Commanders deal Gardner to Carolina for future pick

[SteveOS]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?id=2118132

After months of waiting for a deal, patience finally paid off for the Washington Commanders on Wednesday evening, as ESPN.com has confirmed the team has agreed to a trade sending wide receiver Rod Gardner to the Carolina Panthers for a draft choice.

Rod Gardner
Wide Receiver
Washington Commanders
Profile

2004 SEASON STATISTICS
Rec Yds TD Avg Long YAC
51 650 5 12.7 51 143

Without the trade, Washington would have released Gardner, a former first-round choice (2001), but a player who no longer fit into coach Joe Gibbs' plans. The draft choice that the Commanders will receive, presumably in 2006, was not immediately known.

The deal is contingent upon Gardner passing a physical examination, and it is scheduled to be administered Thursday.

Washington had made its intentions with Gardner known early in the offseason, when it granted permission for agent Joel Segal to seek potential trade scenarios. The Commanders also excused Gardner from all their offseason workouts.

By dealing Gardner, the Commanders recoup his $2.097 million base salary, which was the highest on the team, and will use that savings to help sign its 2005 draft choices. It had been rumored for much of the offseason that Carolina, which was forced to release star wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad for cap considerations in February, was interested in adding Gardner.

A former Clemson star, Gardner, 27, started all 16 games in each of his four seasons in Washington, catching 227 passes for 2,997 yards and 22 touchdowns. His best season was in 2002, when he posted 71 receptions for 1,006 yards and eight touchdowns.

A big, physical receiver, and a prototype No. 2 wideout, Gardner has experienced some problems with inconsistency in the past, but was still regarded by several franchises as a quality player. Gardner became expendable in Washington when the Commanders traded for wide receiver Santana Moss and signed unrestricted free agents David Patten, Kevin Dyson and Jimmy Farris.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

 

[Danny White]

Good for them. That's one of the best moves their front office has made this year... not that they should have traded him... I'm just impressed they got anything in return for a guy they were going to release anyway.

 

[LaTunaNostra]

Good for them. That's one of the best moves their front office has made this year... not that they should have traded him... I'm just impressed they got anything in return for a guy they were going to release anyway.

Yup. I'm shocked they got more than pair of old cleats for him. And a fourth?

Well, to me that indicates the panic they feel about the loss of Muhsin Muhammad and worries about Smith's health more than any evaluation of inconsistent, under achieving Gardner

 

[JPM]

I would have been happy with a bag of rocks for him.

 

[Vertigo_17]

I still can't figure this out - why in the heck would you get rid of him? ~2.5 Million Salary for a still young, productive receiver.

That being said, I'm glad Wash is keeping up the stupid decisions.

 

[Eskimo]

I still can't figure this out - why in the heck would you get rid of him? ~2.5 Million Salary for a still young, productive receiver.

That being said, I'm glad Wash is keeping up the stupid decisions.

Washington is going with S Moss, the Pats WR (?Patten) and Jacobs as their top 3 WRs. That made Gardner #4 on the depth chart. When you combine that with the fact they need cap space to sign their two #1 picks, the choice was obvious. If they couldn't find a trade partner soon, they were going to have to outright release him.

To get anything for Gardner at this stage is a coup for the Commanders FO.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I like Gardner. I think he's going to fit there nicely. I also think it was a good move for the Panthers.

 

[Hoov]

Washington is going with S Moss, the Pats WR (?Patten) and Jacobs as their top 3 WRs. That made Gardner #4 on the depth chart. When you combine that with the fact they need cap space to sign their two #1 picks, the choice was obvious. If they couldn't find a trade partner soon, they were going to have to outright release him.

To get anything for Gardner at this stage is a coup for the Commanders FO.

Is that cause they were going to lose him anyway or cause you think he sucks ?

I thought he was a decent wr, i think carolina is going to be good this year.

 

[Eskimo]

Is that cause they were going to lose him anyway or cause you think he sucks ?

I thought he was a decent wr, i think carolina is going to be good this year.

I think Gardner is a good #2/3 WR - but with the moves the Skins made at WR he became expendable.

He was caught in a cap-crunch situation with the Skins.

I think he'll do okay with the Panthers. Maybe being closer to home will inspire him to fulfill his potential - which is high. This guy was a mid-first found pick just four years ago, has good size and speed and the penchant for making the acrobatic catch - needs to work on his route discipline and concentration.

 

[Wheat]

I'm just happy they got something for him, and he didn't land in our division.

Every time he had a great game, I would think "Did he just break through?"

and of course it was a fat "no" because the next 10 games he'd suck.

Really, its a conditional pick, and cap room now.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I think people are going to be surprised about Gardner. Gardner has been in the league for 4 years now. I believe that his career sufferd under Spurrier and now he's viewed as a failed pick. This guy caught 71 balls for over a 1000 yards and 8 TDs in his second year. The offense was basically conventional. When Spurrier went to his fun and gun offense, he production feel off the table. Last season, his numbers improved slightly but honestly, the Skinz offense was in ruins. I don't think you can really say it was him. I think this is a situation in which change is going to do some real good. Gardner is going to be used the way he should be in Carolina and I think he's going to pay real dividends to that team.