The Carolina Panthers are officially on the clock. In an early evening trade with the Chicago Bears, the Panthers have moved up from the 9th overall pick to the 1st. With the NFL draft still over a month away, this is just the first in what is likely to be many blockbuster trades between now and the start of the 2023 NFL season.
Full Trade Breakdown
The Bears Receive:
2023 9th Overall Pick
2023 61st Overall Pick
2024 1st Round Pick
2025 2nd Round Pick
WR D.J. Moore (3 years remaining)
The Panthers Receive
2023 1st overall Pick
It was no secret that the Carolina Panthers were desperately in need of a new franchise quarterback. They were heavily linked to Derek Carr before he opted to sign with division rival New Orleans Saints, and with Aaron Rogers all but assuredly heading to the New York Jets, the Panthers were staring at the possibility of bringing in yet another low ceiling veteran in the hopes of scraping together enough wins to win the weak NFC South.
Instead, with an entirely new coaching staff in place, the organization has now positioned themselves to have the first shot at the new crop of quarterbacks entering the league. While new head coach Frank Reich doesn’t have the luxury of a sure thing franchise quarterback coming out of the draft, there are certainly some intriguing options for him to consider.
Alabama’s Bryce Young has long been regarded as the top quarterback in the draft. But the Panthers have reportedly made this move to select former Ohio State starter C.J. Stroud. The Panthers were stuck behind a plethora of quarterback needy teams, including the Houston Texans (#2 overall), Indianapolis Colts (#4 overall), Detroit Lions (# 6 overall), Las Vegas Raiders (#7 overall) and the Atlanta Falcons (#8 overall), so if they wanted any shot at getting a viable day 1 starter through the draft, a move had to be made.
Compensation update, per sources: Bears trading No. 1 overall pick to Carolina for:
🏈pick No. 9
🏈pick No. 61
🏈a first-round pick in 2024
🏈a second-round pick in 2025
🏈WR DJ Moore pic.twitter.com/hHrHn1UIR2— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 10, 2023
The move doesn’t come cheap for the Panthers. Along with swapping 1st round picks this draft, the Panthers will no longer hold their own 1st round pick for next season, which could prove valuable if their choice of quarterback doesn’t step in and make an immediate impact this year. They’re also giving up two 2nd round picks, which is essentially giving up a couple more starters on low salary deals. Moving D.J. Moore in the deal weakens what was already a poor wide receiver depth chart in Carolina, and raises serious questions as to who will be their #1 receiver in 2023.
Moore, who is signed on for another 3 seasons, is a no doubt #1 receiver who has put together impressive campaigns despite the poor quarterback play over the years in Carolina. Making this move early, however, does give the Panthers a shot to fill their roster holes through free agency, as they free up even more cap space before free agency opens on Wednesday.
With the Bears “earning” the number 1 pick thanks to some week 18 heroics by the Texans, the intrigue of what they would do with the pick immediately dominated Chicago sports headlines. There was the slim possibility of the Bears using that pick themselves. While the current coaching staff weren’t part of the organization when they selected Justin Fields at 11th overall, given his development under the new regime, starting over from scratch seemed like a long shot.
The Bears have effectively gutted the entire organization from the Matt Nagy era, so they have a roster full of holes that the #1 pick alone wouldn’t fill. Trading down to the 9th pick in the draft, behind that list of quarterback needy teams, all but assures them of a defensive playmaker or a plug and play offensive lineman, which are positions that the Bears desperately need.
Acquiring D.J. Moore immediately improves another weak wide receiver room as well. The Bears entered the season with Darnell Mooney as their WR1, and he finished the season with an embarrassingly low team high 493 receiving yards. Mooney is talented, but perhaps isn’t cut out to be a #1 receiver, so the addition of Moore helps him get slotted appropriately. While the Bears wasted a 2nd round pick acquiring Chase Claypool midseason, he’s also under contract for 2023 and can perhaps carve out a meaningful role while Moore demands attention from opposing defensive backfields.
The Bears have the most cap space in the league, picked up their new #1 receiver, added an additional first round pick for next year, along with the additional 2nd round picks. There’s always the possibility that they could have created a bidding war by holding onto the pick and shopping it closer to the draft, but the Bears now have a clear indication of where their franchise is headed entering free agency, and came away with a good haul.
Never a dull moment in the NFL.
-Devon Gallant
Twitter: @DevGallant
Photo: Maize & Blue Nation. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.