The Jags respect Donovan Darius soo much

[The PatternMaster]

Imagine you come into work were you are one of the best employees in the company's history, your boss calls you into his office and proceeds to tell you how much he respects you and admires your work, then he fires you! Welcome to life in the NFL boys and girls.

Darius has got to be like wtf??? If they hold Darius in such high regard why are they cutting him?

Jaguars release veteran S Darius

June 14, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA (TICKER) -- The Jacksonville Jaguars officially started the youth movement in their defensive backfield Thursday, releasing veteran safety Donovin Darius.

Darius, 31, had spent his entire nine-year career with the Jaguars, starting in 115 games - the most for a defensive player in team history.

"Donovin Darius is an outstanding human being," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "He's been an excellent player for us. He's tremendous in the community. He's a classy guy. I met with him this morning and told him those things. I have a great deal of respect for who his is on and off the field. He was a ferocious center fielder for us for a number of years, a guy that you definitely offensively had to account for."

Although he served as one of the leaders of Jacksonville's tough defense, Darius became expendable this offseason when the Jaguars used a pair of draft picks on safeties, including the 21st overall pick on former Florida safety Reggie Nelson.

"We have elected at this time as an organization to move forward and to allow (Darius) to pursue other opportunities," Del Rio said. "We have let him know that and like I said, a great deal of respect and admiration for the man and for the player he was here as a Jacksonville Jaguar."

The franchise's all-time leader in tackles, Darius played in 10 games last season before suffering a broken right leg November 20 against the New York Giants, ending his campaign.

It marked the second straight year that Darius had his season cut short by an injury. He suffered a torn left ACL in the second game of the 2005 campaign.

A first-round draft selection in 1998, Darius collected 858 tackles, 14 interceptions, seven forced fumbles and two sacks in his career with the Jaguars. The 225-pounder had 48 tackles last season.

I was hoping Darius would have come here when he was a FA a few years ago, he's not done by a long shot, someone is going to get a very good SS very shortly.

[BengalszoneBilly]

48 freakin' tackles in a season gets you cut huh? Definitely WTF!?!

[The PatternMaster]

48 freakin' tackles in a season gets you cut huh? Definitely WTF!?!

48 isn't alot for money he's making but he brings more than just production to the table, he's a leader and true pro, someone you want the young guys to learn from.

With the way the Jags are handling the Culpepper situation and now this, they might be battling the up-and-coming Texans for the last place in the AFC South because this stuff can only have a negative effect on the team. They better hope Matt Jones startes showing signs he wasn't a reach in the first round because they desparerately need a go-to receiver in jax, if the qb has no one to throw to then it doesn't matter how good he is.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

You know who I blame? Mike Brown. If we'd have only drafted Reggie Nelson, this poor guy would still have a job!

[Stripes]

I blame Bush.

[Spor_tees]

Blame Canada!

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Bengals are interested in him. Just don't know if he'll be healthy through the preseason or not yet.

He'll come pretty cheap considering the upside you might get if his leg is sound (will be at some point).

[DesperateDerelict]

Bengals are interested in him.

I believe you, Shula, - mostly because it makes sense. SS has been a problem area on this team since we lost Fulcher. Question - do you have a link, or was this from radio / TV / elsewhere?

[ShulaSteakhouse]

Bengals are interested in him.

I believe you, Shula, - mostly because it makes sense. SS has been a problem area on this team since we lost Fulcher. Question - do you have a link, or was this from radio / TV / elsewhere?

Just from the articles written - think it's on Bengals.com now too, could be wrong. I am trusting the beat writer who wrote the article in Jax, who mentioned it.

Considering Darius is also on the NFL Advisory Committee (only 4 players on that I believe?) hell I'd just like to have him on the roster or around the team. Maybe he can knock some sense into Henry during practice too, on or off the field.

He's still gotta broken bone that's healing - with a "start of the season" prognosis. So, signing him would require taking a "leap of faith" (see sig below) .

He would only be "cheap" by relative standards. But just think of the upside if the Bengals' can nab him for 2-3 years - if he stays healthy (very possible) wow.

Upgrade to both Madeiu and Jackson.

Not sure what's going on right now, but of course a bidding war is possible, and we know how the Bengals' feel about those, so, not getting my hopes up yet.