The Plan - dammit

not sure if thats the one larry, but basically its the jist. it seems like there were a few articles about him where he was quoted, but hell, i could be remembering incorrectly. thanks for the link.

 

Mags - I disagree that we wanted him that badly.

Smitty, Rucker, and Jenks had agents. Those agents weren't stupid. We made them offers before they hit the market and got them.

We never talked to Grant. After the Superbowl he said as much in interviews on News 14. He said we weren't interested. If we really valued him, the bomus would have been higher, the talks would have started in September, we'd have nailed him. But we didn't.

And I'm not bashing him after the fact. I wanted him. I'm going by what Grant himself said. And Grant said, before free agency and after the Super Bowl, that he didn;t tthink we wanted him around. That we hadn't contacted his agent, and that his agent had contacted us. So you can call that lowballing, but I think there was more to it.

Bonus was a big part of not wanting him. Look at the mediocre players we've signed - Lamar Smith, Terry Cousin - we signed them all with low bonuses and then cut them. Grant would be on that list, I think. Grant never impressed his coaches. As much as these guys KNEW we needed to retool the secondary, Grant should have been a top priority - but he wasn't. I know on this board he was. I know that to me he was.

That said, if Grant will ever flourish, I think he's got a shot with Del Rio.

 

i think that's it.

 

I wanted him to stay, but it's obvious that the coaches didn't. I think they ultimately want a better player at FS. What I am worried about is that they are willing to risk having a not-so-good player at FS this year. I know you can't fix every weak spot at once,but Grant is better than what we got. I hope whoever plays FS this year can step up and not cost us too much in games. I would be happy with that. They don't have to be a playmaker,because Grant really wasn't that. But, he didn't give up alot of points either.

 

After one game this year I remember Fox saying some like that's the kind of play I expect from our starting safety (or DB or something), referring to Grant. Meaning to me that up until then he had been disappointed.
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andrea de adamich

 

>>Mags - I disagree that we wanted him that badly.

Naturally. It allows the justification of him leaving.

>>Smitty, Rucker, and Jenks had agents. Those agents weren't stupid.

The question was whether or not we'd lowballed people, and we have.


>>We never talked to Grant.

We did before the season, actually. We talked to him, and oddly enough, I think James.

>>After the Superbowl he said as much in interviews on News 14. He said we weren't interested.

True, they weren't "together" on price. One would still say that Muhammad did the same thing four years ago. Players and agents do that shit all the time. Smith bitched after his first pro game, I believe, that he needed a raise. If not then, it was certianly once he went to Hawaii.

>> If we really valued him, the bomus would have been higher, the talks would have started in September, we'd have nailed him. But we didn't.


Again, so we really didn't value anyone?

And I'm not bashing him after the fact. I wanted him. I'm going by what Grant himself said. And Grant said, before free agency and after the Super Bowl, that he didn;t tthink we wanted him around. That we hadn't contacted his agent, and that his agent had contacted us. So you can call that lowballing, but I think there was more to it.

>>Grant would be on that list (Lamar Smith, Terry Cousin), I think. Grant never impressed his coaches.

Wow. That's certainly not somewhere at all that I agree - Grant's performance this year pretty much mirrored Minter, and if you give him a step down from that, that's damn sure still not "one year rental".

I also don't agree that we put defensive back at a top priority. We made the obvious need pick. Besides that, and considering that it's more a future player we're getting, I can't say that the team even put there what it did into DL, much less LB.

 

The skins game, when he deflected a pass on 4th and something to seal the win.

That's the only big play I remember grant making, all year. But it was also the play that made me feel like he was coming around, and we would make efforts to keep him.

It'd be interesting to know who opposing OC's considered our weak spot in the secondary. Apparently Howard was highly thought of, what with his contract.

 

What you call lowballing, I call setting a value and sticking to it.

Negotiation 101. If you are afraid to walk away from the table, you lose.

 

I love reading all the posts pimping Grant and how horrible the Panthers are for not keeping him. Bottom line, when you get right down to it, is that the Panthers offered the man what they were willing to pay and didn't go more than what they thought he was worth. Good for them. Criticize it all you want, but if the Panthers truly wanted to keep him, they would have gone the extra mile to get it done - just like they did for their other "core" players thus far. He's gone. Get over it.

 

You hate to lose a young guy that you drafted when he is coming off of a good year but prior to last season he never really did a lot. He was still losing games in 2002 ala Dallas. I liken him to Jeno James. He has one big year and the gets a big contract. I am kinda glad we did not give either of those guys big money deals.