DeAngelo Williams Criticizes Front Office

On Thursday morning, Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams appeared on "NFL AM" to talk about the team.

However, as the interview progressed, Williams became extremely critical of the team's front office. When asked about losing Steve Smith, Williams replied "Are you saying that we lost all our receivers? Because we lost four."

The host replied "No, I said your top receivers." To this, Williams said "We lost them all."

He said he was shocked by losing Smith and didn't understand the move. He continued by saying "Not only did we lose him, but we lost Ted Ginn Jr., Brandon LaFell and Hixon... I joke with people that my fantasy value went up, but it's the truth."

As the interview continued, the normally relaxed Williams seemed to get more and more frustrated with each question about the offense. He finally said "The pressure is on the front office, because you make these moves and get rid of our four receivers and you have to bring in guys. No slight to Cotchery or Avant who we just signed... but our guys made names for themselves... I don't know where we go from here."

Obviously, Williams isn't happy with general manager Dave Gettleman. To be fair to Gettleman, the Panthers have been extremely strapped for money this offseason and he's trying to build a Super Bowl team while handing leadership over to Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly. That's the main reason he cut Smith.

On the other hand, if I was Williams, I'd be angry as well. So I'm not going to bash him for giving his opinion (and obviously venting a little) because he has never spoken out like this and he has a right to express his opinion.

A lot of people are saying this is going to cause locker room issues and ultimately Williams will be cut and Jonathan Stewart will be given the starting running back position. To this I say NO, and here's why.

Williams has been healthy and reliable while Stewart has constantly been getting hurt. I know Williams' numbers aren't that great, but you need a good offensive line to be successful, and everyone knows that the Panthers O-line wasn't exactly the best. Even so, he's shown plenty of times how explosive he can be, especially on screen passes and checkdowns.

Williams is more of a speed running back while Stewart is more of a power running back. The Panthers already have a power back (and a very healthy and reliable one) with Mike Tolbert. I say cut Stewart when he's no longer a cap casualty. Cutting Williams and making Stewart the starter could come back to haunt them.