This reminds me of when some people here in Pittsburgh were kicking around the idea of trading Sidney Crosby last year when he in was the middle of a small slump. My response is largely the same. You do not trade away players of that caliber, and you especially don’t do it for a group of never was’s. Period.

Not only would a Steve Smith trade kill the morale for the season, but it would wipe out really the only wide receiver threat that the Panthers have on our team. Moose is aging and probably will retire either this season or the next, but Steve Smith can keep on going deep into his 30’s if he has a decent QB to give him the ball.

If the main deal here is to get a first round pick and get a QB, why not just trade the first rounder for next year and grab a rookie in the middle picks of the first round? The team has shown no problem doing that in the past

Plus, we have several key FA going out on the market in 2010, including both our backup QB’s, Richard Marshall, Thomas Davis, Keydrick Vincent, Jeff King, Julius Peppers, Tyler Brayton, and those are just the starters. What kind of message would it send it we took Steve Smith and sent him to another team? A lot of these players are looking for a Super Bowl Caliber team, and they will want the Panthers to overpay them if they wish them to stay on the team.

No, I think the harm here would outweigh the good by far. I want a franchise QB, but not that much.

I can see both sides of the argument. It’s not quite so much a stretch as would immediately seem. Sure, Smith is a game changer and pretty much the only receiving threat we have but how much of a threat is someone that can’t even get the ball in their vicinity to have a chance of catching? He’s wasted potential right now. I love Smith, don’t get me wrong, he has long been one of my favorite Panthers. His ability with and without the ball is amazing, from breaking and evading tackles to blocking in the secondary, the little guy does everything and does it darn well.

BUT, when the guy isn’t getting the ball, he’s just wasting away. We have two options here and I can’t say if either would be the wrong one. I guess the best question to ask right now would be:

How important is our current season? We’ve already lost three. We have a long road ahead and even with acquisitions such as those stated, we’d still have a hard time making the play-offs. Even then, honest to God, I just don’t see us topping the Saints this year barring an injury to Bree’s (which, of course, I would never wish for).

Is salvaging this season worth losing Steve Smith? As wonderful as all of those additions would seem with th e potential they bring, I think the better option is the hold onto Smith until this season ends, get a QB that can make those passes and utilize him to his potential next season.

I wouldn’t mind seeing a similar trade for Peppers though. I don’t know how franchise tags work but if possible, I’d love such a trade, minus the QB. He’s playing well, but I think we can get by without him once our offense begins to work with the defense and not against. Especially if we are able to get something similar to what you suggested for Smith. I’m not too informed of how a players trade value is determined but I assume they would be somewhat similar?

Conclusion: keep smith, try to dump some one else.

James, i totally see where you and the guys on the radio are coming from, and I don’t think the idea of trading Smith is a bad one. The logistics, as stated earlier (team morale, and Smitty’s acceptance of the trade) seem to be the difficult part.

As stated, we clearly have no passing game this season. Smitty is being wasted game by game. He is seeing constant double coverage, and when he does get a little separation, Delhomme misses him. Smitty is currently 30 years old. He has been a Panther for 9 seasons as a 3rd round pick, and has above average “mileage” for a player his age. He certainly has 2 or 3 years of peak production left in him, but can we expect to be able to tap that potential in those 2 or 3 years? (including this year) Even if we manage to get our hands on the real deal “QB of the future” in this draft, you have to assume he wont be another Matt Ryan or Joe Flacco, and it will take at least 2 years for him to flourish. By the time he matures, Smith will have lost the value he has right now in 2009, and we miss out on getting nice return on investment for him.

SO here are your Pros and Cons of a Smith trade with anyone right now:

PROS
- Very High market value right now as multiple teams are seeking help at WR
- Skills have not diminished
- Significant compensation can be expected in the way of draft picks or personnel
- Our passing game is crippled with or without him, we might as well look to the future

CONS
- Smith is a fan favorite, this move will be unpopular unless the draft choices and player acquisitions pay dividends
- We essentially are putting our passing game completely out to pasture barring a significant personnel acquisition beyond draft picks.
- We risk alienating him even if we do not trade him should Rumors begin to fly

The San Francisco Treat (errr… Trade)
Right now, the 49ers have 3 real receivers of note that have trade value (leaving out Isaac Bruce because he is to old to be of use to us) Michael Crabtree, Josh Morgan, Brandon Jones. Alex Smith probably isn’t going to find any career revelations in Charlotte that he didn’t find in San Francisco, so i say we leave the QB talk out of this trade. Our target of these three receivers, in my opinion, should be Josh Morgan. He is a 2nd year WR with starting experience who would definately become the odd man out should San Francisco suddenly have Smith and Crabtree on the roster. He is younger than Jones by a fairly wide margin, and has already proven he can be a factor in an offense with a bad passing game but an exceptional running game. I think we nix Alex Smith, and pursue reacquiring our traded 1st rounder, and a brand new 2nd rounder instead of 3rd rounder, and WR Josh Morgan.

So, if this deal causes what is left of our season to implode, we likely end up with a top 10 or even top 5 pick that we just received. We use that on either a star QB of the future, or a stud WR . In the 2nd round, we take the position we didnt take in the first. I say we actually go WR then QB, because the QB talent pool is just crazy deep, WR is not nearly as deep. On top of this, we get a young WR who has shown he can play football regardless of our draft.

Other teams of note looking for a stud veteran WR:
Baltimore, Miami, Chicago, St. Louis, Dallas? but lets face it, just about anyone is going to be interested in Steve Smith.

This is all hypothetical of course… but just some food for thought. We should not rule out anything at this point.

I have to come back here as this theory here just won’t leave me be. The more I think about it, the more I begin to argue with myself. I really DON’T see this happening, as loyal as Fox is to a suffering Delhomme, I just don’t see him offering up Smitty anytime soon. Now, onto another theory.

I find myself wondering if the Carolina Panthers offense we have came to love and support is over? It has changed over the years but certain things have remained in tact. Delhomme has been there. Steve Smith has been there. Williams hasn’t been here quite as long but we have always had a decent enough running back (Foster being the only reason I have to say decent). Of course credit goes to the O-line and everyone else involved, but when speaking of the Panthers in the past it has most typically involved Delhomme, Smith, and Davis/Foster/Williams. It has been a nice run… but is it over?

Delhomme just isn’t cutting it (to be stated for the 3897834758937598347539864th time, like anyone doesn’t already know), Smith isn’t getting the ball (yeah, again), and Williams can’t win a SuperBowl by himself nor with the help of Stewart.

Obviously, I’m not stating anything new here but my feelings on this subject seem to be changing ever so rapidly as I realize this team just isn’t what we have been. We are not feared. We are known to have a nice run game but then they just laugh and state that with no passing game, we’re helpless.

I think I think we’re done… Perhaps I won’t feel as so after a nights rest but, for now, I really do feel that way. This era is either going to come to an end gracefully or prolong until we do lose to the Skins and Buc’s (or whatever team takes their place in the future).

Note: Please realize I truly do hate typing this, so I’m not trying to jump on any wagons here, and I would absolutely love to be wrong.

So this is my (second) theory:
Smith needs to go for something similar to what has already been suggested here. Absolutely nothing less than what he is worth, though, as there are too many options for getting rid of him. No multi-season draft picks either… We (at least, I) want players out of THIS draft, not one here and one the next.

I agree with Tater, Morgan would be a nice prospect opposite Moore. I also agree with taking a WR over a QB. Next year would see Morgan, Moore, and our draft WR on field as Moose will probably be retiring. Jake would be gone one way or another (any suggestions what we could possibly get for him in the way of trades?) and Moore would start at QB (just to please the Jake-haters) until giving way to our draft QB whenever the coaches feel is appropriate.

Williams and Stewart will still be our work horses at RB, meanwhile Goodson will have a year of experience under his belt to cut down on that fumble problem. I hope to see him worked in as a receiving back. Sutton will probably be gone by way of trade, although I hope we get to see what he can do first.

Everette Brown takes Peppers spot, opposite Johnson. I’d also like to see another DE drafted if possible.

Assuming we can bring back most of our players in their final year (at least the ones worth bringing back) we should at that time have the building blocks to put together a solid team. Our offense would look similar…

Moore, Draft QB
Morgan, Moore, Draft WR
Williams, Stewart

At our current rate, our defense should excel next year.

I loved and supported them as long as I could, and I will continue to do so for however long they keep this going, but I think the Panthers are en-route to a new era.

I will now go attempt this on Madden 10 because everyone knows if it happens in Madden, it will happen in real life. I just don’t understand why our CB’s and safeties haven’t learned how to warp 5 yards horizontally without moving their legs to make an impossible block yet!!!

Look at the poll: Less than 50% of respondants are completely against trading Smith. 54% would consider it, trade him outright.

That’s alot more than I expected, and pretty intes

something I don’t see Furney doing since their job is on the line. It should be discussed again in the off-season though.

• Trading Smith is giving up on the season
• You don’t trade stars unless there’s an irreconcilable rift between them and the coaching staff
• You had Alex Smith a couple years ago in David Carr’s uniform (but Smith has smaller hands)
• Think our passing game is bad now? Wait until the other team doesn’t have to double one player every down
• There have been “deep” draft classes before, and they’ve been full of busts. Take QB for example, that class is deep because of stats, but they all play in spread offenses which make Colt Brennan look like Peyton Manning. Just because a draft class is deep it doesn’t mean you’re getting a guaranteed star.
• The Panthers need help at WR and QB in the draft now. Those positions are boom or bust no matter where you get the players.
• Most importantly, I can’t think of any way to get fans to be less interested in the Panthers than to trade away their best player for a bunch of scrubs and a future hopeful.

Any takers?

If we were to trade, it should be with a better offer than San Fran.
FIrst round pick makes me happy. But if we don’t plan to get a QB, this trade is a waste of time.
Makes me wonder why we didn’t try to get Orton from Chicago last year.
Orton was just my opinion…..

I don’t want to see Steve Smith in another teams jersey… The thought makes me sick!!

NaGaNole

NO…………………no Booker, and certainly not Wilson……………..

Thanks for the offer.

   The way I see it wee need a QB, bottom line. If the front office doesn’t see that this absolutely must be addressed in the off season then it won’t matter much what else we do to the passing game.
    If we had a Ryan or a Flacco, Jarrett or Moore would look more like #2 wr’s, and Smith would be putting up numbers.