Dan Morgan has made no secret that the Carolina Panthers are open for business at No. 8 overall in the 2025 NFL Draft. That might be the case, but one league insider believes he'll find moving back difficult when push comes to shove.
The Panthers have nine selections as things stand. That's not a bad starting point by any stretch of the imagination, but Morgan is eager for more. And the best way to extract maximum value is in the first round.
Speculation rose around a team potentially wanting to jump ahead of the New Orleans Saints for quarterback Shedeur Sanders after Derek Carr's shoulder injury became public knowledge. Morgan said the Panthers would be ready and waiting, so there's arguably no more team receptive to offers in the top 10, looking at the current landscape.
NFL insider believes Carolina Panthers will struggle to trade out of the No. 8 pick
Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated poured cold water on the Panthers' trade-down dreams with a harsh reality check. He believes moving out of the top 10 is going to be a struggle this year. The perceived lack of elite-level prospects, coupled with the gap not being great between most first-round projections, are big reasons why.
"One thing that's real obvious—Gonna be very difficult to trade down for teams in the Top 10 this year. Lots of teams in that range would like to. But with a class where the difference between 5 and 15 or even 4 and 20 is negligible, tough to see what teams would come up for."Albert Breer
That might be the case. It's projected as a deep draft class to find starters, but there aren't many blue-chip prospects aside from Abdul Carter, Travis Hunter, and Mason Graham. That doesn't work in Morgan's favor, but there's one big element Breer failed to mention.
Positional importance. And desperation.
It's not a great quarterback group. Cam Ward is going No. 1 overall to the Tennessee Titans, but all bets are off aside from that. The New York Giants hold the cards at No. 3. If they don't take Sanders, it's all systems go for those who believe he can become a long-term option under center.
Sanders is the betting favorite to go No. 9 overall to the Saints. If someone believes in the Colorado prospect enough, calling the Panthers one pick earlier would be a good place to start.
As Morgan stated, all it takes is one team to fall in love with one prospect to strike a deal. The Panthers will be working the phones before and when they go on the clock. Whether they get a good enough offer to shift a few spots down the pecking order remains to be seen.
It seems as if Sanders holds the key. Unless a team is 100 percent convinced he can be a franchise-caliber presence under center, the Panthers could be forced to stand pat. That probably isn't Morgan's first preference, but he'll roll with the punches accordingly.
More importantly, he'll have the team's best interests at heart. That sounds like the minimum requirement, but it hasn't always been the case where the Panthers are concerned.