Did the Carolina Panthers Trade Up to Take Former Alabama QB Bryce Young?
It was fully expected that the Chicago Bears were going to trade down out of the No. 1 overall spot in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Just no one believed that the deal to be made so soon, and before the start of free agency.
Friday afternoon, the Bears sent the top pick to the Carolina Panthers for multiple first round picks, according to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter added that the Bears will receive the No. 9 pick and the No. 61 pick in 2023, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick and wide receiver DJ Moore.
The Panthers have roughly six weeks to announce their selection on April 27, but Alabama football fans are obviously hoping that it will be Bryce Young. Oddsmakers think it will be as Young was still listed as the favorite to go No. 1 after the deal was announced.
Other top candidates include C.J. Stroud of Ohio State, Will Levis of Kentucky, and maybe even former Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson, who had an impressive NFL combine last week.
The Crimson Tide hasn't had a player selected first overall since Harry Gilmer in 1948. Joe Namath was the first pick in the 1965 AFL Draft before the merger.
Baker Mayfield led the Panthers in passing last season before being released and joining the Rams. Carolina managed to finish 7-10, which had it slotted for the ninth-overall pick. The only quarterbacks currently on the Panthers roster are former Ole Miss passer Matt Corral and Jacob Eason.
"You go get the guy that you want, you know," general manager Scott Fitterer said at the combine about potentially trading up for a quarterback. "If you have a conviction on a guy, you go get him. It's pretty simple that way. If you don't know and you're going to give all these resources to go up and get it, you're hurting your team in the long run.
"You better be right. You better have conviction if you do move up. When you do that, you're all in."
The Bears have been expected to move the top pick, which they secured with a Week 18 loss to the Vikings. While the Bears struggled with injuries for much of the season on both sides of the football, it was clear that quarterback Justin Fields was coming into his own in his second professional season.
The former No. 11 pick in the 2021 draft became a bonafide dual-threat under center. Fields played 15 games for the Bears, and amassed 2,242 passing yards, 1,143 rushing yards and 25 total touchdowns.
With that decision made, the Bears elected to trade the top pick for significant draft capital, while adding another receiving threat to Fields’s arsenal in Moore.
In five seasons with the Panthers, Moore has hauled in 364 receptions for 5,201 yards and 21 touchdowns.
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