared medically yet), and the Hardy situation. If those two situations could be handled, we should have a bit wiggle room with the cap to bring in some quality bodies.

 

We have to be patient, I get that, but looking at twitter and other social media, Panther fans really could use some good news soon.

[stirs]

"the way he did it" is the phrase I hear over and over.

 

Didn't Smith already refuse a paycut?  When was he asked?  He got no indication with that question that he was being evaluated just like everyone else?  he is too stupid to see the financial situation of the team?

 

I just don't get all the hurt feelings and disrespect stuff.  He is what he always was, outspoken and sometimes to a fault.

 

For a guy that has been in the league that long, seen what he has seen, carries the cap hit he does, won't even consider a cut, how can he be so taken back that the team says he is part of the evaluation?  Just more drama to me

[d-dave]

I think everyone in the fan base agrees that Smith was wrongly treated by the Panthers.  How much he has left in the tank remains to be seen.  I agree with cutting Smith in regards to the locker room stuff, because he does stand over the entire organization, and we need to move on to Luke and Cam.  I do not agree with paying him a ton for him not to be here, but that's the business side of things.

 

As far as Hardy, I think we'll see that having Hardy is a good thing, even at $13 million this year.  Though, I think that he and Gettleman get something worked out to lower that number.  Hardy is special not only for his splash plays in the passing game, but also in his run support and ability to line up anywhere on the line.  He only makes the team better.

 

I'm much less worried about the WR position than I am about the OT position.  I am a newly converted "WRs are Shiny Hood Ornaments" believer.  Give Cam time, and they will be open.  Also, from the article about King and McNutt, those sound like two hungry dudes.  They also know that vets will be coming.  I mean, two guys that really want to be big time players admit to competition incoming...I think they might just know more than us.

 

For all the anti-Gettleman folks out there, just try to remember he doesn't care about you.  He cares about building a winner.  If we take a step back this year as we put out more youth on the offense side (remember our D last year), then we do.  You can go be a fan of Tampa, Oakland, Denver or New England.  I mean they "won" the FA race in March so obviously they are better than we are in the FUTURE!  Got to give Dave a chance to execute his plan.  Now if we're still in shambles after the 2015 season, then we all might go Gettle-hunting with very good reason.  Let's see what the rest of the plan is before we break out the pitchforks.

[Jmac]

Short of taking a paycut and restructure,we had no choice with Smith.Now with Cam under the knife (we all hope he will be 100%,but who knows),smith would not have been happy at all.His cap hit next year and possibly his bitching and moaning about the offense sealed the deal Had to be done....sorry.

[MadHatter]

Just what we needed.....another thread about how Smitty was done wrong and Gettleman screwed up.

[Johnny Rockets]

Realistically no one can say whether cutting Steve Smith was a good or bad move yet. Not until the season has been played.

 

I'm not sure you can even judge it on next season alone. See where they are in 2-3 years. If they are a perennial playoff team and Superbowl contender, the release of Steve Smith will matter to no one and the same people that are so upset now will be demanding a Gettleman statue outside the stadium.