Even though wide receiver Steve Smith has two years left on his current deal, you have to wonder if the Panthers will continue on with the youth movement they began last offseason and attempt to trade the 31-year-old four-time Pro Bowler while they can still get something for him. Smith is close with owner Jerry Richardson and you’d have to think if he requests a trade Richardson might be willing to grant it. So does Smith want to be back? “Despite what I may feel right now or last month or tomorrow, this is a decision that the input goes in at home,†Smith said. “People may think I’m hiding behind that but ultimately in any business (the decision) has to sit well with everybody – stay or go. And right now I can say here I want to stay here for the next 15 years, but right now we don’t know what the next three months is going to look like for the NFL (with a lockout looming), so there are a lot of factors.†Smith, like most everyone on the offensive side of the ball, has been frustrated by the team’s ineptitude the last two seasons but he said his decision could be influenced by what happens in the draft, who’ll be the next head coach and the impending lockout, as well as a number of other factors. When asked if he’d like to be traded to a Super Bowl contender, Smith said, “I would be a fool to sit here and say I don’t want to be a part of a Super Bowl team. Everybody wants to be a part of a Super Bowl team…. I’m not going to answer anything about trades or staying because there are so many things that could change or waiver (before next season) that it would be a waste of time,†Smith said. Source: Gaston Gazette
Yeah, I'm sure the Vikings would have been a possible trade partner. Some pretty desperate times at wr for the Vikes this year.
