4 partners if Carolina Panthers decide to trade down from No. 8
By Luke Tucker
Washington Football Team
Currently scheduled to pick 19th is the Washington Football Team, who will in all likelihood be led by 38-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick this season. After just one year former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera was able to orchestrate the beginnings of an organizational turnaround in the nation’s capital. However, in order to take this team to the next level, his squad needs to find their quarterback of the future.
With all due respect to former Panthers Kyle Allen and Taylor Heinicke, neither are likely the long-term answers at the position, and after the failed Dwayne Haskins experiment, the WFT is back to square one. Because of that, it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to see Rivera dial up a trade with his previous employer in order to find his next franchise quarterback.
From the Panthers’ perspective though, they would almost certainly need to receive heavy compensation for such a move. Obviously, the two teams would need to swap first-round picks this year, but Carolina could possibly even net Washington’s first in 2022 as well.
That may not even be enough to convince the Panthers brass to move down into the lower half of the first round, but nonetheless could help the team continue to build for the future.
Even moving down to 19th though, Carolina could still land a quality player that fills a need on the roster. A local kid in former South Carolina Gamecock Jaycee Horn could be a potential fit at cornerback in that range, as could offensive tackles Teven Jenkins and Jalen Mayfield.
The Panthers could even look at that point to add to Sam Darnold’s arsenal of weapons by taking Penn State tight end Pat Freiermuth, who could finally serve as Greg Olsen’s heir apparent.