Why the Panthers Won't Trade the No. 1 Pick

Carolina can't afford to get cute.

Since the Carolina Panthers acquired the No. 1 overall pick from the Chicago Bears, there has been talk of them potentially being interested in moving down if they fall in love with two or three quarterbacks.

Although it is a very real possibility, I believe Carolina will end up staying put and making the top selection.

Here's why.

The Houston Texans (No. 2 overall) and the Indianapolis Colts (No. 4 overall) are going to be the two teams you hear the most about in terms of being interested in moving up. The problem for Carolina is, Arizona holds the third pick. Unless the Colts swap spots with the Cardinals and then trade up again to No. 1, a Panthers-Colts trade is unlikely. It just doesn't make any sense to give up what Carolina had to give up to get to No. 1, to then fall back three spots and overall, move up only five spots from their original spot on the board. Unless you get conviction on each of the top four quarterbacks (not happening) you can't afford to slide down that far. This is what makes Houston the only reasonable trade partner. 

You can't go to four, so this means you need another team to make two moves up the board. Arizona is looking to trade down, not up. They have their quarterback and feel they could slide down a spot or two and still land a quality defensive player. So you need Indy, Detroit, Seattle, Las Vegas, or some wild card to be willing to make a double move up the board. And if we're being honest, Indianapolis is probably the only team who would consider making that move.

But then again, why give up what you did only to end up not being in full control? Even if you slide down to No. 2, there's a chance that whoever Carolina has as their top-rated QB is taken by the Texans. If Fitterer makes this trade and ends up missing out on the clear QB1 of this class by trying to get cute and recoup some of the picks they lost in the Chicago trade, it would presumably put him on the hot seat.

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