<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Panthers place transition tag on FosterBy John ClaytonESPN.comFearing that they would lose him to a higher bidder, the Carolina Panthers preserved the chance of keeping DeShaun Foster by placing the transition tag on him Thursday.He was one of six players who were either franchised or transitioned, but he was the only one out of a great group of running backs. Shaun Alexander, Edgerrin James, Jamal Lewis and Ahman Green weren't franchised or transitioned and are available as free agents. The Panthers feared they would not be able to keep Foster in an option market, so they have a right to match any offer Foster receives.If the Panthers choose not to match any offer Foster might receive, they would not receive any compensation if Foster signed elsewhere.Carolina has until March 17 to reach a long-term deal with Foster. If no deal is reached at that point, they will have to wait until July before beginning negotiations with Foster again.David Dunn, Foster's agent, was not immediately available for comment.The transition number for a running back is $5.153 million, and the Panthers were willing to risk that to keep their options open for Foster. They are tight against the cap, particularly if there is no collective bargaining extension, but re-signing Foster was one of their main priorities.Foster led the Panthers this year with 879 yards and two touchdowns on 205 attempts in 2005 and ranked second on the team with 34 catches for 372 yards and one touchdown. He had hit his stride during the playoffs, but broke his leg in the second half of Carolina's win over Chicago and missed the NFC championship.A second-round draft choice from UCLA in 2002, he has played in 33 games with 10 starts in four NFL seasons and has rushed for 1,563 yards and four touchdowns on 377 carries.The Panthers will likely release running back Stephen Davis in the coming weeks. Davis had major knee surgery last year and lost his starting job to Foster.John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.</div> http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2342488No more Shaun Alexander rumors.
That's what I thought they would do, obviously with the cap situation..going after Alexander or Edge would just be too costly. So the best option was trying to retain Foster.
I like Deshaun Foster, but they guy needs to prove he can be the type of runningback that gets 300 carries a season before he should get that kind of money IMO.
Foster should be kept by any means necessary. On the other hand, I was thinking that the Panthers should trade SDavis to the Colts for EJames.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (HnM @ Feb 26 2006, 01:19 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Foster should be kept by any means necessary. On the other hand, I was thinking that the Panthers should trade SDavis to the Colts for EJames.</div>1) Stephen Davis is most likely going to retire, nobody is going to trade for him.2) Edgerrin James cant be traded because trades arent allowed again until Free Agency opens up and by that time his contract will have expired and he would be a Free Agent.3) It wouldnt be a fair trade anyway...Edgerrin James for Stephen Davis? Cmon.
Yes, but Stephen Davis is great when he's healthy. Davis should only retire because he always gets injured. Other than that, he has no reason to retire.
