Panthers, Patriots Have Done 'Some Groundwork' for Potential Trade
Since the first day that Scott Fitterer was named GM of the Carolina Panthers, there's been a lot of belief that Carolina would be open to trading back in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft. Fitterer has openly stated a couple of times now that they will look at all options and will consider moving down in the draft.
Fitterer says they have already spoken to five different teams about trading back with each of them being at different areas of the first round. If Carolina does pull the trigger on a trade to move back, don't expect them to fall outside of the top 15 or so picks. Fitterer has a certain "level" that he wants to remain in with their 1st round selection and does not want to fall out of that in a trade.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, one of those teams that Carolina has had conversations with is the New England Patriots who might be interesting in making a move to get Ohio State QB Justin Fields. Considering that Pat Stewart, Carolina's Director of Player Personnel once worked in New England, and it's within that top 15 level a deal between the Panthers and Patriots.
Potential players the Panthers could consider at No. 15 would be OT Rashawn Slater (Northwestern), LB Micah Parsons (Penn State), CB Jaycee Horn (South Carolina), OT Christian Darrisaw (Virginia Tech), OL Alijah Vera-Tucker (USC), CB Greg Newsome II (Northwestern), and CB Caleb Farley (Virginia Tech).
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