Quote:He wouldn't stay for the vet minimum and I don't think much more than that was in the offering. I wish he'd stayed too, but I understand Caldwell's position on a 31 year old linebacker coming off a season ending injury.

But, hindsight is the great equalizer in player personnel decisions for message board GMs. 

 

It's funny because some of the very people who use him as the example (Toss Eugene Monroe in there as well) were the same ones who wanted to replace Smith, AND Monroe.  They saw both players as upgrade opportunities....until they were gone.  Then suddenly they were a huge loss and an indictment of the GM being clueless.

 

No GM is perfect, but in both instances above, Caldwell made a decision based on what he knew at the time.  For Smith, it really was about a serious injury to a player on the wrong side of 30.  He didn't fit the model for what they had in mind for this rebuild, and he wasn't going to play for the contract they were willing to pay.

 

With Monroe, they drafted his replacement and knew he wasn't going to sign a deal to play RT once they moved Joeckel over there.  He was in the final year of his deal and had been pretty clear that he was going to test the market.  So, Caldwell found a suitor and made a deal. 

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