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

[NFLFangirl19]

Smitty was on record as saying he would not restructure. Whether that was a bottom line way of thinking? I don't know.

Gman has to trim the fat. 16mil for Smitty over the next two years is an awful lot of fat. Plus, to me, it makes more sense than trying to say he is a locker room distraction. Unless players were coming up to Rivera and Gman and complaining about Smitty, saying he would be a distraction is just an easy way out. And I never heard, or read anything that claims Smitty was a distraction. The possibility is there, what with his emotional state and all. But I have no proof of him being so.

As I said. To me, 16mil for the next two years is just too much money.

he was on record saying that what a year ago? & that was before he was on the hot seat. He was then on record less than 2 weeks ago saying he was willing to WHATEVER was within his power to remain a Panther. So taking an old interview & trying to apply it to a totally new set of circumstances doesn't make any sense. They should have just asked him THIS year.

The "Distraction" thing is about as crazy to me as it is to you. I find it absurd, tbh. But Billvoth was actually the 1st to report it before he was even cut & I then it leaked out later in the Charlotte Observer as something Gettleman said. No idea either way but it has been discussed on espn first take & in other articles about the situation so it's def out there. Just research it

[MHS831]

It doesn't matter now. When he tagged him he either needed to trade him or lock him up long term. You can't rent a player for 1 year (while letting other players walk) and expect that to be looked at as a smart move.

That would be the dumbest poo a GM could do. Weaken your team to rent a player for a year? That would be a Matt Millen type move.

That 13 million from Hardy could have been used to sign Mitchell, Ginn, and brought in Collins. That's at least 3 spots solidified on the team.

But now that he tagged Hardy you've made the decision he is more important to keep then improving other parts of the team. So you are forced to make sure he is on your team for the long term.

 

Maybe, but it has been done before.  A franchise tag for a year buys you time to work out a reasonable deal or develop his replacement. Cam needs a deal next year, and that will be the priority.  By franchising Hardy for a year, you see if he can duplicate his performance, you learn what they cap will be in 2015, and other contracts can perhaps be reworked or terminated where it was not smart to do it the year before.  It gets very complicated, and there are no answers that apply to every situation.

[CRA]

Gross was already contemplating retirement prior to Gettleman approaching him last season. Heard that from a friend of his.

Yes, I thought the retirement rumor was he would do 2013 and 2014 and retire. DG then pushed him into a deal that set the table for a year early than rumored from the Gross side?

[CRA]

Smitty was on record as saying he would not restructure. Whether that was a bottom line way of thinking? I don't know.

Gman has to trim the fat. 16mil for Smitty over the next two years is an awful lot of fat. Plus, to me, it makes more sense than trying to say he is a locker room distraction. Unless players were coming up to Rivera and Gman and complaining about Smitty, saying he would be a distraction is just an easy way out. And I never heard, or read anything that claims Smitty was a distraction. The possibility is there, what with his emotional state and all. But I have no proof of him being so.

As I said. To me, 16mil for the next two years is just too much money.

Should start the fat trimming with guys like Godfrey IMO. Then work down to the 89s if you still need to do it.

I don't mind parting with 89. Big picture it makes sense. But if you look at guys like Godfrey it makes it all a joke at this point (but I know that will get addressed)

[iamhubby1]

Right.  My point is that if Hardy was pissed enough, maybe he would sing a sensible long term contract that would free up some cap space.

That is the 13mil dollar question. Why has Hardy not been addressed?

 

 

A real football organization strives to field a competitive team.  We have a lot of work to do to get to that point based on our current roster.

Until I am sold on the fact that we are not striving to field a competitive team. I will continue to believe Gman is doing everything in his power to do so.

Just because we have holes now. Does not mean we plan to go to war with what we have. NO GM would do what some are saying Gman is doing. He is not, at this point, sacrificing our year. He is doing what he can, with what he has.

Just because us fans have questions. Does not automatically mean Gman doesn't have a plan.

[iamhubby1]

Should start the fat trimming with guys like Godfrey IMO. Then work down to the 89s if you still need to do it.

I don't mind parting with 89. Big picture it makes sense. But if you look at guys like Godfrey it makes it all a joke at this point (but I know that will get addressed)

I am under the impression that because Godfrey finished the year on IR. We have to wait until he is medically cleared to deal with him. Cut wise that is.

We probably could redo his contract. But that would mean he is still going to be here. Makes me think they have a plan to cut him. They just can't at the moment.

IMO, if the Smitty situation would have been handled better. Fewer folks would be up in arms about how this off-season has progressed. But folks are emotional right now. We are not signing players, so that makes it look worse.

Things will settle down. Things will actually get better. But until then. We have to go through the denial phase.

[LinvilleGorge]

Until I am sold on the fact that we are not striving to field a competitive team. I will continue to believe Gman is doing everything in his power to do so.

Just because we have holes now. Does not mean we plan to go to war with what we have. NO GM would do what some are saying Gman is doing. He is not, at this point, sacrificing our year. He is doing what he can, with what he has.

Just because us fans have questions. Does not automatically mean Gman doesn't have a plan.

 

I agree and I hope you're right.  I'm just wondering if the plan he had has backfired.  Did Gman think he had Nicks in his back pocket all along?  Did he really expect to lose guys like Mitchell, Ginn, and Captain?  I can't be convinced that he expected to lose all of those guys.  Was the market for them simply stronger than he anticipated?

[WOW!!]

Maybe, but it has been done before. A franchise tag for a year buys you time to work out a reasonable deal or develop his replacement. Cam needs a deal next year, and that will be the priority. By franchising Hardy for a year, you see if he can duplicate his performance, you learn what they cap will be in 2015, and other contracts can perhaps be reworked or terminated where it was not smart to do it the year before. It gets very complicated, and there are no answers that apply to every situation.

And it wasn't a good move before (see J Pep). What makes this worst is we had capable backups and we lost some talent because of the tagging.

DG's best off-season move so far is keeping Hardy. That move is tarnished if Hardy isn't locked up long-term.

13 million is to much money for a prove it deal.

[iamhubby1]

I agree and I hope you're right.  I'm just wondering if the plan he had has backfired.  Did Gman think he had Nicks in his back pocket all along?  Did he really expect to lose guys like Mitchell, Ginn, and Captain?  I can't be convinced that he expected to lose all of those guys.  Was the market for them simply stronger than he anticipated?

Personally, the first thing I would have done was work out a long term deal with Hardy to lower his cap hit this year. I would figure out what my money situation was right off the bat. Which would allow me to know exactly what I could pay for players like Mitchell, Ginn Jr., and Nicks. Maybe, just maybe, there would be enough money to sign a few of these guys so we don't have to sign lower tier guys.

I know the bargain basement worked last year. And it will probably get us by this year. But I agree. This off-season has be a doozy.

[LinvilleGorge]

Personally, the first thing I would have done was work out a long term deal with Hardy to lower his cap hit this year. I would figure out what my money situation was right off the bat. Which would allow me to know exactly what I could pay for players like Mitchell, Ginn Jr., and Nicks. Maybe, just maybe, there would be enough money to sign a few of these guys so we don't have to sign lower tier guys.

I know the bargain basement worked last year. And it will probably get us by this year. But I agree. This off-season has be a doozy.

 

I agree about Hardy.  I've speculated here before that I fear Gman may have misread Hardy and his team prior to hitting him with the franchise tag.  Based on nothing more than pure speculation, I fear that Gman may have thought they were very close to a long-term deal and thought he'd just use the tag to protect Hardy from hitting the open market while they hammered out the details.  But, once hit with the tag, Hardy and team took their ball and went home.  Hardy is just a different kind of cat.  Most guys want that long-term deal ASAP, but who knows what that guy is thinking.  He may legitimately think he's gonna get 30 sacks next year and become the highest paid defensive player in NFL history afterward.  If we don't get Hardy inked long-term and we've essentially ended up blowing up our roster to rent him for one more year, then that's a colossal fug up.

 

The big question that remains for me is why Godfrey is still on the roster.  IMO, he's always been a below average to average starting safety at best and the guy is carrying a $7.1M cap hit.  I don't think even his strongest supporters would argue that he's an elite NFL safety, especially coming off of an Achilles injury, but he's certainly being paid like one.

 

I really hope that finding those diamonds in the rough last year didn't go to Gman's head.  I just worry that he seems like a man operating on a lot of ego this offseason.  He may be in for a harsh dose of reality this year.

[iamhubby1]

I agree about Hardy.  I've speculated here before that I fear Gman may have misread Hardy and his team prior to hitting him with the franchise tag.  Based on nothing more than pure speculation, I fear that Gman may have thought they were very close to a long-term deal and thought he'd just use the tag to protect Hardy from hitting the open market while they hammered out the details.  But, once hit with the tag, Hardy and team took their ball and went home.  Hardy is just a different kind of cat.  Most guys want that long-term deal ASAP, but who knows what that guy is thinking.  He may legitimately think he's gonna get 30 sacks next year and become the highest paid defensive player in NFL history afterward.  If we don't get Hardy inked long-term and we've essentially ended up blowing up our roster to rent him for one more year, then that's a colossal fug up.

 

The big question that remains for me is why Godfrey is still on the roster.  IMO, he's always been a below average to average starting safety at best and the guy is carrying a $7.1M cap hit.  I don't think even his strongest supporters would argue that he's an elite NFL safety, especially coming off of an Achilles injury, but he's certainly being paid like one.

 

I really hope that finding those diamonds in the rough last year didn't go to Gman's head.  I just worry that he seems like a man operating on a lot of ego this offseason.  He may be in for a harsh dose of reality this year.

I guess it is welcome to the business of big time NFL Football. Where things are never as simple as you would hope.

[rayzor]

cutting kasey wasn't a bad move. trying to replace him with mare was.

there is a quote often attributed to miles davis that says "It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note – it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong."

i need to see what we do to reload the WR position before i can say that cutting smitty was a good or bad thing. he was the only WR we had under contract (and no, i don't take king and mcnutt as serious/legit options). now we have nothing and we've done nothing to change that. we have a GM that plays the BPA game and i think he might just mean BPA from any position, not just according to need. if we see a stud LB, for an extreme example, that is supposed to go in the top 5 and falls to us at 28, does he take the LB regardless of what talent is there at positions we have nothing?

[cgarsmoker]

Yes, we payed a lot of cap money Not to have Smitty play here next year.

Getts should have figured another way.

Smitty is an icon. Look at the Dodgers as an example, they gave Fernando Valenzuela when he was done and wouldn't get shoulder surgery generous contracts when the rest of baseball didn't.

Occasionally an icon comes along that the fans deserve to see.

Moreso, Smitty still has some left in the tank as Getts will see in 2014.

But wouldn't it have costed us even more to cut him next year? Releasing him now was the lesser of two evils. I hated to see him go but unless he accepted a pay cut, he was going to be a cap liability this year or next.