Smoke on this one awhile.

The NFL labor unknowns — up to and including a lockout in March — called into being in part by Jerry Richardson very may well wind up costing the Panthers the franchise QB they so very desperately need. Andrew Luck may well elect to stay at Stanford for another year rather than wade into the murky abyss that is the NFL in 2011.

If that happens Carolina might never get the QB they need to get back to the playoffs.