My Perspective

Here's the UFA's we did not retain, but who are unsigned:

Brayton
Moose
Hollis Thomas
Keydrick Vincent

Here's who we cut:

Delhomme - we wanted him gone, team improved without him

Kemo - did not play last year. Defense improved later in year without him

Diggs - James anderson played better, and dan connor is emerging. Diggs is no loss.

Lewis - His play declined in 2009. He was 32. We picked guys up ( young guys ) who played as well, and we retained them ( Tank Tyler, Louis Leonard ). Hayden is not on my happy list, but we retained him.

Peppers has been the only significant loss.

Charles Johnson and Everette Brown are at least as good as Brayton. And they're young and getting better. And Brayton is still there if we want him.

I think the big question marks are Louis Leonard and Tank Tyler. Leonard seems very capable.

I think the RFA's retained are the story:

Thomas Davis
Matt Moore
Richard Marshall
CJ Wilson ( he played well )
Tank tyler
Louis Leonard
JEff King
James Anderson
Kenny moore
Charly Martin
Jordan Senn
NIck Hayden.

I'm not sure what everyone ( in the media and twittersphere ) is so fucking worried about. We need a backup qb, we need DL depth, we need a WR, hopefully a starter.

 

Seems like a pretty level headed assessment but where's the fun in that?

 

I am cautiously optimistic about next season. A lot is riding on Moore. If he can continue to play like he did in his five starts we will be a playoff team. I am not sure how much we will miss Peppers. It is not out of reason to think that Brown could be a solid pass rusher from Pepper's old slot. I worry a little about our run D. Thomas stopped the bleeding last year but he does not appear to be coming back.

 

Moore signed his tender today

 

we need two quality WR's, one needs to be a starter, and a decent TE

and the rest we need depth... DL, QB, LB, etc

I think we know Kasay can't kick off or make the long FG's anymore, so that's a question mark

I'd like to know what's being addressed at KR/PR

And Gamble sucks

 

I get the feeling he'll still be out there if we need him

 

Bengals Graham

If they can't get him signed,He would be a former Panther that would look good Kicking in Carolina

 

Disgree that Anderson was better than Diggs. Diggs was nothing special but Anderson was borderline awful. I could be wrong but I don't think Connor has the speed to play OLB. He's got good instincts inside. I think we are in big need of help at OLB. Isn't Meeks defense predicated on great linebackers?

Losing Peppers is a huge loss. We were shit early last year when he was half-assing it out there. When he started playing, it made a huge difference in our defense. Of course, it also helped that Gamble played much better in the second half of the season, for whatever reason. I think we have to hope that Brown will really come on next year. Right now that's seems to be more of a dream than realism. But, I'm hoping. Johnson made some plays but still didn't look to be good enough to be a starter.

You said it, big question marks at DT. But the interior of the line played pretty well at the end of the season; yet, Lewis seemed to be a big part of it.

A lot is dependant on Moore. He spread it around better and made good decisions but his accuracy and arm strength is a concern to me. Again, hoping I'm wrong and the end of this last season wasn't a mirage.

Obviously we need a good WR to go along Smitty. But we've been able to win without one in the past so I don't know that it's so much a critical need as a wishful one. Smitty can still blow you up.

I'm concerned about the loss of Hoover. He was a big part of our run game and we were not nearly as good without him, sore back and all.

But like you, I'm optimistic. The defense is young and has good speed in the backfield. You have your key player at mlb and a bunch of hungry young players on the DL with some upside. Is Thomas Davis not going to be back this year? We've got studs at RB and Smitty and a very solid OL. Team should be capable of winning games ... unless Moore blows up. Hopefully, they can steal a stud in the 2nd round at linebacker, and last year's rook fullback really comes on this year. Oh, and I think we have an excellent set of coaches. Youth is wonderful! Now's their time to get up on the dance floor, take the lead and show what they can do. Hope they hit the weights hard in the off-season.

 

Matt Moore gives us hope for next year. I know we havent done shit in the FA market (& prob wont!) but Im excited to see what he can do next year!

Jake was great for us but even at this same time last year I personally couldnt see us going and winning in the playoffs with him.

 

He always blows big kicks.

They played different positions which kind fucks up evaluating them together, and Anderson played much better towards the end of the year but he was also in the more favorable position scheme-wise.