The Steve Smith Situation: 5 Myths and Facts Cleared Up

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To say Steve Smith is arguably the best player in Panthers’ history is either playing Devil’s advocate or a hope to get into an argument with someone that struggles with facts and stats. There is no argument.

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

(Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

The mercurial receiver has been with the franchise for 13 of its 19 seasons (68%), playing in 191 of 315 of its games (61%), including nine of its 11 playoff games (82%), while scoring 10 of the team’s 24 postseason touchdowns (42%).

This past season Smith jumped into the Top 25 of NFL career receiving yards (19th) and catches (25th), becoming the 29th player to total 800 career receptions and 22nd to reach 12,000 career receiving yards.

He ranks second in games played and games started for the Panthers. His team records include receptions, receiving yards, receiving touchdowns and yards per reception.

Smith extended his franchise-best 106 games with a reception streak in the playoff loss to the 49ers, and when the Panthers scattered for the offseason, most just assumed he would be around to go for 107+ starting in Week 1 of the 2014 season.

But then the NFL Combine happened.

When asked about his soon-to-be 35-year-old receiver, general manager Dave Gettleman responded with a sentence that included the past tense. Head coach Ron Rivera was noncommittal.

Since then, we’ve parsed and analyzed words. Smith went on the radio and expressed disappointment he wasn’t given a heads-up that his future in Carolina may be in doubt.

Some fans are upset. Some are worried. Some think all this is media-made. Never has the word “had” freaked out the Panthers fan base as much as it has this week.

With so many rumors and assumptions flying around, it’s time to clear some things up. After talking to a number of people familiar with the situation, here are some facts and myths about what you may be hearing and reading.

THIS IS ABOUT MONEY — MYTH

Smith has three years left on his contract. His cap number for 2014 is $7 million. OverTheCap.com does a great job breaking it all down here.

While the Panthers are cap-challenged, whether Smith plays for them next season does not hinge on whether they can get him to restructure his contract.

If he does return, would they prefer he restructure? Sure, that’s Gettleman’s move right now. But it’s not a make or break thing.

There are two bigger issues to explain the team’s lack of commitment: 1) production, 2) locker room.

Smith’s production took a nose-dive last year, and while a scaled-back passing game leaves room for a reasonable excuse, the fact is he will be a 35-year-old receiver in 2014. He can still make plays like he did late against the Dolphins or versus the 49ers in the playoffs. He can still help a team. He is still the Panthers’ best receiver. But he is no longer an ideal No. 1 receiver and age will not reverse that course.

Meanwhile, Smith’s presence is still the biggest in the Panthers’ locker room. He has matured, but he can still be ornery, not just to media, but to teammates. Beyond that, though, is this — for as long as Smith is a Panther, his aura will continue to permeate the locker room. And as hard as it could be for him and fans to accept, it is no longer his time. Carolina’s building a future led by quarterback Cam Newton and linebacker Luke Kuechly. If Smith is still around, he in large part still controls the locker room.

GETTLEMAN COULD HAVE HANDLED THIS BETTER — FACT

I’ll admit, in January, when I first heard a Smith cut could be possible, I didn’t think much of it. Few outside the building had much of a clue. Gettleman’s Combine comments were the first public acknowledgments something like this was even possible. Sure, he’s going to be 35, but he’s … Steve Smith.

Gettleman’s misstep is when he went past tense. “Steve’s had a great career. None of us are here forever,” he said.

“Had?”

That set off questions and alarm bells that haven’t stopped with further noncommittal comments by Rivera.

But give Gettleman and Rivera credit for not flat-out lying as many NFL folks would. If they laughed off questions about Smith’s future, stating emphatically and clearly Smith will be back, that could set them up for an even bigger PR mess.

Imagine if Gettleman appeased everyone by standing up there, pledging his loyalty, only to then cut him later. Think how that would go over.

This isn’t good, but it could have been a whole lot worse.

I believe Gettleman did not word his answer as well as he wanted to last week and that led to most of the hand wringing this week.

SMITH WAS OWED A PRIVATE CONVERSATION BEFORE THE COMBINE COMMENTS — MYTH

For years, Smith has repeated the line, “we’re all day-to-day.” He knows how precarious his job is, especially when production drops and age rises. Being part of the “evaluation process” should not have taken Smith by total surprise. Media and fans were a bit blindsided, but Smith is smart.

Does he have a right to be upset how all this is going down? Sure. It can’t be a fun thing for the ego of one of the best receivers of all time.

Should the fan base be angry their best and most popular player seems to be hung out to dry? To a point.

It would be great if all this could come to clean end. But if Smith doesn’t want to retire, and if he doesn’t have trade value, what option do the Panthers have if they want to move on?

Gettleman didn’t have a private conversation with Smith before the Combine because Smith should know another year isn’t guaranteed. As great as he has been for the franchise, he will be a 35-year-old receiver.

Also, what would Gettleman say? He hasn’t made a decision yet, so there wasn’t and isn’t much to say until he makes that decision.

SMITH WILL BE CUT — TBD

Gettleman and Rivera said Smith’s “part of the evaluation process” and that’s exactly what’s going on right now. They haven’t made a final call, but Rivera did admit this week a decision likely has to happen before free agency begins on March 11.

IF they cut Smith, it will be Gettleman’s call and here’s why it’s easier for him to do it than for fans to accept it — he isn’t indebted to Smith.

Gettleman has been in Charlotte for a little more than a year. He didn’t come up through the ranks with Smith. He didn’t draft him. He didn’t sign him. Does the franchise owe him a cleaner ending for all that he’s given? You’d assume so. But storybook endings in the NFL are more rare than common.

In a perfect world the best player in the history of your franchise would get to choose his ending. But this one isn’t so simple and Gettleman’s job isn’t to play within a perfect world.

For years, Marty Hurney upset fans for being too loyal. Now Gettleman will upset many of the same fans if he’s not loyal enough.

Gettleman’s goal is to make the franchise a consistent winner, something it hasn’t been in close to two decades of existence. Making decisions with the heart does not make a successful NFL GM.

Smith could be back next year and some feelings may have to be mended. But ultimately, it will come down to this main question — does Gettleman believe Smith’s production will be enough to bring him back for a 14th season? That’s the evaluation process.

2014 IS HOPELESS IF SMITH IS CUT — MYTH

It’s February. Ok, tomorrow will be March, but you get the point.

Training camp is five months away. Before that, there’s free agency and the draft. Will the Panthers go out and sign a big-name receiver if they cut Smith? That’s doubtful, but they will likely bring in a guy or two they believe can both replace and exceed Smith’s production.

If they cut Smith and sign and draft some duds, it’s a bad decision. If they cut Smith and they sign and draft players that can help the offense get better, it’s the right decision.

But it’s February. It’s way too early to judge either way, especially when we — and they — don’t know what the decision will be.

If the Panthers cut Smith, they will not go into the season with Tavarres King and Marvin McNutt as their receivers. As cliché as it sounds, right now, fans would be better off just “trusting the process.”

There is a plan. Will it be a good plan when executed? Who knows. But at least let it all play out before freaking out.

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