Carolina Panthers: Do a Calvin Johnson Trade?
Let me be clear. If the Carolina Panthers can find top level help at wide receiver I am all for it. Yet as we look around, the Panthers seem to be pushed in on direction in particular: Calvin Johnson.
The story goes like this: the Detroit Lions are floundering and perhaps need a reset away from the expensive roster that is not winning enough games. Of the pieces that the Lions could deal, Johnson makes the most sense as a wide receiver on the wrong side of thirty eating up a lot of cap room that could be used in the reboot.
If the Lions were to deal Johnson, the Panthers have been brought up as a potential destination because of the Panthers’ lack of a number one receiver. Bart Scott of CBS Sports was one of the first to bring up this possibility. I was crossing my fingers for a return of Steve Smith at the time.
However Adam Schefter of ESPN went a little further. He laid out a deal where the Panthers would acquire Johnson for a couple of draft picks. Specifically the Panthers would send a second round and a fourth round pick to Detroit.
On face the deal makes sense. The Panthers are suddenly a contender this year, the year without Kelvin Benjamin. Like those midseason hockey deals, the Panthers would be setting up for short term success at the expense of the future. Johnson is a good fit for Cam Newton, offering a big target to throw the ball to. He could get some attention away from Greg Olsen and possibly get safety support away from the running game.
The question is the long term viability. Johnson is not on his final year this season and his cap number would become the Panthers’ problem as the Panthers try to find money to resign Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei. Next year, a duo of Johnson and Benjamin sounds dangerous but how many other receivers do the Panthers move to make that happen?
I think the Panthers front office could figure it out.
NOTE: The final paragraph goes down the rabbit hole. If you want to avoid the rabbit hole just stop reading here.
The other objection is not rational. You cannot ally yourself with someone named Megatron and expect to win. Megatron always loses. To side with Megatron is to side with a cartoonish evil, not as bad as true evil but a slippery slope. Calvin Johnson may be cursed, and we don’t need the Panthers involved with that.