Coming off a 12-4 season, the Panthers should be looking to make one or two tweaks in order to get over the next hump. Instead, with more than 20 free agents, Carolina has a lot of work to do this offseason. That work includes remaking the wide receiver position and for the first time in more than a decade, Carolina may have to begin thinking about life after Steve Smith.
Panthers have an uncertain future at wide receiver
Ron Rivera and Dave Gettleman discussed Carolina’s wide receiver corps on Friday, including the future of Steve Smith.
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Smith is coming off a down season and was injured at the end of the year. He's played 14 years and will turn 35 this offseason. When asked at the Scouting Combine on Thursday, neither head coach Ron Rivera or general manager Dave Gettleman were decisive when discussing Smith's future.
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“We’re going through the whole process,” Gettleman said. “Steve’s had a great career. He really has. None of us are here forever. That’s just the way it is.”
Rivera was equally noncommittal and vague.
“He’s a veteran guy that’s played a lot of games for us,” Rivera said. “We’ll see. I’m at the point where we’re talking about something we don’t know a lot about.”
Smith has three years and $20 million remaining in base salary. Despite his uncertain future, high salary and declining production, Smith is likely to be part of the roster next season. He will count $7 million against the 2014 salary cap, according to Over The Cap. It would cost the Panthers $9 million in dead money to release him, so it’s cheaper for them to keep him on the roster. That changes in 2015, but that is a long way off.
Smith's status isn't the only question in the wide receiver group. Carolina wasn't especially strong at the position last season. Brandon LaFell and Ted Ginn Jr. served as the No. 2 and No. 3 receivers a year ago and now both are scheduled to hit the free agent market this offseason. Domenik Hixon is also a pending free agent, meaning Smith is the only receiver under contract for next season who caught a pass for the Panthers in 2013. No matter what the receiving corps looks like in 2014, Carolina has it's work cut to fill it.
A lot of the focus is on the draft, which is thought to be deep on receivers. While that might be the case, Rivera said receivers are coming out of specialized roles in college, which can make the transition to the NFL difficult.
“The hard thing about a lot of these receivers coming in is as you watch, a lot of these guys are in offenses where they play one position, one position only, and they run a combination of routes, and that’s it,” Rivera said. “They’re not learning to run and read on the run.”
The focus outside of the team may be on what additions the Panthers will make, but Gettleman cautioned to not overlook those currently under the radar. The Panthers signed Marvin McNutt after the season and claimed Tavarres King, adding them to the mix along with a couple of practice squad receivers.
"One of the things I learned a long time ago is often times the answer is on your roster," Gettleman said. "When I was with the Giants, none of us came out of camp in 2011 and expected Victor Cruz to have that kind of year. We signed Marvin McNutt, claimed Tavarres King. We have two kids on our practice squad, Brenton Bersin and De'Andre Presley. So before you panic, look at your roster, trust your evaluation process, a lot of times the answer's right there."
Any of those four may turn out to be excellent players, but it’s unlikely the Panthers can rely on them next season. Carolina has ground to make up in the NFC and will need more than an aging Smith and four unproven players at wide receiver to get there. Whether that means adding talent in the draft or free agency -- or both -- remains to be seen. For now, the Panthers wide receivers are an uncertainty and a work in progress.
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