Clarett Released

[ZONACAT]

Nice waste of a third round draftpick Mike! :p He never even got a carry in the Broncos first three pre-season games.

LAMO @ Poor Clarett, Welcome to the NFL (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2145372)

[Morgan]

Practice Squad? I can't believe the Broncos would waste a pick like that.

[bhanson]

Maybe the 40 times are a good indicator after all.

[cactuscat62]

Just what exactly happened to this kid? After his freshman year he was sitting on top of the world. Was he flunking out of school? I know he got in some trouble with NCAA for taking some money, but jeez. I can't believe this kid just screwed up all the way around. Clarett should be the posterboy for what every student-athlete should aspire not to be. Who were the people looking out for his best interests? The whole thing is pretty tragic if you ask me.

[Itamicbomb]

The thing is, it wasn't like Clarett had such an amazing freshman year that he really should have been considering going pro. His stats were good, not great (Peterson, Hart, and Jamario Thomas all put up better freshman numbers last year), and he showed signs of being fragile despite his size. He just felt like Ohio State left him out to dry when the allegations of impropriety came around and became set against ever playing for them again. Why the Broncos wasted a third rounder on him, I'll never know, but I do know that I have absolutely no sympathy for such a selfish, stupid fool.

[WildcatPaulG]

Someone in our fantasy draft took him in the 16th round. Oops.

[Footballjunkie]

Maybe the 40 times are a good indicator after all.Maurice Clarett ran a 4.8 and Clarence Farmer ran a 4.71. Clarett improved his time after working with trainers.
At least Clarence got looks in two NFL training camps and a few days with an NFL Europe team.
Sometimes, when you are young, it takes a while to get your act togeather. I think that they both have talent but could not put it all togeather.

I wish them both well at whatever they are trying to do in life.

[JMarkJohns]

And didn't Clarrett turn down a guatanteed contract of like 3/4 years at 400K a season? He turned it down in favor of an incentive-based contract.

WOW!

[Footballjunkie]

And didn't Clarrett turn down a guatanteed contract of like 3/4 years at 400K a season? He turned it down in favor of an incentive-based contract.

WOW!To me, what's weird about the whole Clarrett situation is that I contacted an official/relative who works for the Broncos and told them about Clarence Famer, before his draft, and that he wouldn't be a bad guy to sign, and that Wackovic was the problem, as evidenced by his being fired at the time. The official/relative said that, at that time, with a scouting official in his office, that they did not have time for problems.:confused:

I still have to talk to my relative about the Clarrett pick.

[bleedzgreen]

IMO its a good example why kids shouldnt leave college early as he did to play NFL.

He'll still get looks and has potential obviously...but he needs to be healthy too.

[catgrad97]

Brilliant--ANY casual NFL fan could have told him that! :angry:

Will the Cardinals take a chance on him now that J.R. Redmond is gone for the season?

Shanahan admits to making mistake on Clarett
DENVER (AP) - The reason running back Maurice Clarett isn't with the Denver Broncos anymore is pretty simple.

"We have four guys I believe can play," coach Mike Shanahan said. And Clarett never made his way into that mix.

The Broncos returned to practice Monday and Shanahan answered questions about why he decided to waive Clarett, the surprise third-round draft choice who was slowed by a groin injury and never made any impact in Denver's training camp.

That Clarett was a bust isn't a shock to most around the league. He was out of football for two years and performed badly at the NFL scouting combine - and that's to say nothing of the troubles he endured off the field.

In Denver, the pick is being viewed as a bad example of hubris for Shanahan, "the Mastermind," who has turned lower picks - like Terrell Davis, Rueben Droughns and Mike Anderson - into stars and probably thought he could do the same, even with a prospect as checkered as Clarett.

To his credit, Shanahan didn't linger on this mistake, deciding to cut ties quickly instead of forcing something to work. And the coach conceded he did err by picking the star of Ohio State's 2002 national championship.

"I think any time you cut somebody in the third round, you feel like you made a mistake," Shanahan said. "When you do that, you make a mistake and you go on. At least you evaluate it. That's not to say that Maurice doesn't have a chance to go to another football team and make that team and contribute. But in a true evaluation of your own organization, when you use a third-round draft choice and he does not make your team, obviously it's not good."

The Broncos had not officially announced their cuts as of Monday afternoon. When Clarett does officially land on waivers, teams will have 24 hours to claim him and the incentive-laden contract he signed with Denver.

More likely is that Clarett will become a free agent, free to negotiate a new deal with anyone.

"I'm not real confident of anything at this point," Clarett's agent, Steve Feldman said Sunday. "We'll see what happens now."

Speaking to FOX GameTime Live on FOX Sports Radio Monday night, Feldman said Clarett will have to deal with adversity again.

"It almost seems that all the adversity he's suffered, has prepared him for what has happened," Feldman said. "He has been beaten down in the past and has been able to rise through the ashes. Hopefully he can do it again. He really thinks he can get through this and move on."

Feldman added it's not likey Clarett will be on another team's roster come opening day.

He also broke down the contract Clarett signed with Denver.

"We negotiated a $411,000 signing bonus on a straight three-year deal," he said on GameTime Live. "The problem is that Maurice and his people thought that the base salary of $230,000, $310,000 and $380,000 lacked any incentives for him...In Denver, with that system, a young running back will go off and rush for thousands of yards but, won't be rewarded by his third year.

"Their position was they would be willing to give up the signing bonus in exchange for incentives, if he rushed for 1,000-plus yards. Since four out of the last five years, a running back in Denver as the backup has done that. He thought he could do it too."

Feldman told GameTime Live that he's hoping a team might take a chance with Clarett as the season progresses.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed," he said. "It would hard-pressed to put him on an active roster right now because he hasn't been able to prove himself (because of the injury). At this point teams are bringing in guys that can perform. He could be put on a practice squad. Teams who are desperate for a running back may come calling."

Clarett missed about two weeks of practice with a nagging groin injury that prevented him from making the trip to Houston, where the Broncos practiced three days and played the Texans in their preseason opener.

When the Broncos returned from the trip, Shanahan was no longer in the mood to defend the player he took a chance on, saying instead that he couldn't evaluate Clarett if he wasn't at practice.

Last week, Shanahan said he planned on getting Clarett some playing time Friday in Denver's preseason finale against Arizona. But when Quentin Griffin made his preseason debut last Saturday against the Colts and showed his surgically repaired knee was healthy, the Broncos knew they had their foursome at tailback: Griffin, Ron Dayne, Tatum Bell and Mike Anderson.

Meanwhile, Cecil Sapp can play tailback and fullback and will likely earn a roster spot.

"I felt so good about the running backs and what they've done," Shanahan said. "I wasn't going to give him playing time and take away from our other four."

Second-round draft pick Darrent Williams said Clarett got down about his lack of reps during practices.

"I tried to give him encouragement. At times he was down because he was used to starting," Williams said.

Hardly anyone thought he had a chance to start for the Broncos. That he never played a down, not even in the preseason, came as a surprise.

"We've made mistakes before," Shanahan said. "We'll make mistakes in the future. Just because we draft somebody in the third round doesn't mean they're automatically going to be on our football team. We've cut our first-rounders, second-rounders before. You don't feel very good about those scenarios, but they do happen."

[Chicat]

Was Clarett a straight up third round pick or was he taken with a supplemental pick at the end of the third round?

[JMarkJohns]

Wasn't he the final pick in the third round? I'm not sure if this helps.

[BibbysTowelDude]

Yeah Maurice was selected with a Compensatory Selection..

Maurice's downfall was coming into camp overweight and out of shape... He also couldn't catch a pass to save his life.. Clarence was in shape and could catch out of the backfield, I think Clarence's downfall was going into camps with teams that had 3 good NFL level backs in front of him...

[Itamicbomb]

Shanahan was not pleased about essentially burning a third rounder, but he said that he was interested in seeing how he would do and didn't have another pick until the late 5th round, and several teams would have probably taken him before he got to the Broncos. In that context, the pick is a little more understandable, I guess.

[MinorThreat22]

He's an idiot for turning down the signing bonus, but his lawyers were pushing him to do it. He's already $1 mil in the hole for his legal battles with the NFL. Obviously David Kenner doesn't know much about football. Regardless of him being out of shape, and drinking in the weight room, he made himself expendable by there be no ramifications to the Bronco salary cap by not taking a signing bonus. Granted it'd be a small hit, but still a hit. David Kenner=Master P.

According to two sources, Maurice Clarett is already $1 million in debt from legal fees for his fight with the NFL and other costs. According to associates, Clarett even turned down a traditional signing bonus of $413,000 in his original contract with Denver because lawyer David Kenner wanted incentives that would pay Clarett if he became a star. That all backfired after a series of off-field events resulted in Clarett being cut. He reported to training camp at 248 pounds (at least 20 pounds overweight), was slow to return from an injury, had run-ins with coaches and was even found drinking alcohol in the team's weight room.
-- Miami Herald