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Yes Jason Avant Was Cut For Criticizing Ron Rivera And Mike Shula ... But There Is A Bit More To It

Was Jason Avant released because he criticized Ron Rivera and Mike Shula's playcalling - and by extension coaching? Well, in the fundamental sense of "would Jason Avant still be on the team had he kept his mouth shut ... yes." Let us put this in context.

1. The Panthers had an offense that put up a lot of yards and points when Rob Chudzinski was offensive coordinator.

2. Since Rob Chudzinski left the Panthers have noticeably not done either.

3. In years 1 and 2, Rivera regularly did not appear to have his team ready to play, made the wrong (often "safe" or "scared" and sometimes flat out wrongheaded) decisions on game day, and further made bad decisions on his lineup and rotation. In year 3, with his job on the line, Rivera's risk-taking and gameday decisions were much better, as was his ability to get his team up to play and his rotation decisions, making people think (hope) that Rivera was maturing as a head coach. In year 4 things have gone back to being pretty much what they were, which leads people to think that years 1 and 2 were "the real Rivera" as opposed to year 3.

4. Several players have left the Panthers and performed better for their new teams than they did with the Panthers (Steve Smith and my favorite whipping boy Brandon LaFell come to mind, but there are others) and have not spoken highly of Rivera's regime (LaFell's comments contrasting Rivera to Belicheck were the most damaging, even if Steve Smith's words have gotten far more press). Oh yes, Captain Munnerlyn appears to be playing pretty well too.

5. This is more general but VERY IMPORTANT: this is Ron Rivera's team. In years 1-2, it was to a degree fair to point out that Rivera was hamstrung by the mess that Marty Hurney left. But since then, this team more or less has Rivera's stamp on it, with players either specifically desired by Rivera himself or acquired according to Rivera's wants and philosophies. Example A: do you really think that Gettleman, coming from the NFC East, wanted to sign a pair of safeties from the NFC South instead of former Giants and Cowboys? Example B: do you really think that Gettleman would have gone 2 years totally ignoring the OT position had Rivera made it known that improving that situation was as important as, say, getting all those elite players for the defensive front 7?

Add it all up and this mess of a season is nearly all on Rivera, and not merely because better playcalling and substitutions at critical junctures could have the Panthers 6-5 instead of 3-7-1 (see Cincinnati, Seattle and Atlanta) and having the Panthers simply ready to play could have made the Steelers, Ravens, Packers, Saints and Eagles blowouts appear more respectable. Or to put it another way: the Panthers' season pretty much unraveled when Rivera announced to the world after the Bengals' game that he was glad to come away with a tie! That is something that should never be said along the lines of Kerry Collins' much-maligned "it is not like we are going to compete for the championship every year" remark! That is something that you are NEVER supposed to say even when your team is very overmatched and TERRIBLE, and especially not when you are the defending NFC South champs with a winning record PLAYING ANDY DALTON AND THE BENGALS!

So yeah, the last thing that Rivera needs is another guy dumping coals, logs and kerosene on his hot seat, and Avant, who is a respected veteran and not a career shrinking violet like LaFell or a known hothead like Smith, makes it that much more damaging.

Yet, that is not all to the story. It is not as open and shut as "Avant criticized the coach and was let go." Here is the other angle: the Avant acquisition was a failure! (Actually, the Avant/Cotchery/Dickson acquisitions were failures). How, you ask?

Well please recall: Avant and Cotchery were acquired long before the Panthers knew that they were going to be able to take a WR with their 1st draft pick. And certainly before they knew that the pick would be a major talent like Kelvin Benjamin, and absolutely before they knew that Benjamin would put up rookie of the year numbers (52 catches, 768 yards, 8 TDs with 5 games to go ... he could very possibly surpass 1,000 yards and 10 TDs). Back then, the plan was for Cotchery and Avant to start, and to replace the production at WR of Smith and LaFell (with the hopes that a rookie or one of the young WRs still on the roster could replace Ginn).

Remember Gettleman's statements: we need to replace 12 receptions a game (or something like that). Basically, the idea was that if Cotchery could replace Smith's 745 yards and 4 TDs and Avant replace LaFell's 49 catches for 627 yards, the Panthers would be as good or better on offense. And yes, I was someone who agreed with it. I stated several times (though possibly using my previous handle or handles) that Avant and Cotchery would both out-produce LaFell, leaving some combination of Olsen, Dickson and whatever they got from the rookie/young WR(s) to replace Smith, with the result being a better offense than the Panthers had in 2013. And again, this was before the Panthers drafted Benjamin, whom I was sold on from the beginning.

Needless to say ... I was wrong. Avant had 21 catches for 201 yards, much less productive than Ted Ginn, let alone the LaFell that I bashed endlessly. Cotchery similarly (even if you account for his injuries) has 32 catches for 433 yards and 0 TDs, and would need to come on like gangbusters in the remaining games merely claim to have had a good a season as LaFell last year, let alone Smith.

So, Avant and Cotchery were failed acquisitions. Avant was also signed to a 1 year deal. (Cotchery, amazingly, was signed to a 5 year deal for $8 million with a $2.25 million signing bonus. Although practically the Panthers could release him as early as this offseason with virtually no cap consequences.) And Avant had no history with the organization or community. So why keep him around, especially when Philly Brown has put up nearly the same numbers (160 yards and 1 TD) with much less playing time?

Basically, the decision to sever ties with Avant (and before that Charles Godfrey) were easy because they were 2 players who did not work out for this season and were not going to be brought back anyway. However, all their release does - or should do - is bring still more attention to the coaching staff and front office that were responsible for these failed moves to begin with. And yes, the fact that so many failed moves have continued long after Hurney's departure makes it evident that Hurney wasn't the only one responsible for so many critical bad player evaluations and acquisitions. Indeed, how many former Bears and Chargers has Rivera brought in only to have them play terribly? Legedu Naanee, Seyi Ajirotutu and D.J. Moore off the top of my head. And if anyone had any doubt that Sione Fua was "Rivera's guy" on draft day, Rivera's many attempts to save Fua's career (including trying to turn him into an OT like Nate Chandler!) made it obvious.

So while Avant calling attention to Rivera's failures on gameday is plenty bad, do not forget that Avant's being on the roster to begin with is an even bigger indictment of Rivera's failed role in putting this terrible roster together in the first place. Maybe getting Avant out of town is better for Rivera's mental health today, but no one should ignore the implications of Rivera's job security tomorrow. The person who should remember this most urgently is Gettleman, who for two years has signed off on Rivera's personnel desires, and for that reason would follow Rivera out the door were Rivera's bad coaching - and possibly worse personnel moves - to linger past this season.

Gettleman has to decide that either Rivera is a good coach who is at times undermined by his bad personnel moves (a problem that bedeviled Mike Shanahan, Bill Parcells and Dan Reeves) or is both a bad head coach AND a bad personnel guy, and respond accordingly.

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