January 21st, 2011, 10:59 pm · Post a Comment · posted by sreed
Carolina Panthers star wide receiver Steve Smith met with new offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski on Friday at Bank of America Stadium to discuss his future with the team.
At this point it looks like Smith, who has two years left on his current deal, will be back next year and here’s why.
Even if the Panthers wanted to trade Smith — and there’s no indication at this point they want to — they can’t until the start of the new league year on March 4. However, the new league year can’t begin until there’s a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) in place between the owners and players.
Hence, no CBA means no trades.
If the Panthers were to move Smith they’d almost certainly want to do it before the NFL draft in April, which will take place regardless of whether there is a new CBA in place. If the CBA doesn’t get settled until after the NFL draft, that likely would preclude the Panthers from trading him since they would have missed out on an opportunity to get draft picks. Well, at least not draft picks for 2011. Hypothetically, if a new CBA is reached in March, the Panthers could always move him for picks in 2012, but I’d be a little surprised if they do that. At that point, why not wait until next offseason to move him?
So maybe it’s a good thing he had that meeting on Friday with Chudzinski. Because barring a sudden change in the direction of the CBA negotiations, Smith isn’t going anywhere.
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