Panthers trade for speedy wide receiver with return ability in swap with Chiefs
The Panthers have made a trade with the defending Super Bowl champions ahead of Tuesday’s cut deadline.
Carolina and Kansas City will swap conditional 2025 seventh-round picks in a trade that will send wide receiver/return Ihmir Smith-Marsette from the Chiefs to the Panthers. Smith-Marsette, who turned 24 on Tuesday, was a member of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVII team last season.
Smith-Marsette is coming off an impressive preseason run, as he caught nine passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in three exhibition games this month.
Smith-Marsette is known for his speed. The Iowa alum has only appeared in 16 career games, but has averaged 21.8 yards per catch on six career receptions for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He also has returned five kickoffs for 100 with a 20 yards per return average.
At Iowa, the Newark, New Jersey, native averaged 28.7 yards per kickoff and scored twice on returns as a junior. Smith-Marsette has strictly been a kick returner during his college and NFL careers with no punt returns on his resume.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound receiver was a 2021 fifth-round pick of the Minnesota Vikings. He played his rookie season in Minnesota before splitting last season between Chicago and Kansas City.
Smith-Marsette’s acquisition puts the Panthers’ roster at 80 players just hours before the 53-man roster limit ahead of the 4 p.m. deadline. Smith-Marsette is likely to be the Panthers’ sixth or seventh receiver on the roster, as the team monitors injuries for DJ Chark (hamstring), Terrace Marshall (back) and Laviska Shenault (concussion).
With Chark, Marshall, Shenault, Adam Thielen and second-round pick Jonathan Mingo making up the foundation at the position, Smith-Marsette will likely battle for snaps in specific packages and try his hand in the return game.
Smith-Marsette’s arrival could impact the respective statuses of Derek Wright, Shi Smith and possibly running back Raheem Blackshear.
This story was originally published August 29, 2023 at 7:43 AM.
