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| Beuerlein |
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Carolina Panthers officially entered
into a rebuilding mode Monday by waiving quarterback Steve
Beuerlein, one of their most popular and durable players.
Carolina coach George Seifert said he struggled with the move
and admitted Beuerlein's release had upset most of the team's front
office, including owner Jerry Richardson.
"Believe me, I know this is not a very popular decision,"
Seifert said. "Not in the community and not in this building.
Jerry had the utmost feeling for Steve."
The move saves the Panthers about $2 million, but leaves them
with three unproven quarterbacks on the roster.
Seifert said Jeff Lewis, who has yet to start a game in five
seasons, would go into training camp as the No. 1 quarterback and
would be challenged by Daymeune Craig and Matt Lytle. He said he
had to waive the 36-year-old Beuerlein to see if one of them can
emerge into Carolina's quarterback for the future.
"Steve can certainly still play, but for what period of time?"
Seifert said. "We have three young quarterbacks and we would like
to evaluate where we are with them. It's just time to put our feet
to the fire."
Although Beuerlein hasn't missed a game since taking over after
Kerry Collins quit the team four games into the 1999 season -- a
streak of 44 straight starts -- he's had eight operations in the
past 14 months.
Five of them came after his career season in 1999, when he
passed for an NFL-best 4,436 yards and 36 touchdowns in 1999 and
made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career.
His numbers were down last season -- he passed for 3,730 yards
and 19 touchdowns -- but he played behind an offensive line that
allowed a league-high 69 sacks.
Still, his release was not unexpected -- Seifert told him two
weeks ago that he was trying to trade him. But Seifert said there's
been little interest in the journeyman, and blamed his own waffling
in the decision for that.
By the time Seifert had convinced himself that Beuerlein had to
go, free agents Brad Johnson and Elvis Grbac had already signed
with other teams and the demand for a starting quarterback had
dwindled.
"Maybe I waited a little longer on it because of the
dynamics," he said. "It wasn't a popular move and maybe because
of that I may have blinked about it. Even though I had been
thinking about it since the end of the season, it was difficult to
pull the trigger."
It wasn't the first difficult decision Seifert has made this
month. He also released cornerback Eric Davis, fullback William
Floyd and linebacker Lee Woodall -- all of whom played on a Super
Bowl winner under Seifert in San Francisco.
The first three moves were salary cap-related, but Seifert said
Beuerlein's release was not.
Beuerlein's contract runs through 2005 and he was set to count
$4.985 million against the cap this year. He also was due a $1.2
million roster bonus if he was still with the team April 1.
By letting go of Beuerlein, Seifert said he could get playing
time for Lewis and the other young players.
Once the Panthers were eliminated from playoff contention last
season and Seifert wanted to play Lewis more, Beuerlein expressed
displeasure about losing playing time and made it clear he didn't
want his consecutive start streak to end that way.
"Jeff has not been in the line of fire," Seifert said. "He
got into two regular-season games and you don't know how hard that
was to do."
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