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.
Carolina Panthers will secure their franchise QB
Hello, my name is Captain Obvious and I’m here to break some news – the biggest pro of the trade is the fact that the Carolina Panthers will draft their franchise quarterback and it will be exactly who they have the most belief in. Being afforded the chance to zero in on your specific player without requiring any kind of contingency plan is a luxury.
We emphatically tell the locker room, the prospect we choose, and the fanbase all in one fell swoop – this is our quarterback. This instills such an invaluable sense of confidence and cohesiveness right away to help the rookie hit the ground running.
There will still be competition, but there’s no looking over his shoulder and worrying about the support he’ll be receiving from both the organization and his teammates. Bolster the mental fortitude right away so that this coaching staff can do precisely what they were assembled to do – develop the talented, top-tier quarterback prospect into a star.
Detractors will always be there, who say in this instance that there are no generational quarterback prospects in this draft and the cost was too rich for the move the Panthers made. Maybe. But the vast majority of great ones currently leading the way in the NFL weren’t can’t-miss prospects, either.
There’s literally no such thing as a can’t-miss prospect.
Perhaps there’s not an Andrew Luck or Trevor Lawrence-level prospect coming into the draft. But you use these top picks in the first round to draft players with special physical traits and cognitive capabilities that should help elevate them above the rest of their position, with the proper coaching and support.
C.J. Stroud has elite accuracy and throwing ability to every level of an NFL field. Bryce Young dazzles with off-script plays and pocket manipulation. Anthony Richardson is literally a record-breaking athletic prospect with perhaps the highest ceiling. Will Levis is also a prospect often mentioned with the top-three names.
Fans and members of the NFL world lauded the hiring of Frank Reich and this offensive-minded, experienced coaching staff. This staff and the front office just told us with conviction that they are comfortable sacrificing high-value future assets and a current top player if it means getting one of these prospects.
Attempt to sway the narrative however you’d like – the Panthers are getting their quarterback and they really, really like him.
Carolina Panthers lose the leadership and productivity of D.J. Moore
From a sentimental standpoint, it’s clear what D.J. Moore means to the Carolina Panthers and the fanbase. The wide receiver was a first-round pick in 2018 out of Maryland, and from the moment he stepped onto an NFL field, he was the team’s No. 1.
His first career reception went for a 51-yard touchdown. You could just feel that he was meant to be a Panther.
Moore was a reliable target for the revolving door of quarterbacks throughout his tenure in Carolina. No matter if it was the former NFL MVP throwing to him, or one of the more recent recycling initiatives the Panthers attempted to spearhead – Moore produced.
Aside from the emotional attachment, that on-field production will be missed. Especially when considering the pressure that will already be on a rookie quarterback’s shoulders.
Moore could roll out of bed and give you 60+ receptions and 1,100 receiving yards for four touchdowns. Carolina will now be asking for supporting role players like Terrace Marshall Jr. to step up their production and consistency.
The departure of Moore will put an emphasis on signing a veteran wide receiver through free agency, one would assume. Carolina may have already been looking for an experienced complementary wideout, as we outlined previously, but now they may need to allocate more funds to sign a bigger impact player to stabilize the receiving group.
Carolina Panthers can hone in on their new vision
When you’ve had this quarterback-sized hole in the heart of the team for years, it’s relatively easy to just tunnel vision and stare into that glaring weakness, minimizing other areas of need. A great example of that is the tight end position.
Since play-by-play superstar Greg Olsen left following the 2019 season, the spot has been under-utilized and under-prioritized. In a time where tight ends have seemingly become an instrumental position to offensive success in today’s NFL, the Carolina Panthers have not ambitiously explored upgrading the position.
Much of that may have been due to feeling it wasn’t necessary until the quarterback position was cemented. You may be able to make the same argument for positions like linebacker, edge rusher, safety, and wide receiver.
We’ve made some draft selections and uninspired free agent moves at the positions, but none with a clear vision. What I mean by clear vision is being able to look at a specific player as a missing piece of the puzzle because they actually fit into what you’re doing.
For as long as we’ve had the insurmountable question mark at quarterback, there’s been no way to know what the actual plan was. Sure, you want to win football games. But how? What additions can get you over the hump and into contention? It’s difficult to identify pieces to help when you can’t identify the correct quarterback?
I think this is how it all must begin. You have the rookie contract window of your quarterback to formulate these secondary questions and start answering them each year.
The Panthers are set to have a wagon full of cap space in 2024, estimated currently to be in the $140 million range. Having a year to identify the target areas for improvement while our rookie quarterback gets acclimated to the NFL, and then having the funds to make those improvements happen next year, that’s a welcomed clear path thanks to the trade for the No. 1 overall pick.
Losing future picks could prove costly for the Carolina Panthers
This is an obvious con, as draft capital is extremely valuable when building a successful football team. The higher the pick, the better probability of landing a top-tier player – at least, that’s the idea of it.
So when you trade away future early-round picks, specifically first and second-rounders, you’re trading away the probability of acquiring top-end, budget-friendly talent through the draft.
The Carolina Panthers have enjoyed nice success in recent years with their first-round draft selections. Therefore, this is a major call to make for good or bad.
The big risk and concern with trading multiple future assets for one singular player is that if he doesn’t develop into the long-term answer, you’re potentially setting the team back multiple years.
That doesn’t mean you can’t land impact players if you don’t have a first-round draft pick. It simply puts more pressure on the scouting department and front office to perform their jobs at a high level.
But to be clear, if you’re drafting a quarterback in the top portion of the draft, let alone trading up to do so, you’re making that move with the hope and intention of not finding yourself in the higher echelons for the foreseeable future. When you feel so strongly about that signal-caller, you should expect to be in the postseason and to be fighting for championships sooner than later.
Carolina Panthers’ trail of accountability is well defined
Frank Reich and Scott Fitterer just hitched their fates to this Bobby Axlerod-esque power move up to No. 1 overall. The audacity of this comes with a bult-in accountability. An accountability I, and hopefully all other Carolina Panthers fans, welcome with open arms.
The last head coach for the Panthers would wax poetically about four, five, and even seven-year plans to bring this team from the realm of constant sorrow into the warm, sunny lands mediocrity. Unfortunately, the plethora of differing approaches to staff and roster building allowed a fair amount of grey area that made it difficult to pinpoint the fatal mistakes and who was responsible for them.
This situation is cut and dry.
When the Panthers make their quarterback selection, this coaching regime and Fitterer will be able to measure their job security directly to performance results. Maybe that’s part of the reason I’m sold on the move.
I find it hard to believe that such a highly regarded quarterback mind like Reich would put his professional perception and future résumé on the line for anything less than an elite opportunity. Especially after the sour conclusion to his time with the Indianapolis Colts.
This move wasn’t a required one. Had they traded up to No. 3 overall, for argument’s sake, there could be the juxtaposition that they didn’t secure the player they coveted the most and therefore had to settle for the next best option.
Staying at No. 9 overall, it was plausible the Panthers wouldn’t even have the option of one of the top-four prospects.
Holding the keys to the castle now, the coaches and front office will also be stuck holding the bill when the time comes to evaluate whether the move was successful.