If Smitty is "evaluated" and not on this team next yearn

[Fan01]

I am surprised as well. His cap hit is 7 million and his dead cap hit is 9 million which means that even as a June 1 cut it would cost 5.5 million to cut him this year and 3.5 next year. Surely he is worth 1.5 million. I bet they are looking for a restructure with voidable years or at least some changes to account for his surrent value. I cant see a cut unless he refuses to make any changes. It will be Smitty making the choice by whether he wants to be here or not and try for the Hall of Fame. Or if he thinks he can get the money elsewhere. I think Smitty wants to be here but also is tight about his money. He could go either way but I hope he considers an incentive restructure with voidable years if he doesn't reach certain levels. Fair for both parties.

 

Finally, someone looked at the contract numbers.  

 

Is Steve Smith worth a 1 year, 4 million dollar deal?  Because that's the difference between cutting him now and next year. 

 

Cutting him this year cost 9 million in dead cap.  

 

Keeping him this year cost of 7 million and cutting him next year cost 6 in dead money.  Which = 4 million.

 

I love Smitty and when he retires it'll be as a Panther.  I think he'll end up restructuring.  It's be a different world without Smith.  Without him or Gross I worry about the Vet leadership on this team on offense. 

[heel31ok]

Yes, Steve is the best receiver on our team. And that is our problem. A 5'9" 35 year old is our best receiver. Need we say more. He is no longer a #1 receiver...not a successful one anyway. How can we compete with this scenario? We can't! We play in a division that has Julio, roddy white, Vincent Jackson and all the saint receivers...we pull up with Steve smith...we can't continue to improve our position in the league with our current receiver line up. If we want to get more mileage out of Steve he must be moved to the slot position. We need to bring in a big, quick sure handed receiver at the number one . Our complementary receivers and plenty good enough at #3... Don't forget the possibility that mcnutt and king are promising emerging players. Please don't get me wrong steve smith is one of my favorites. But sometimes you have to face reality and be proactive. Our goal is a championship right... Continuous team improvement is the only way.

agreed, in the slot his production goes up.

[Guest Irv]

gotta love the off-season freakouts

[carpanfan96]

Ok, the thing is the Panthers don't want to give him his option bonus. However the only way to avoid the non-exercise fee is either renegoting a completely new contract or cutting him. If they do the bonus he gets extra money and a year added to his deal. If they do the fee his cap hit goes up more the next two seasons.

That's why this is a story and has some validity to it.

[Jangler]

gotta love the off-season freakouts

 

 

[bleys]

10 pages later and there's still a chance Smitty actually gets cut?  lool oookay

[Jackofalltrades]

Ginn was the best deep threat on the team last season.

Ginn isn't under contract.

[La Pantera]

Ginn isn't under contract.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He should be a be retained. At least for the right money.

[Jackofalltrades]

We had a new OC and a re-dedication to the run game. We had more viable options for Cam who did a lot better job of spreading the ball around. Cam threw for 500 less yards than last season on 12 less attempts.

It's ridiculous to say the only cause for the dip in stats was because he's lost a step. I would bet anything I own that if Chud came back Steve would be right back over 1000 yards.

http://www.nfl.com/player/camnewton/2495455/careerstats

[Jackofalltrades]

He should be a be retained. At least for the right money.

Should be/right money.

What else you got?

[La Pantera]

Should be/right money.

What else you got?

 

 

 

lol... thats about it.

[TheMaulClaw]

Smitty's great and all that, and I don't think anything Rivera or G-man said indicated that Smitty wouldn't be a Panther.  However, if he wasn't.....it really wouldn't be the end of the world....and we eventually might be better for it.  He should really restructure his contract.

 

Plus Smitty's sort of a buttmunch in real life to people unless he's getting paid or it it's his non profit. 

[carpanfan96]

Smitty's great and all that, and I don't think anything Rivera or G-man said indicated that Smitty wouldn't be a Panther.  However, if he wasn't.....it really wouldn't be the end of the world....and we eventually might be better for it.  He should really restructure his contract.

 

Plus Smitty's sort of a buttmunch in real life to people unless he's getting paid or it it's his non profit. 

 

He's going to have to take a pay cut on his contract to stay in Carolina. No way in hell they give him the 3 million bonus or the 3 million non-exercise fee. There's also no way in hell he'll be here next year with a 9 million cap hit. 

 

 

He's either going to accept a new deal for less money with out the bonus/non-exercise fee or get cut, there's no way the Panther's give him either of those. 

 

 

 

That's what this is about, the option bonus / non-exercise fee. Panther's don't want to pay it and want Smith to re do his contract. The ball is in Smith's court on if he stays or not. 

[Car123]

We had a new OC and a re-dedication to the run game. We had more viable options for Cam who did a lot better job of spreading the ball around. Cam threw for 500 less yards than last season on 12 less attempts.

It's ridiculous to say the only cause for the dip in stats was because he's lost a step. I would bet anything I own that if Chud came back Steve would be right back over 1000 yards.

http://www.nfl.com/player/camnewton/2495455/careerstats

This