Panthers Cut Wahle and Morgan.

For people hoping their teams can pick up either a guard or a middle linebacker this offseason, contact your GMs. Carolina cut both Dan Morgan (MLB, 29) and Mike Wahle (G, 30) today. Both are former Pro Bowl selections, Morgan in 2004 and Wahle in 2005. The downside is that both have been fairly injury prone, Morgan far more than Wahle, as he played in only 59 of 112 possible games since his selection by Carolina in the first round of the 2001 draft. Wahle was mostly cut for salary cap space. I think this is, unfortunately for Carolina, part of a reconstruction that is going to take longer than they think. All the signs are there. You've got an injured and aging franchise QB, underperforming and probably under-talented offensive line (with the exception of Jordan Gross, and probably Ryan Kalil... although he still has to prove it), former stars hardly living up to their former greatness (Ken Lucas, Julius Peppers, Mike Rucker, Kris Jenkins, DeShawn Foster), a couple bad first round choices (Chris Gamble, Damione Lewis), and fairly pedestrian starters everywhere else. To top it all off, you have the disgruntled star player: Steve Smith. 

Do I think they're done for? No. There are plenty of bright spots. Players like Jon Beason, who was third in the league with tackles this year, and Thomas Davis (1rst round draft choice in 2005 NFL Draft, 217 career tackles) could form a solid LB core in a year or two. Their young FS Chris Harris needs more polish in pass protection but had 8 (!!!) forced fumbles this year. Young RB DeAngelo Williams also has a lot of potential. These are all players that will be around when Carolina gets itself back together again 2 or 3 seasons from now. The problem? Steve Smith won't, so unless Dwayne Jarrett steps up they're going to need more WR options. Also, even if Jake Delhomme manages to rehabilitate himself he is 33 and probably won't be around when Carolina can finally make a legitimate Super Bowl run. Should they think about a trade? Maybe. Would he have very much value? Probably not. Maybe just release him if he wants to win, or let him finish out in Carolina if that's what he wants. What's worse is Matt Moore is probably not the future and unless the Panthers plan on grooming their punter to be their next QB, that's something they need to address. I mean, there's a laundry list of other positions that will need to be filled: CB, TE, D-line.... But solving those problems isn't as interesting. They just need good drafts/perceptive free agent signings. CB isn't as big an issue. Ken Lucas and Gamble are serviceable, they are just clearly past their prime. 

As a final thought, and I'm just throwing this out there, The Browns need a DT like Kris Jenkins and could also use a WR opposite Braylon Edwards like Steve Smith (Jurevicius would play slot). I'm not saying this would ever happen in a million years... but trade those two for Derek Anderson? The possibility is pretty cool.