Gantt Article

Panthers secondary takes another hit


By Darin Gantt The Herald
(Published March 10‚ 2004)


CHARLOTTE -- The Carolina Panthers lost their fourth starter of the offseason Tuesday night, and they may have lost some of the good will they've built at the same time.
Free agent safety Deon Grant jumped ship for Jacksonville, accepting a three-year contract worth around $7.2 million, with a $3.1 million signing bonus. That part isn't necessarily surprising, since Grant had a close relationship with Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio stemming from Del Rio's one year here as defensive coordinator.

The stunning part was the harsh feelings the move caused for Grant, who has said for weeks he wanted to remain with the team that drafted him and nursed him back to health after he suffered a broken hip his rookie season.

Grant sounded emotional about leaving the Panthers, especially after calling teammates Mike Minter, Brentson Buckner and Kris Jenkins to deliver the news.

"It does make me sad," Grant said. "I didn't think they'd let it break up like that after everything we've been through."

Sources close to the situation said the Panthers might have offered a longer term contract, but never offered more than $1.5 million in signing bonus. The Panthers don't comment on negotiations.

They're faced with replacing half the starting secondary from last year's defense. Cornerback Reggie Howard signed with Miami last week.

"It's unfortunate, it's not what we wanted," Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said. "But we knew that in this system, there's change every year. We would have liked to have had Deon back, as well as Reggie, but it didn't work out that way."

While Grant had all the intangible reasons for staying, his decision came down to money. He said that was tough to talk about with his old friends here.

"They didn't want to hear it, but they understood," Grant said. "They know I've got a family I've got to take care of."

The bar for free safety deals was set with the six-year, $17.5 million pact Pro Bowler Jerome Woods signed with Kansas City. That deal included a $3.5 million signing bonus, and another $1.5 million in guaranteed money later in the deal. Since Grant hasn't approached Pro Bowl status in his four seasons, he didn't figure to hit that kind of jackpot, but he did expect a more competitive offer from Carolina.

That had him openly wondering why he held out so long waiting for the Panthers to offer more. He visited Cleveland and talked to Washington, but prior to Tuesday had always said his preference was to stay.

"With all the good things I said and felt about the organization, this made me feel a little differently," Grant said. "It's not like I was asking for a whole boo-koo of money to stay there, and they know that.

"The whole time, I made it clear I wanted to come back, but they never made it seem like they wanted me to stay. I guess they didn't think I was that good a player. So I guess I'll go down to Jacksonville and prove them wrong."

The team's second-round pick out of Tennessee in 2000, Grant missed his entire rookie year after breaking and dislocating his hip in a freakish, non-contact fall during a training camp practice.

Grant had 11 interceptions in the three years he played for Carolina, showing flashes of great play-making ability at times. There were also periods of maddening inconsistency, which was likely part of the reason the Panthers never matched Jacksonville's offer. It was Del Rio himself who benched Grant in his adopted hometown of Atlanta two years ago, after two weeks of big mistakes in coverage.

But Grant felt like he acquitted himself this year.

"Since we had the same safety when we went 1-15 and when we went to the Super Bowl, I showed I wasn't the problem," he said.

Before Grant's departure, the Panthers also saw Howard and guard Jeno James sign lucrative deals with Miami, and guard Kevin Donnalley announced his retirement. They also released cornerback Terry Cousin, who started during the regular season but lost that job to rookie Ricky Manning Jr. in the playoffs.

The depth chart at safety includes Minter, the starting strong safety, and not much else. Last year's fourth-round pick, Colin Branch, has shown promise, but has no significant experience. Veteran Damien Richardson has started, but is coming back from a serious knee injury. The Panthers also have restricted free agents Travares Tillman and Jarrod Cooper on the roster.

The market for safeties is equally thin, and Grant was the head of the free agent class.

Other free agent possibilities include Pittsburgh's Mike Logan, Oakland's Anthony Dorsett, Cincinnati's Mark Roman, Atlanta's Keion Carpenter and Washington's David Terrell.

Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said no visits were lined up, and that the team was waiting to hear Grant's decision before implementing any contingency plans.

NOTES: Cornerback Artrell Hawkins visited the Panthers Tuesday, but left without an offer. He's also being pursued by Pittsburgh.

(n) The Panthers took steps to keep one of their own Tuesday, nearing an agreement with long snapper Jason Kyle. While not a glamorous position, every team needs one, and a run on quality snappers last week increased the urgency to get a deal done with Kyle, who came here in 2001 from San Francisco.

 

>>Panthers general manager Marty Hurney said no visits were lined up, and that the team was waiting to hear Grant's decision before implementing any contingency plans.

Doesn't exactly scream of "fuck him, we don't need him anyway."

We just lowballed him. Plain and simple. We had no other plan. That's what it looks like, anyway

 

That's the problem with free agency in general. Once some asswipe agent sets "the bar" by getting a lucky deal, all other athletes' expectations are based upon what other deals have been done rather than the history of their own performance. Is Deon worthy of a 3.5M bonus, 2.5M per year deal? NO! Is he a good safety? YES. Seriously, he may be the second best player on the Panthers secondary, but he isn't the second best safety in the league.

 

I totally agree. The bar was set unrealistically high for free agent safetys this year and Deon expected more than I feel he was worth. Was the Panthers offer low? Probably, but I also feel like Miami and the Jags way over paid for Grant and Howard

 

Way overpaid for Grant? He is only making 2.4 million per year. That is a fair price. Not way overpaid. We lowballed his ass. Plain and simple. If we would have offered him that, he would have stayed. I don't believe in overpaying. Jeno James and Reggie Howard to Miami. Cya. :xyzwave: That was overpaid.

 

We didn't want him.

 

Obviously not. I don't think Grant was a probowl Safety, but I don't see much better than him in FA. Maybe they are going to draft one? Then I guess we won't be drafting the best available player. It will be a need based draft. Which, leads to reaching and less value. A viscious circle.

 

and honestly, I am not sad to see him gone. He was on the too many highlite films getting burned. We will take a step back this year but drafting a CB that can cover will ease my worries.

 

But he doesn't play for the Panthers anymore! he obviously sucks now.

 

No he doesn't suck for not playing with us, the Panthers just chose not to overpay for a nice but not special safety