The Carolina Panthers are adding to their wide receiving corps ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET 53-man roster deadline. Per CBS Sports NFL Insider Jonathan Jones, the Panthers are trading for Kansas City Chiefs wideout Ihmir Smith-Marsette. The two teams are swapping 2025 conditional seventh-rounders.
Smith-Marsette caught nine passes for 195 yards and two touchdowns in three preseason games played this year. His 195 receiving yards ranked second behind Austin Watkins Jr. of the Cleveland Browns, who caught 16 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns in four exhibition games played.
The Iowa product was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2021 NFL Draft. He was cut ahead of the regular season in 2022 and claimed by the Chicago Bears, but was again waived just a month later. From there, Smith-Marsette made his way to the Chiefs practice squad. In 16 NFL games played, Smith-Marsette has caught six passes for 131 yards and four touchdowns.
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Smith-Marsette was facing stiff competition in the Chiefs' receiver room, which includes Skyy Moore, Richie James, Justyn Ross, Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Kadarius Toney and rookie Rashee Rice. That's not to say Carolina is lacking in pass catchers. No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young has D.J. Chark, Terrace Marshall Jr., Adam Thielen, Jonathan Mingo and Laviska Shenault Jr., but the group has been dealing with some injuries as of late. General manager Scott Fitterer identified Smith-Marsette as a player he didn't want to allow to hit waivers, but with the price tag being a future conditional seventh-round pick swap, that does not mean his spot on the regular-season roster is guaranteed.
