Declarations like those above have a tendency to backfire in the face of evidence. For example:Pondering Her Percy wrote:You're missing the point. Teams dont just let go of top picks because of a nagging injury or that they had a lot of penalties. Regardless of what you think, it just doesnt happen. Teams dont do it. So if you're going to criticize Spielman for holding onto Kalil you might as well criticize every other GM in the league as well.
It's not that "Spielman just didnt want to look like a fool". It's just the logical thing to do. Clearly, given the fact that a top pick hasnt been cut before his rookie contract expired in who knows how long. You're letting your "I hate Matt Kalil goggles" get in the way of what makes sense.
Kalil was selected with the 4th pick in the 2012 draft and two of the players selected ahead of him in that draft were cut before the end of their rookie contracts!
Trent Richardson, drafted in the spot right before Kalil, was traded by the Browns a year later and cut by Indianapolis a year after that, all before the end of his rookie contract.
RGIII was selected 2nd and he was released before the end of his rookie contract too.
A few more examples off the top of my head:
The Browns drafted Johnny Manziel with the #22 pick in 2014 and he's out of the league.
The Raiders used the first pick in the draft on JaMarcus Russel in 2007 and he was cut and out of the league after just 3 seasons.
It obviously happens and not just in the distant past.