Philadelphia Eagles: Why Steve Smith Should Be Cut Tomorrow

After watching the Philadelphia Eagles lose a pathetic game to the Arizona Cardinals at home Sunday, I left the stadium with only one primary thought: Steve Smith should be released.

Why? Because he laid down. In one of the biggest plays of the game, Smith fell to the ground like a coward.

It was 3rd-and-20 in the fourth quarter, and Smith caught a pass where he was wide open. Rather than running to pick up the first down, he flopped to the ground one yard short of the first down when a defender was running at him.

That play pretty much summed up the season for the Eagles; a careless, stupid mistake that cost them dearly.

If Smith gets the first down, the Eagles get some momentum and perhaps points on the board. Instead, Smith went down. Maybe he was scared to get hit, or maybe he thought he had the first down already—I don't know, nor do I care.

The bottom line is he has to go. Andy Reid cannot tolerate that kind of effort from this team. In a must-win game, a wide receiver did not want contact. He could have taken the hit and gotten the first down, but instead he flopped like a coward.

Now, if it was a superstar player, then the right thing to do would be to talk to him and make him understand that it can't happen. When it's a fourth or fifth wide receiver though, the right thing to do to is cut him. Send a message to the locker room that effort like that will not be tolerated. 

So the one thing I hope for this week is to see Smith's name off the roster. Cut him tomorrow, please, and show everyone—the players, the fans and the media—that this coaching staff will not tolerate a player who is not giving 100 percent effort.