How did Shaun Smith not make the team?

When you’ve got a bad team, don’t keep around a player who’s reached his peak when you have younger players with higher ceilings. Simple as that.

that beat out Smith, is too small? Everyone of them is over 300lbs. I personally I thought that all three of those players( Cohen, Hill, and Fluellen) were better than Smith.

Lets face it. Cleveland did not want Smith either. And nobody else has put a claim on him yet.

Believe it or not Shaun Smith was a “model citizen” while playing for Detroit during the preseason. He was eventually released because Schwartz feels that our younger players (Cohen and Hill) have more potential and bigger upsides than Shaun Smith.

Schwartz may feel he can coach these guys to be great and reach their potential. They are letting Stafford start and learn on the fly, why not the other guys.

…if we were talking about his buddy Shaun Rogers. Smith has the tools (size, strength, athleticism), but I was extremely underwhelmed with what he was doing on the field. Rogers, on the other hand, is all talent with reportedly one of the worst attitudes around. The guy is just lazy.
I didn’t vote in the poll, because I found it confusing. Shouldn’t it read “talent, because without talent you can not win” – or – “attitude, because attitude can split a team”? Anyway, I think it depends:

1) Losing team, young players, new coaches: Attitude is just as important as talent! You can’t have a split locker room while the coaches are trying to implement their system.
2) Winning team, veteran players, proven coaches: Talent will fall in line with the right attitude. Once a coach has proven himself, it is simple to say “it’s my way or the highway”. Besides, with veteran players, most won’t put up with a problem in the locker room unless they can see the advantages to it.