Finally, I’ve seen the face of reason. Jake Delhomme has been cut by the Carolina Panthers to allow Matt Moore to become their new starter.
I was beginning to think that Jake Delhomme was going haunt me well into my 40’s with his horrific play on a fat contract. Alas, the Panthers finally got smart!
In the opposite spirit, the Detroit Lions signed Nate Burleson to a 5-year deal to draw him away from Seattle. Personally, I’m not sure what the Lions plan on doing with Burleson, but I’ve got some ideas.
Oh, and the Chargers were dumb enough to trade Antonio Cromartie to the Jets for a 3rd Rounder. It almost seems unfair to let Cromartie play in the same defensive backfield as Darelle Revis, doesn’t it?
Let’s have some fun with this and play “Pretender or Contender” with the teams who are making early moves in free agency.
Delhomme Cut
The Panthers parted ways with an underperforming Jake Delhomme. However, they damaged their franchise in the process–they lost $12 million.
Not once did they think of the implications of giving him a HUGE extension even though he didn’t deserve it. They made the team think he was there to stay. Now he’s gone.
The offense MAY improve with Matt Moore at the helm, but some guys in that locker room are pissed. Can’t you imagine?
Now John Fox is going to have to work double-time to soothe bruised emotions. This is why the NFC South is so “up and down”. These teams can’t be consistently smart.
The Falcons always buy into players too late and the Bucs fired a Super Bowl-winner. The hurt feelings for the Panthers—combined with Julius Peppers jumping ship—will make this team a relative non-factor next season.
However, the offense will improve without Delhomme so there might be some hope. Maybe.
Contender…barely
Burleson to Lions
Why do you sign a receiver to a 5-year deal when Calvin Johnson is on your roster? I don’t know. Is Burleson supposed to be their new slot receiver? Would you give a slot receiver such a lengthy contract?
Is a possession receiver worth ANY guaranteed money? Nope. Does Jim Schwartz think he can do something with this? Yes. Is that stupid? Yes.
This is a desperate team looking to make a splash. They splashed on offense when their QB easily gets injured and isn’t quite ready yet.
By the way, they already have Calvin Johnson. Did I mention that?
Pretender making the wrong moves…
Cromartie to Jets
This IS totally unfair. Remember in school when you played Volleyball and you could call a “hinder” and do the play over? I bet the AFC East wants to call a “hinder”.
Hopefully Chargers fans are smart enough to want a “hinder” as well. Do we see why I’ve been riding A.J. Smith’s ass for months now?
He traded the emotional leader of their defense to the VERY team that booted them out of the playoffs. As my Dad says, “How stupid can you be?”.
Combine Cromartie’s exit with LDT leaving and you’ve got some seriously hurt feelings in San Diego. The two best players on that team—in my opinion—are gone and you gave a kick-returner—Darren Sproles—cash.
I don’t get it. In fact, I hope the Chargers learn their lesson by losing to the Jets in the playoffs again next season…if they can even get there!
P.S.—The Jets are going to the Super Bowl and will set every defensive record you can think of next season.
Jets–Super Bowl Lock
Chargers—Pretender in the middle of a serious mindf***
Colts re-sign Brackett
Bringing Gary Brackett back to the Colts looks nice on paper. The Colts need defense, but they ALREADY had Brackett.
This is a smokescreen designed to lull us into thinking they are improving their defense. They didn’t improve—they stayed the same! Freeney’s hurt and they’re trying to deflect attention.
I get it, but the offense has GOT to be pissed. How long can Peyton Manning—the ultimate “company-line guy”—say, “We’ll win games while you suck on defense.”?
How long before this entire offense is over it? I see a mutiny coming on. Someone on this team is going to explode with anger because they know the team isn’t improving.
Some of these guys know Peyton will eventually retire. Then what?
Desperate Contender (but only because of Peyton and the offense)
Eagles Re-sign Weaver at Fullback
Why do you sign a fullback to a record contract after you just cut Brian Westbrook? I don’t know. Did I mention that the Eagles are thinking of moving Donovan McNabb? Does THAT make sense? Nope.
Philly is about to go “Atlanta Falcons” when they had to purge the team of the “Run and Shoot”. This won’t be pretty, and will probably result in the “Night Court” being reinstated under the stadium.
Pretender in need of some brains
Saints Cut Grant
The Saints cut Charles Grant and saved $4 million. Good for them. They’ll say it’s to make room for a big-time free agent. That’s just stupid.
Why would you save $4 million in cutting Charles Grant and keep Reggie Bush for $8 million? *Hold your hands up and make the “scales” with me*
A kick-returner who had ONE good game OR a D Lineman who helped resurrect your pathetic franchise?
The Saints chose wrong.
Guys on that defense are probably not too happy either. The Saints may have made the right football decision, but they made the wrong emotional decision.
Contender (but this move is ill-advised from a morale perspective)
So…
Some of these teams think they can just sign and cut people all “willy-nilly” and that simply is not the case. Some greater thought needs to go into these moves.
Actually, I’d use the term “soul-searching”. I know the NFL is a business, but you can’t just mess with people’s emotions and expect fans to NOT react.
Also, you can’t expect players to stand silent. Sometimes teams create turmoil in their offseason locker rooms without the first thought.
A.J. Smith shipped Cromartie—to Smith, a malcontent—to the Jets for nothing. You don’t think the guys on the Chargers might be a little pissed?
Didn’t you think some of these guys had strong emotional connections to Cromartie? You couldn’t work things out with him? Even the Panthers were stupid to cut Jake Delhomme for this very reason.
I know I wanted Delhomme gone, but they made this team think he was sticking around when they threw all that money at him. Now he’s gone. I can’t say it enough. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
Football players may be rich. Some of them may even be over-privileged jerks, but they do have feelings. Teams start messing with those feelings and we’ve got issues people.
It stings. It just really stings sometimes…
