Let’s be honest, it hasn’t been a good couple years for Stephen A. Smith. His talk show cratered. He’s off ESPN. And the PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER basically pushed him out the door. We could call it a repudiation of the loud mouth as a media technique, but that’s not true; he’s just been replaced by other loud mouths.

(Hope you didn’t clean out his desk, Inquirer.)

But of all the career moves he’s undergone, the Inquirer’s was the weirdest. He’d been demoted, then unceremoniously dumped. Something seemed off about it, that there was more to the story. But as it turns out, there wasn’t more - and that’s a big problem for the newspaper.

As the EDITOR & PUBLISHER reports, an arbitrator has determined that Smith’s contract was unfairly broken, and that could mean a triumphant return:

The January 2008 firing of Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist Stephen Smith was unjust and violated the collective bargaining agreement with the Philadelphia Newspaper Guild, an arbitrator has ruled.

Arbitrator Richard R. Kasher ordered Philadelphia Newspapers, publisher of the Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News, to negotiate “an appropriate remedy” that could include a return of Smith as columnist and back pay, according to an account on the national Newspaper Guild’s Web site by the editor of the Guild Reporter, Andy Zipser.

The rest of the article is pure eye-glaze material, but the crux is this: the newspaper said it wasn’t a “demotion” when they altered his job title to “general assignment reporter,” which is a far cry from his usual role of columnist. But the arbitrator disagreed, especially since the move seemed to be a clever way to not honor the raise built into Smith’s contract.

Would Smith return? Maybe, if he feels like he needs the gig, but nobody wants to work in a salty relationship with their editor. Trust us, it sucks.

Besides, Smith can get a fresh start at a different paper - with back pay and the satisfaction of knowing he didn’t deserve the dismissal that hangs over his Inquirer career. It’s like getting a dishonorable discharge changed to honorable. It probably feels pretty damned good.

But worry not: this doesn’t mean he’s coming back to ESPN. Your ears are safe.