5 pros and cons of the Carolina Panthers trade for No.1 overall pick
By Ricky Raines
What are the pros and cons of the Carolina Panthers’ trade-up to acquire the No. 1 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft?
The NFL Draft is the big ticket of the offseason. Fans will spend months reading countless articles presenting best and worst-case scenarios, they’ll run their own mock drafts, and engage in debates about which prospect is better – all the while having no real idea of what their team is going to be able to pull off come the day of reckoning.
Not us. Not Carolina Panthers fans in 2023.
The front office and Frank Reich have made their commitment to landing a franchise signal-caller known with absolute certainty, trading up to acquire the No.1 overall pick from the Chicago Bears. Our stay at Hotel Quarterback Purgatory is finally coming to an end.
No more band-aids and bridges, no more game managers, and no more reclamation projects. We’re going to swing for the fences this year and draft our future quarterback.
While I do personally believe that the chance of landing a high-caliber starting man under center is worth the risk, there is still a quantitative price of doing business. In this instance, that price tag was the swap of 2023 first-round picks, Carolina’s No. 61 overall this year, their 2024 first-round pick, 2025 second-rounder, and wide receiver, D.J. Moore.
Did the Panthers make the correct move? Ultimately, only time will tell. But for now, let’s look further into the pros and cons of the blockbuster trade.