Steve Smith Will Not Be In a Panthers Uniform Next Season

[Panthro]

I mean he did outproduce Brandon Lafell by like 70 yards.

[Montsta]

Read the cap hit by releasing him in 2014. It makes no sense.

Furthermore, those 750 yards are not replaceable. It's not that easy. You don't just say, hey this guy caught 750 for this much money...plug him in....Smith drew all the coverage and still made critical plays that not just any 750 yard guy will make. I wish it was as easy as Madden, but it's not. His 99% is about the only accurate thing going....he is that damn good!

This isn't the 2005 playoffs where Seattle put a CB, a LB, and two Safeties on Smitty anymore friend. If you think teams put anymore than a LB underneath or a glancing Safety over the top anymore you are mistaken. Yes, he draws the #1 DB each game with a little extra coverage, but if you don't think our #1 and #2 receivers next year can combine for the 1400 yards and 9 touchdowns that LaFell and Smitty put up, then I guess this is a pointless discussion and we will just have to agree to disagree.

[jopie87]

He is the best player to ever play for this organization. No respect for how this was handled.

[Pox 08]

Seriously, what the heck does restructuring the contract of a soon to be 35 year old receiver accomplish?

It is delaying the inevitable and Smith will only be even more useless as he ages.  Do you guys think Gettleman is a dummy?  He's restructured a good amount of players on this team.  If that was truly a viable option with Smith, don't you think he would have? 

There is a reason Smith's agent said RESTRUCTURE and not PAYCUT.  There is a huge difference.

 

Basically..  no use restructuring a WR that is going to average close to $10M a year over the last three years of his contract.   No amount of moving that money around will make it right.

 

I can see Gman offering 89 a pay cut to where he's only making around $3M a year over the final 3 years.   Or something along those lines.

[Captroop]

And 740 yard WR's are a dime a dozen....take a remedial course will ya.

 

I hope you're right, because right now, we need like four of them.

[Delhomeboy]

Well that is ball control

 

 

Ah. I think we had a miscommunication. When I said "terrible ball control," I didn't mean that we failed at controlling the ball, I mean that ball control offenses are simply terrible in concept, especially in today's NFL.

 

Even if they weren't, ball control precludes guzzling up yards. We were 26th in total yards last year, right down there with such stalwarts as Jacksonville and the Giants. It's simply hard to gain 1000 yards when you're in the type of offense UNLESS you are a team's only target, which we've been bitching about since at least 2006. Suddenly we had more options, Steve takes a drop in yards, and he's castigated for not gaining 1000 or "producing" in an offense that is specifically designed to not rely on offensive production. It's interesting.

[ZB1224]

I mean he did outproduce Brandon Lafell by like 70 yards.

 

Ok I've stayed out of this for the most part, but there is a HUGE difference between Steve Smith's 745 yards and Brandon LaFell's 627 yards. (I know that I quote PFF a lot, but I do find them solid) PFF had Smith as a positive this season with good hands and good blocking ability. I'm pretty sure that LaFell was the only starting WR to have a negative grade (not to mention his awful hands).

[teeray]

Look I love Steve Smith.  Not trying to denigrate the guy, but it is silly to act like being ranked below 40th in the NFL in catches, below 50th in the NFL in receiving yards, and only having 4 TDs is some sort of achievement for a #1 receiver that we should all be willing to accept and pay $7 million for.

 

Fact of the matter is he has declined in play.  He is playing with about 75% heart and 25% ability at this point.

 

Good things come to an end.  I will miss him, but time to move on.

[Way Truth Life]

This isn't the 2005 playoffs where Seattle put a CB, a LB, and two Safeties on Smitty anymore friend. If you think teams put anymore than a LB underneath or a glancing Safety over the top anymore you are mistaken. Yes, he draws the #1 DB each game with a little extra coverage, but if you don't think our #1 and #2 receivers next year can combine for the 1400 yards and 9 touchdowns that LaFell and Smitty put up, then I guess this is a pointless discussion and we will just have to agree to disagree.

I do not think any 2 current FA and or draft picks can or will put up 1400 yards and 9 touchdowns in Shula's offense with Kalil blocking.....so....yes we disagree.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Honestly if smith played the rest of his contract out on the stationary bike I still think it's better for the franchise and the fans to keep him.

 

$29 million over 3 years to ride a stationary bike?

 

We've already got Jonathan Stewart on this team. 

[mikencP226]

Look I love Steve Smith.  Not trying to denigrate the guy, but it is silly to act like being ranked below 40th in the NFL in catches, below 50th in the NFL in receiving yards, and only having 4 TDs is some sort of achievement for a #1 receiver that we should all be willing to accept and pay $7 million for.

 

Fact of the matter is he has declined in play.  He is playing with about 75% heart and 25% ability at this point.

 

Good things come to an end.  I will miss him, but time to move on.

 

Sanity returns to the Huddle!

 

Thank you.

[Panthro]

Ok I've stayed out of this for the most part, but there is a HUGE difference between Steve Smith's 745 yards and Brandon LaFell's 627 yards. (I know that I quote PFF a lot, but I do find them solid) PFF had Smith as a positive this season with good hands and good blocking ability. I'm pretty sure that LaFell was the only starting WR to have a negative grade (not to mention his awful hands).

 

They dropped the same amount

 

Smith at a 5.5% rates

Lafell at a 7% rate

 

*Nicks dropped 5 at a 5% rate

[ZB1224]

Look I love Steve Smith.  Not trying to denigrate the guy, but it is silly to act like being ranked below 40th in the NFL in catches, below 50th in the NFL in receiving yards, and only having 4 TDs is some sort of achievement for a #1 receiver that we should all be willing to accept and pay $7 million for 

 

I agree that he isn't worth 7 million a year, but he is still a top 30 WR. I just wish that he would take a paycut and be our slot receiver for next season. Losing Smitty is just rough... it's like going through a breakup with a girl you've been with for years. I don't suggest you watch any Smitty highlight videos on YT that go through his entire career :/

[Delhomeboy]

Look I love Steve Smith.  Not trying to denigrate the guy, but it is silly to act like being ranked below 40th in the NFL in catches, below 50th in the NFL in receiving yards, and only having 4 TDs is some sort of achievement for a #1 receiver that we should all be willing to accept and pay $7 million for 

 

I mentioned this above, but how much can you put on the offense itself? Cam threw for 500 less yards than he did last year; some of those yards would have gone to Smith. 250? (since 1000 seems to be the magic number), I don't know, but we simply did not run a good offense last year. Everyone's actual numbers suffered. What sticks out to me is that Smith accounted for 22% of our quarterback's total passing attempts, which appears pretty adequate for a number 1 from what I can tell.