CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The Carolina Panthers spent much of 2017 trying unsuccessfully to replace the speed of Ted Ginn Jr.
Now they are trying again _ this time by giving more money per year to the guy they are trying to get to replace Ginn than it would have cost to keep Ginn in the first place. And they have traded away one of their starting cornerbacks to boot.
So the logic seems somewhat convoluted, and the price is pretty darn high. But the deal still makes sense, assuming Torrey Smith does what he should.
Smith is a veteran big-play threat at wide receiver who is old enough to have been picked in the same draft as Cam Newton, in 2011. Like Curtis Samuel or Damiere Byrd, Smith can really fly. What he has shown that they haven't, however, is the ability to stay on the field.
Smith has missed only 12 games in his seven NFL seasons. Byrd and Samuel _ who both had repeated auditions for the "speed guy" role in Carolina's offense in 2017 and will again have lots of chances to play in 2018 _ each missed roughly half of the 2017 season due to various injuries.
As for the loss of cornerback Daryl Worley in this high-profile trade with Super Bowl champion Philadelphia, I don't mind that. Smith is the sort of guy Worley struggles to guard one-on-one _ in reality, he struggled to guard a lot of guys one-on-one. And the Panthers have to favor offense over defense to a degree in this offseason if they are really going to surround Cam Newton with more weapons, as they have repeatedly said they would do.
I ultimately don't think Worley will start for the Eagles, and I'm not at all sure he would have started for Carolina in 2018, either. He has never been as consistent of a player as James Bradberry _ the Panthers drafted Bradberry and Worley together in 2016 in the second and third rounds, respectively.
The easiest way to have done this, of course, would have been just to have paid Ginn in the first place a year ago.
Smith will make $5 million for each of the next two seasons. Ginn signed a three-year, $11 million deal with New Orleans before the 2017 season because the Panthers wouldn't pay him that much, so he is averaging about $3.67 million per year. Then Ginn proceeded to burn the Panthers repeatedly in 2017 as the Saints handed Carolina three of their six losses (including the playoffs, when Ginn hauled in an 80-yard touchdown against his old team).
The Ginn decision was made by former general manager Dave Gettleman, of course, while Marty Hurney is responsible for the Smith-Worley trade. This one is a risk worth taking. Yes, Smith drops some balls, but Ginn did that, too. The key thing is that Smith gets open enough that he gets the ball thrown to him in the first place. He's never going to be a 1,000-yard receiver, but he will relieve some pressure on Newton.
