"I don't know if Steve Smith will be a Carolina Panther next season. I do know that he went to the house of Panthers owner Jerry Richardson late last season and asked to be traded. Multiple sources confirm it.

Smith is still capable of being an elite receiver. But he was not elite, as a receiver or as a teammate, last season. At 32, he will not be elite much longer.

A Panther since he was drafted in 2001, Smith was entitled to ask for a trade. A source - singular this time - says his teams of choice are San Diego and Baltimore.

Although Smith, and not Julius Peppers, is the best player in Carolina history, the Panthers aren't obligated to trade him. It's not as if there's a lifetime achievement award he can parlay into a Get Out of Charlotte Free card.

Depends what the Panthers can get for him. A third-round pick feels insufficient.

I'd like to see Smith stay. Every Panther and former Panther I talked to before the draft wanted Carolina to invest the first pick on Cam Newton.

Smith is smart, works hard, understands the game, and would constitute a superb Welcome Committee for Cam. But Smith wants to win, and win now.

I assume the Panthers will shop him. If I'm San Diego, or New England, I jump.

There's also this: Charlotte is more than a place that Smith plays. As much as any athlete in our town, he has dug in. This is evident Friday afternoon at the South End Fieldhouse, where 300 members of the Boys