Releasing Ahmad Carroll on Tuesday is a move that should send a strong message to players on the Green Bay Packer football team. The Packers have always preached accountability. To follow through and make that mean something, they have to hold non-performing players accountable for their actions. Besides, you can hardly bench a veteran like William Henderson and not follow through and do something with Carroll.
But really, sending Carroll out there each week to continually get beat was becoming highly unproductive. In fact, his performance Monday night was a leading contributor to the Packers losing the game to the Eagles. Don't make the move and the message it sends to the rest of the players is that it's OK to not perform well because the team won't do anything about it. Sometimes players have to fear for their job, or at the very lease, know that if they don't put up the numbers, there's a chance they won't be around.
As usual, the Packers handled his dismissal with class. They pointed out the good things Carroll did, stated that the lack of consistency was a reason for the move and the desire to give somebody else a chance. There was no public ridicule handed down. Nobody is really sure if the next guy will be any better, but we know this, that person can't be any worse.