3 major overreactions following the Panthers trade for No. 1 pick

Carolina Panthers shouldn’t have traded D.J. Moore

Trading for the top pick of the 2023 NFL Draft was always going to be a costly move. But it is well worth it if the Carolina Panthers have conviction in who they want.

The Panthers know they want one of the top quarterbacks at No. 1 overall. But despite the confidence in the front office, people around the league are saying Carolina got fleeced in the trade because they had to surrender stud wide receiver, D.J Moore.

The former Maryland star is a great receiver. Moore has done the most he can with little help from the rest of the offense throughout the majority of his Panthers career.

But the fact of the matter is this. It is far easier to acquire a talented receiver than it is to get a true franchise quarterback. And the Chicago Bears were not trading the No. 1 overall pick to Carolina without the star wideout going their way.

No matter how good Moore has been in his career, teams without an elite signal-caller will not win championships. Carolina has been starved of one since Cam Newton’s first stint with the organization. That has been the big downfall of the Panthers every year since then.

Fans around Carolina will not forget the impact Moore had on and off the field, and he will continue to shine with his new team. But replacing him in the coming years will be easier than finding a productive signal-caller and the Panthers now have the opportunity to draft one this year.