Over this past weekend, Panthers legendary wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. was on hand at the NFL Combine and made waves with one of his hot takes on the Carolina Panthers. During the combine, the other commentators discussed what the Panthers should do this off-season in order to rebuild and Smith Sr. had a master plan laid out. The first topic was if the Panthers should take a quarterback with the No. 7 pick, but Smith didn't really seem to care too much for that idea.

"They have so many other areas outside of that that they have to deal with and also a changing of the guard. A new owner, a new head coach, a new offensive coordinator, a new defensive coordinator. They've got some guys in free agency - some players that are long in the tooth as they say, that may not get the tenders or may not get resigned. With the old regime, we would expect they won't get resigned now. The fans have to be very patient because I particularly think it's going to be ugly before it gets pretty."

Earlier this month, we took a look at both the offensive and defensive free agents and projected what the Panthers should do with each one respectively. As Smith Sr. said, I would expect the Panthers to let the majority of them walk and free up some cap space and get younger by doing so. Carolina needs to find a replacement for Luke Kuechly and that is step one for Smith's plan.

"They have to get two quarterbacks. Meaning, one on offense for the future for when Cam [Newton] steps down and for their defense with missing Luke Kuechly. Luke Kuechly was that quarterback for that defense. He knew everything, he watched a lot of film. Then you lost Thomas Davis as well so you have to get two foundations, two pillars for your offense for the future and also for Luke Kuechly with him retiring."

A guy that they could be looking at to fill that void is Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons. He's a versatile guy that can do it all, but may not be on the board when the Panthers are on the clock. Although it's not the team's biggest need, Smith does feel like the team needs to bolster their receiving corps.

"Here's the other thing and people may take it the wrong way, but they need to solidify a legitimate No. 1 wide receiver. D.J. Moore is a No. 2, Curtis Samuel is a No. 2(B) and they also need a blocking tight end and a tight end that can actually get open with the absence of Greg Olsen. Ian Thomas is an athletic tight end, but he's not the tight end of the future for them."

The Panthers only have three tight ends on the roster after they decided to waive Marcus Baugh. Ian Thomas, Chris Manhertz and Temmarrick Hemingway are all inexperienced tight ends and none of which truly have the x-factor in them to become a real threat in an NFL offense. Another idea for Carolina is for them to draft LSU tight and Charlotte area native, Thaddeus Moss. Unfortunately for Moss, he will have to undergo surgery this off-season, but the injury is expected to not hurt his draft stock.

Lastly, the other big need the Panthers need to fill according to Smith Sr. is rebuilding the offensive line.

"They also have some offensive lineman on their roster who are not agile, who are not the type of offensive lineman that Matt Rhule likes to use in a running game. These are guys that are really stiff in the hips. Greg Little is a tackle, but I believe he's better suited as a guard because he hasn't done it for them at tackle."

If the Panthers elect to build the trenches through the draft, they could eye up Georgia's Andrew Thomas or Louisville's Mekhi Becton.

The first year of the rebuild is about to take place and the Panthers have a ton of decisions to make and it all begins with free agency starts this month.

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