Panthers release Bene Benwikere

Ouch.

http://deadspin.com/julio-joness-excellence-made-a-man-lose-his-job-1787531308

:lol:

Panthers secondary is such ass. Can't wait for Russ to drop bombs on them later this year

Was there a bigger mistake this offseason than letting Norman walk? That DB group was already extremely thin.

Well you have to go cheap somewhere.

Looks like Carolina has made the decision to skimp on the secondary and hope that their DL can provide so much disruption that teams can't ever get the ball out.

This is a bigger mistake. At least you can justify letting Norman go by reallocating that massive contract to other pro bowl caliber players entering their 2nd deals.

Letting Benwikere go mid season for what will be no cap relief and not having any real talent behind him to emerge -- is crazy. Even if they did have someone better on the bench -- why cut him? They get no value in doing this other than to send a really crazy message to the team.

Even Seattle kept Bailey on the team despite him on his way to eating his way off the team and tweeting there are 31 other places he'd rather be.

To me, this seems insane considering the division they play in. Probably will be the albatross across Gettleman's neck come end of next year.

I agree that you have to cut pay somewhere, i just think in today's NFL that wasn't the place to do it. Norman was top 3 at his position last season. Letting a top 3 CB walk is unjustifiable, IMO. Along the lines of letting a top 3 pass rusher walk. You find the money. Especially when your depth behind him is Bene Benwikere.

GM'ing 101 you do not let top 5 players at their position walk, because they are so hard to replace. You sacrifice the middle class of your roster if need be. The funny thing is the Panthers have the cap space, Gettleman got offended in negotiations, and thought his genius could overcome it. This a Baalke, Tim Ruskell type move, you don't mess around with elite talent. You either extend, or franchise tag them.

I remember people saying the Seahawks couldn't keep Kam, Earl, and Sherm, but Seattle bit the bullet, and sacrificed some of their middle class to keep their elite players. An aging Chris Clemons, and Red Bryant were cut to help handle Sherm's, and Earl's massive contract bumps. (Mainly Sherm's going from a 5th rd rookie contract to #1 Corner money.)

Fade":6t2v5alh said:

GM'ing 101 you do not let top 5 players at their position walk, because they are so hard to replace. You sacrifice the middle class of your roster if need be. The funny thing is the Panthers have the cap space, Gettleman got offended in negotiations, and thought his genius could overcome it. This a Baalke, Tim Ruskell type move, you don't mess around with elite talent. You either extend, or franchise tag them.

I remember people saying the Seahawks couldn't keep Kam, Earl, and Sherm, but Seattle bit the bullet, and sacrificed some of their middle class to keep their elite players. An aging Chris Clemons, and Red Bryant were cut to help handle Sherm's, and Earl's massive contract bumps. (Mainly Sherm's going from a 5th rd rookie contract to #1 Corner money.)

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Exactly. You swallow your medicine with the likes of Clem, Red, Thurmond and Breno etc; even with upper middle class types like Golden and Maxwell. You don't do that with irreplaceable pieces like Norman.

I notice ctrcat hasn't shown his face here since Ryan and Jones made the Kitties look like peewee leaguers. I wonder if he hasn't been able to remove his jaw from the crater it created when it hit the floor on Sunday.

Is this someone that can help our CB depth? We're really thin behind our top three of Sherman, Shead, and Lane.

Maulbert":3o60u2a4 said:

I notice ctrcat hasn't shown his face here since Ryan and Jones made the Kitties look like peewee leaguers. I wonder if he hasn't been able to remove his jaw from the crater it created when it hit the floor on Sunday.

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Wrong. I commented in the Arizona or Carolina thread. The Falcons beat the Panthers in Atlanta in their first ever game as a franchise in heartbreaking fashion, in 1996 when the Panthers went to the NFCCG, in 2003 when the Panthers went to the Super Bowl, in 2004 when the Panthers were the hottest team in the league, in 2008 when the Panthers were the #2 seed, and of course in 2015 when the Panthers were 15-1. That doesn't even include the most maddening one of all, 2012. I hate it but reality is that dome was a house of horrors for the Panthers, hopefully in the past since they are moving next year.

I yawned and took a nap on Sunday late afternoon. The Panthers have some issues, multiple in fact, and, again, hearing Gettleman say "a lot" can be done with Norman's $14 million only to find out that "a lot" most likely means "can roll over to next year" is frustrating in the short term. But we'll see. The trade deadline is still over three weeks away, and even if no move is made, I still think the Panthers win the South when all is said and done.

If Gettleman was going to cut a member of the 2014 draft class in the secondary, I would have preferred Boston. Benwikere was fantastic at the end of 2014, only giving up the one handed Kearse catch in the playoffs where both teams thought the other pushed off. He had a major injury at the end of last year, and lost a step/was gassed this year. I was shocked, but was also shocked when Sanchez didn't make the final 53. Now he gets his turn.

Trrrroy":38vdp357 said:

Was there a bigger mistake this offseason than letting Norman walk? That DB group was already extremely thin.

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That get like one of those moves when the GM's ego worked against him. He thought he could easily find replacements and talked about the need for the cap space. Their season is in the tank now.