http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/sports/football/nfl/carolina_panthers/13431542.htm

Quote :

"Stephen Davis' season, and perhaps his career, is over. The Carolina Panthers said Saturday afternoon they're placing the veteran running back on the injured reserve list. Davis, 31, had come back from micro-fracture knee surgery last fall and opened this season as the starting running back. But Davis' role dwindled in recent weeks as the Panthers made DeShaun Foster the feature back. Davis had settled into a backup role, but he experienced knee swelling this week and the team decided it was time to end his season. Davis finished the year with 549 yards on 180 carries and 12 touchdowns. Davis' future with the team is cloudy for reasons beyond his healthy. Davis is set to count $3.85 million against next year's salary cap and is due a roster bonus of more than $1 million in March. The team could free up more than $2.5 million in salary cap space by releasing Davis."

12/17/2005 5:32:12 PM

he was pretty useless lately outside of the goaline

I just hope we got a decent backup for foster now

12/17/2005 5:36:23 PM

maybe thats why we cut gardner and signed kramer...granted he's a FB, but davis was practically a FB

12/17/2005 5:38:45 PM

Quote :

"I just hope we got a decent backup for foster now"

you have a decent backup...his name is foster

what you dont have is a starter-caliber back

12/17/2005 5:50:42 PM

12/17/2005 5:53:41 PM

12/17/2005 6:00:49 PM

12/17/2005 6:15:28 PM

What is Nick Goings?

12/17/2005 6:22:37 PM

cut that salary and sign/draft a WR

12/17/2005 7:17:22 PM

I agree, i think foster is the best backup tailback in the nfl
we need a dependable back like davis to fill his role

12/17/2005 7:51:44 PM

Im kinda hoping we don't re-sign Foster....

All depends on what kind of price he comes at... RB's are high now, but really no one has much need for an RB so maybe his open market value wouldn't be too high...

He's not durable enough to play 16 games or be an every down back....

He's gotten a little better about running in between the tackles, but he's just not worth $5 million a year to look pretty on the sidelines/injured reserve.

12/17/2005 7:55:08 PM

maybe stephen just came back too early,
maybe he's sitting out now so he can come back next year.
lets not cout him out too soon

12/17/2005 7:58:00 PM

Foster is better than a decent backup, and I think he can be worked into a starter.

Davis just has no vision now. It's like he refuses to make cuts, follow blockers, and find holes. And whenever he came in, the defense knew the run was coming and had no trouble stopping it. He didn't come in enough for him not to be considered a threat.

Maybe when he was healthy he was strong enough to break through defenders, but not anymore. I'm sure the Panthers are going to try him again next year, and I have hope for him, but little faith.

12/17/2005 8:16:17 PM

I agree, it just seemed like davis never had it this year maybe its age or that he came back too early. Either way all he did this year was plow right into defenders and it seemed to me like he wouldnt even try to break the tackle instead he just go down.

I think Foster can be the starting back, he just seemed to have a string of bad breaks these last couple years. I hope we can re-sign him if the price isnt too high

12/17/2005 8:45:47 PM

Dude, Stephen Davis is done.

We are definitely releasing him to clear that 2.5 million up.

We could POSSIBLY re-sign him at like the veterans minumum but I dont know... it's completely obvious he is through.... its funny how at the beginning of the season people were still thinking he was a quality back on here.

I like Foster as a backup, but he's not a 16 game everydown back and he shouldnt be paid like one...

We're gonna be cutting it close on cap issues the next few years and theres no reason to invest a fortune in a running back when there's 5 million of them in the league right now.

I say draft a RB in the first round that has less miles on him and then get a DT (need one badly) in the 2nd round.. Then we can sign an OL and a safety since Davis probably has to move to LB.

12/17/2005 8:56:41 PM

you're right there is no doubt they'll release him. 2.5 million is way too much for him. When he signed with the team in 03 i didnt expect him to be around more then 2-3 yrs.

12/17/2005 9:02:13 PM

he did say recently that he'd restructure and take less if it meant they'd resign foster as a starter with davis as a backup

12/17/2005 9:04:10 PM

^ i dont want that 1-2 combo.

Foster is unreliable as a #1 and Davis is not only unreliable but he also sucks.


We need to draft an RB, they should slip in the draft this year.... even if we go #1 DT, 2nd round RB I'd be happy... should be plenty of quality backs that late

12/17/2005 9:06:56 PM

foster is a really good back, what are you people talking about, davis should be released, that is all

12/17/2005 9:47:10 PM

at $5-$6 million/year he is average value IF he's healthy which he obviously won't be.

It's 50/50 that Foster never gets 300 carries in a single season.

Why on earth would you want to blow your load on him when RB's are a dime a dozen right now.

12/17/2005 10:44:37 PM

what about shelton. he reminds me a lot of a younger, healthier davis. i think he could step in and be a feature back at some point

12/18/2005 12:40:14 AM

He is very healthy with his broken foot

12/18/2005 1:01:25 AM

ok i didn't know about the broken foot. still though, it'll be healed next season anyway, so my point still stands

12/18/2005 1:17:29 AM

I really dont know much about Shelton... I think we were planning on grooming him to take on Stephen Davis's role...

i dunno if he's a 20 carry guy or not, never really seen him in action... seems awfully big tho

12/18/2005 1:18:25 AM

Quote :

"Why on earth would you want to blow your load on him when RB's are a dime a dozen right now."

that's my thought

12/18/2005 3:15:46 AM

why do people not think foster is good enough to be the #1 back?

is it bc of his ability to explode in the secondary?
or is it his ability to fight for tough yards with 2nd and 3rd efforts?

12/18/2005 3:28:57 AM

At 5-6 million a year Foster is average value.

Its the salary cap you cant just look at it straight up and say "he's good, we want him".

He's AVERAGE value at 5-6 million and thats all there is to it.

Now when you compound the fact that he isn't durable and we can't enter a season with him as our only RB then he becomes much more expendable.

If he'll take $3.5-4million then great lets give it a shot... if he wants $6 then its a mistake to re-sign him to a long term deal.

If we franchise him he'd cost us over $8mil a season and thats jsut flat out overpaying.

Draft a RB with our pick (~22-28th) or so that will only mkae ~1.5 - 2 million a season...... use the money we save to address real needs like O-line, safety, and DT.

12/18/2005 5:24:28 AM

fwiw, davis has already said that he will take a pay ciut if it means resigning foster next year. i hope davis comes back next year, he is all about what the panthers stand for and is a great all-around guy.

12/18/2005 7:32:34 AM

^ i like Stephen Davis a lot but that doesnt change the fact that he is a shitty runningback and that I throw up in my mouth everytime I see him in the backfield.

There isn't a paycut in the world large enough to waste a roster spot on that guy.

Maybe he can be a team ambassador or something.

[Edited on December 18, 2005 at 8:02 AM. Reason : a]

12/18/2005 8:02:36 AM

is it stupid of me to think we shouldn't resign foster, and we should trade up for the #1 pick and snatch up reggie bush?

12/18/2005 10:15:41 AM

i dont think we have the ability to trade up for the #1 without losing a LOT. I dont see us getting a lot worse and having great future high draft choices, so we couldn't trade those.

Plus, I think a lot of teams could offer more than we could to get the #1

12/18/2005 10:45:58 AM