Steve Smith: Time to Bring Him Back?

I really wasn’t looking for Steve Smith headlines.

As far as I was aware, the former Panthers wide receiver was playing out his last season with the Baltimore Ravens in productivity (510 receiving yards). Nor did I think that anything would change that.

Then the Panthers made their rental of Jared Allen, which opened a new world of possibilities for me. It meant the Panthers would seriously consider trade options that seemed more common in the MLB or the NHL. The Panthers’ hockey brethren, the Carolina Hurricanes, secured their only Stanley Cup by such moves. They acquired veteran Mark Recchi to bolster a team that already was close to being great.

The Allen trade suggested that the Panthers were open to this possibility. The obvious hole on the team is a lack of a dominant receiver to take pressure off of Cam Newton and Greg Olsen. However that required a team to be on the brink of surrender, like the Chicago Bears were. Almost eerily there was another team like that, Smith’s Baltimore Ravens.

The Ravens are 1-5 and looking at the undefeated Bengals and successful Steelers in their own division leaving them far behind. A wild card run at this point is still possible, but unlikely. Is it not time to deal veteran pieces for draft assets to retool the team around whatever prime years Joe Flacco has left?

The Panthers are likewise in an interesting spot. They are 5-0 on the year, and this might be their shot at the title. It is not ideal without Kelvin Benjamin, but sometimes you don’t get to pick the confluences of scheduling, injuries, and the state of other teams. If the Panthers believe this is a Super Bowl team then they need to do what they can to insure that. Picking up a veteran receiver of Smith’s caliber makes a lot of sense in that respect.

However the Ravens are not selling, yet. According to reports from John Breech from CBS Sports neither Smith nor coach John Harbaugh are interested in any trade. Smith declared that he would quit if traded anywhere. Harbaugh said that he would not part with him.

That sounds sincere. Smith had umbrage with the Panthers when they released him before last season. Smith does not bury that kind of stuff, and there is proof enough in the kind of game Smith had last year against the Panthers.

Yet we have seen this song and dance before. The balloon goes up and everyone denies it. How many coaches have been fired after receiving that ‘vote of confidence’ from ownership? Later on as reality becomes more stark, the parties may be willing to consider it.