Here is what GM Marty Hurney had to say about the decision to release Dan Morgan and Mike Wahle on Monday:
On releasing linebacker Dan Morgan and guard Mike Wahle: Obviously, this is a time of the year when we make difficult decisions, and these are certainly two of them. Dan has meant a lot to us. He’s an extremely talented player who has done everything we have asked and brought a dedication and commitment that you look for, but last year with the way things went and the emergence of Jon Beason, we felt that it was time to go in another direction. I can’t speak for Dan but I think he’s looking forward to continuing to play and maybe a change of scenery will be good, as well. You can’t say enough about Dan Morgan and how we feel about him. With Mike Wahle, again, another difficult decision. We’ve kind of decided that we’re going to change some things on our offensive line and rework that unit a little bit. Mike’s been here three years and has been very good for us. He’s a tremendous player. He made one Pro Bowl and was an alternate in another. It’s just one of those things where you make difficult decisions but you make them and move on. We did it at this time, as early as we could, for these guys’ sake and we wish both of them the best because they’ve certainly been tremendous for us.
On if Dan Morgan’s incentive-based contract last year was a last resort: I don’t think you do anything as a last resort, but obviously we did things and Dan came back and unfortunately it didn’t work out quite like he had hoped or we had hoped with his injury. But again, like I said, I think it just came down to how things went last year and with Jon Beason coming in we just decided that now was the time to make this move.
On if both cuts go down as post June 1 cuts: Yes.
On if the depth at guard and center influenced the decision to release Wahle: Not really. You just make decisions about which way you’re going to go and you have ideas about the makeup of certain positions and we just decided that this was the time to make this move. Obviously, having players like Ryan Kalil and some of the players we have there…certainly they’re some of the guys you look to, but I think that this was just looking at the overview of what we were going to do and we though this was the right time to make that move.
On if the team will look at Justin Hartwig at guard following this move: I don’t want to get into all the specifics. At this time of year, we work through a lot of things. I’ve said it time and again. This is a time of year that you have to be very flexible. The decisions you make down the road, you take your time and let those decisions happen and see what takes place. For now, we just made the decision that we would let Mike go today so that he would have time to go somewhere else, because he can certainly help somebody.
On if more cuts might be coming and why they weren’t made today: You’re constantly making decisions this time of year, and when they’re made, that’s when we do them and speak to the players. I can’t say that we won’t make any more decisions and I don’t necessarily want to say that we will. I think this is a time of year when things change day to day and hour to hour. You address them at the appropriate time and in the case of these two moves we did them today.
On if the reported Damione Lewis deal is finalized: No, it’s not. We’re still working through some things there.
On if the team is close to anything else with its own players: No. We’re talking, but I wouldn’t say we’re close. But again, I don’t want to mislead. Things can change with one phone call. I don’t like the word “close” because really it’s irrelevant until it gets done. Things can change so quickly that I don’t ever want to be in a position where I tell you one thing and then something changes and you think I misled you.