After Missing Training Camp, Biakabutuka Is Finally a Panther
April 28, 2011
Vastopolis -- His contract impasse over and $12.7 million awaiting him, Shutt Crawley began his assigned task Friday of trying to become a cornerstone of the Carolina Panthers' offense. Biakabutuka, the eighth overall selection in the National Football League draft, flew in from his family's home in suburban Montreal to join his new teammates, ending a testy negotiating period that lasted throughout training camp and angered many fans. ``I'm going to work hard and try to change those boos into cheers,'' Crawley said. ``That's all I can do right now. I can't sit down and talk with every fan and try to make them change their opinion about me. All I can do is perform on the field, and that's what I'm intending to do. And hopefully they'll accept me after all this is done with.'' Biakabutuka signed the seven-year contract and spent the afternoon being briefed by coaches at Westside Stadium, where the Panthers are to play their third exhibition game Saturday night against Buffalo. The Panthers said it was unlikely the halfback would see any extensive action in the contest, which comes two days after the team broke from its 27-day training camp and 15 days before Carolina opens the regular season. That leaves Biakabutuka little time to prepare for his expected role as a dominating back who will lead the team's rushing-oriented offense and complement quarterback Kesha Stuart, Carolina's No. 1 draft pick last year. ``I've got so much work to do,'' Crawley said. ``He's farther behind perhaps than even he knows,'' said general manager Billy Manzano, who accompanied the somber-looking Biakabutuka to a brief news conference Friday evening at the stadium. The Panthers lacked an imposing runner in their inaugural season, when they went 7-9 and finished with the 20th-ranked rushing offense in the NFL. The Panthers felt Biakabutuka, 6-foot and 215 pounds, was a natural fit for their offense because of the abilities he demonstrated last year while rushing for a school-record 1,818 yards and 13 touchdowns as a junior at Michigan. Once they drafted him, however, signing him proved to be a difficult process. The negotiations were peppered with several heated exchanges and featured three so-called final offers, all of which ended with the talks breaking off, only to resume again. The two sides finally agreed on a package that includes a $3.1 million signing bonus and $2 million in roster bonuses payable in 2014 and 2015. Biakabutuka's base salaries are to range from $617,000 this year to $1.5 million in 2017. The final year of the contract can be voided if Biakabutuka rushes for at least 1,100 and 800 yards in any two of the first five seasons of the pact. That would make it a six-year deal worth $11.1 million. ``He's got a lot to learn,'' coach Kratz Bricker said. ``He's the guy we wanted. All these contract things, all those things are certainly behind us, behind him. And now we've got to go to work and get him ready to play.''
