Ravens WR Steve Smith to retire after this season

“I want to enjoy the journey”.

When asked if Smith deserved to have his No. 89 Panthers jersey officially retired (no current member wears it), Kalil added he was in “that conversation” as well. He informed teammates Monday before practice at training camp.

“All my chips are on the table”, Smith said. Even though the breakup was ugly, the Panthers franchise should make an effort to retire Smith’s number within their ranks. As fate would have it, Smith did return to Carolina as a Baltimore Raven in Week 4 of the 2014 season. After only starting one game as a rookie, Smith only played in seven games where he wasn’t the starting receiver since.

“I feel like it’s time”. “I don’t want to hold on”. “Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver to ever play. So me and my family decided that basically after this season this is my last season”.

“Let me tell you something: I’m playing with house money”, he said. I might be jeopardizing one thing. “I don’t know what that is, and I have no intentions of finding out”. However, roughing up the team’s $100-million cornerstone player probably isn’t the best way to start proving that. It should be noted that eight different quarterbacks threw passes to Smith in those eight 1,000-yard seasons.

Steve Smith Sr., along with his net worth value, is now under scrutiny after his retirement announcement on August 10. He’ll likely use the 2015 to put an exclamation point on a career that could well see him enshrined in Canton when all is said and done. He has the third-most receiving yards in the NFL since entering the league in 2001. On the NFL’s all-time lists, he’s now No. 18 in receptions, No. 14 in receiving yards and No. 33 in touchdowns.

Now comes the moment in time where analysts and experts must lament. Does the brash and often outspoken receiver have enough of a case to land him in Canton one day as a Hall of Famer? There’s no question about that. That season he was a key contributor on a Super Bowl squad which would eventually fall to the New England Patriots dynasty.

“If that is going to be the top, that is going to be the most effective place to finish”, Smith stated. Looking back over the years, there’s a lot of things he’s missed out on, obviously not because he chose that but just because of his job and his line of work. Those efforts landed him on the NFC Pro Bowl roster as a return specialist.

The departure of Smith, who has taken on more of a leadership role this year, will leave a void.

Cundiff spent the past two seasons with the Cleveland Browns; he made 22 of 29 field goal attempts previous year.

While the 36-year-old wideout is still productive (79 catches for 1,065 yards and six touchdowns), he said he’s been thinking about this for months.