Maybe Someday

I respect you as a poster Jboyst62 but think you may be forgetting some details of Smith’s past transgressions. So to answer your question, he’s gotten into fist fights with teammates on at least 3 separate occasions. In 2002 he got in a fight with receiver Guilian Gary, who then left training camp and never played in the NFL. Later that same year during the regular season he broke the nose of another receiver, Anthony Bright. The report was Bright, who was a practice squad player, asked for a play to be re-shown during a film session and when the lights went out to do so, Smith attacked him. Bright spent 2 nights in the hospital. Smith was arrested and charged with assault and Bright later sued claiming it ended his career. During training camp in 2008 he got into a fight with Ken Lucas and broke his nose. I’m assuming this is who you referred to as the young guy except that Ken Lucas was going into his 8th season and was the team’s starting CB. So it’s not like this was some rookie UDFA trying to make a name for himself; this was just a guy working hard in camp. I found a few links for these below. I can kind of understand the fight with Lucas because fights happen in training camp all the time, just happens that a guy got his nose broken in this one. I can’t understand the one with Bright. What could possibly make a guy attack a teammate during film study? That being said, I wouldn’t put him in the same category as Martin/Incognito or even TO. The local 6:00 news last night hinted that the reason he got cut was because of the way he acts in the locker room. The new GM didn’t like the way he handled himself and didn’t see him as the kind of leader he wants his young team to follow. The GM’s view was that as long as Smith was in the locker room, it was keeping guys like Cam & Luke Kuechly from stepping up as team leaders and that’s the lead he wants the team to follow at this point. Take that for what it’s worth…I know that just because it’s on the local news doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fact…it could have been the reporters opinion. As I said in my earlier post, the fact that the Panthers cut him, probably their best player ever, and aren’t going to save very much against the salary cap by doing so tells me there was something else going on. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3516153 http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/panthers/2002-11-22-smith_x.htm

Word on the street down here in Charlotte is the Panthers want him gone because of the drama he brings to the locker room. His leadership style rubbed a lot of people in the locker room the wrong way. They were willing to put up with it when he was a true #1 but he's lost a step and at this point in his career is best suited to be a #3/slot receiver. The fact that the Panthers are willing to just cut arguably the best player in their franchise’s history when they really won’t save much against the cap speaks volumes to me. We also have to consider that Ted Ginn, Brandon LaFell and Dominik Hixon are all FAs this year, meaning that by cutting him they are likely losing their top 4 receivers from last year. This all leads me to believe that in the Panther’s minds, this is one of those additions by subtraction moves.

Hey Buftex – I know this is a little off topic but if you haven’t gotten too far into re-watching last season, I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on the rotation we had at safety over the course of the season? In some other threads there was the debate on who would take over for Byrd assuming he leaves. Some said (myself included) AW would slide over to FS and Searcy or Duke would take over at SS. Others stated that it would be a mistake to move AW from the SS spot since he played and excelled there all last season. I was under the impression that AW started the season at FS and Searcy started at SS with Leonard as the extra S/DB in nickel situations and then when Byrd came back, AW then shifted to SS and both Searcy & Leonard were the extra DB…but I can’t remember for sure. Sorry to the OP, I am not trying to hijack the thread…I’m just not sure how else to bring that up since Buftex has already begun reviewing the games. As for the topic of the thread, I couldn’t care less who Whitner signs with unless it’s with a team in the AFC East. Anyone that still has hard feelings towards him based on where he was drafted really needs to let it go. It’s not his fault; blame the FO that drafted him.

From what I saw of Thad, I believe he can be a middle to low end backup; the kind of guy that can fill in for a game or 2 and be ok but if you need him for any more than that, we’d be in trouble…although many of the backups in this league are in that boat. My biggest issue with Thad (besides the turnovers) was that once he got hit a few times, he stopped stepping into his throws. He’d do the old chuck and duck which really affected his accuracy. I know he took some wallops and got back up but standing tall in the pocket is also part of toughness. I personally want them to bring in a veteran backup who knows his role and can help EJ progress mentally. Then let Thad and Tuel fight for the #3 job.

With an apology after every punch landed. Angry Canadian #1: “Sorry aboot that, eh, didn’t mean to hit you so hard.” Angry Canadian #2: “Oh that’s ok you hoser, it was a good punch.”

5 years, $43.25 million, 23 million guaranteed, Eagles.

If true, I’d have to assume that our interest in Vick would be as a backup only, even if they tell him he’d have a chance to start. If that is the case, I’d be all for it. It would make the QB position as a whole better than it is right now. I look at it this way…I believe that when you have 3 really young QBs on the roster in EJ, Thad & Tuel, you should have a veteran QB to help them along. Who would you rather have as that veteran, Kolb or Vick? In my mind, it’s Vick all day. I say that not being aware of any better options that will be available when FA begins. Now if they want to bring Vick in to be the starter, then it makes absolutely no sense since he likely cannot make it through 16 games and we’d also be stunting EJ’s potential growth.

I’d be surprised if we signed Delmas unless it’s to a really low deal. I think that the staff believes that even if we were to lose Byrd (which I hope does not happen but expect that it will) that the replacement is already on the roster. Right now, I believe that Aaron Williams would take over for Byrd at FS and Searcy would be the SS with Duke & Meeks as the backups. In this scenario, Leonard would probably be in the mix as well unless both Duke & Meeks make huge strides in year 2. I just hope Delmas doesn’t sign some ridiculous contract since that will give Byrd’s camp more ammo to justify the price. I think we’d all agree that JB does deserve to make more than Delmas.

Here are some more http://www.mrpopculture.com/2000/46-2000/609-january-8-2000

Correct...and hopefully the PSL is still worth what you paid for it. Not able to search for a link but some Jets fans were losing a ton when they tried to sell their PSLs just a few years after buying them.

Agreed. That was his primary role last season and he was very effective at it.

Marvelous, thanks MClem!!! Vote changed to BPA. I’d still be fine with trading down for more picks as well.

You need a BPA choice. From the choices available, I voted for trading down. I think we finally have enough talent spread around this roster that we shouldn't target a certain position in the 1st round. We should take whatever player the Dougs feel is the best fit for this team regardless of position. Then in the 2nd and 3rd rounds we should target some of the needs like OL/G, LB, TE and DE. Trading down for more 2nd and/or 3rds while still taking the BPA in round 1 works for me as well.

I'm waiting for them to ditch the roman numerals all together...half of the younger generation have no idea what they mean.

That's what happens when you use spell check rather than an actual editor!!! Overall, pretty lame article. A "what if" for the draft that doesn't even cover all draft picks. I've seen many posts on TSW that were written much better than that was....in fact, that whole article just may have been taken from TSW posts.

Because the sample size is really only his rookie year and many first year players struggle. We have no way of knowing what kind of affect everything that was going on had on his play last year but I suspect it did have an impact. I think a lot of people here believe that when/if he gets his head right...aka no longer has to play alongside RI or someone like him...that he can become a serviceable player. We don’t want to see the Bills make no effort and then watch Martin go onto a successful career. I think it's at least worth a shot to see. There is a possibility that we can get a decent player, even if only for depth, without having to use a draft pick.

Anytime you can bring in talent at a position of need for a reasonable price, you do that and let the guy try to earn his spot. He is still young and was obviously talented enough to be a high 2nd round pick. There are plenty of former higher draft picks in this league that didn’t pan out with their 1st team for one reason or another but then went onto long successful NFL careers with other teams. Plus, many of the reports seem to indicate that the Dolphins locker room was extreme compared to most others. He’s going to get a 2nd chance to resume his career, why not be with us? He may relish the idea of being able to play the Phins twice a year.

Only way I see signing Decker is if we release Stevie.

You planning on getting arrested??? Or maybe being one of his babies mamas??

But Hughes is not an every down DE, he's a pass rush specialist and if he gets 10 sacks again next season will command a big contract so I agree that we need to extend him ASAP. We do need another true DE that can play both the run and the pass but I just can't see spending that kind of money for Hardy when we have so much invested in the d-line already. Actually, in a way he kind of did. They already had the pieces of that beast defense in place, most of which were obtained through great drafting, and it still only got them to a 5-3 start. Adding Dilfer as low end FA the previous offseason turned out to be huge. If you recall Tony Banks started the begining of the season and had a stretch where they went 5+ games without scoring a touchdown. They may not even make the playoffs if Dilfer didn't take over and help them win their last 7 games. The point I'm making is that spending a ton of money in FA on one side of the ball isn't going to get you to the promise land but good drafting and key, lower tier FA's that fill needs just may.

Darn, I was hoping this video was going to also include a barrel, a large inmate and Tommy’s tears. Heck of a hit though. That must have been before Brady was dubbed the golden boy or Nate would have been banned from the league for life.

True...because they've all proven they can get the job done. Is Rob Ryan even that good of a coach? He's been the DC of how many teams over the past few years?

Only other one that I know if was Justin Armour, our 4th rounder in 1995, #113. He caught 1 pass during the 1998 season for the Super Bowl Champion Broncos. We have drafted quite a few that lost the Super Bowl and at least one that lost a word Series (Brian Jordan, 7th round 1989. Lost 1999 WS with the Braves.)

Maybe so but he’s got what, 7 kids? So he sure does something else like a man!!!

Agree 100%, what a find this guy was. If Brooks doesn't step his game up next year, he'll be sitting in the unemployment line.