Carolina Panthers WR touted as potential in-season trade target for AFC juggernaut

Carolina Panthers wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. was touted as a potential in-season trade candidate for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2023.

The Carolina Panthers are expecting big things from Terrace Marshall Jr. this season. After offering almost nothing over his first two NFL campaigns thanks in no small part to Matt Rhule's complete incompetence, things finally began looking up for the wide receiver over the second half of 2022. Something that can hopefully be the start of great things moving forward.

Marshall has the chance to show everyone why the Panthers ignored other needs to take him at No. 59 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. There also happens to be an opening for the top spot within the wideout room after Carolina traded D.J. Moore to the Chicago Bears in the package that secured Bryce Young earlier this spring.

This is something that hasn't gone unnoticed by Marshall. The one-time LSU stud was seen staying behind after almost every practice to work on his craft and also joined his teammates at SMU for three pre-camp sessions in pursuit of improving chemistry with Young and veteran free-agent signing Andy Dalton.

Could the Carolina Panthers trade Terrace Marshall Jr.?

Many are expecting the Panthers to make some noise under Frank Reich and his exceptional staff team in 2023. But a worst-case scenario could also emerge where things take a little longer in terms of emerging as a legitimate postseason challenger.

The notion was discussed recently by Matt Conner from Arrowhead Addict, who named Marshall as a potential in-season trade candidate for the Kansas City Chiefs if Carolina begins freefalling despite so many positive changes.

"If the season starts to slip away on a team that's starting all over, Marshall would likely be best served on the trade block as he enters the second half of his rookie deal. A team like the Panthers should be acquiring future draft assets as they can to stockpile the roster for Young's first few years in the league. For the Chiefs, Marshall would be the sort of Kadarius Toney-like grab for this year, a way to grab cost-controlled young talent and keep the wide receiver room as deep as possible while also evaluating a talented player up close if given a change of scenery. If Marshall could step into the shoes of someone like MVS, the cost savings there could be tremendous."

- Matt Conner, Arrowhead Addict

Marshall catching passes from NFL MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes would likely propel him to superstardom. But there is no way the Panthers aren't going to give him a full season within Reich and Thomas Brown's dynamic offensive scheme before doing anything drastic.

Parting ways with promising players such as Marshall at the first sign of trouble is the sort of hair-trigger response associated with the previous regime. Carolina is doing business a little differently these days, so the Chiefs will have to look elsewhere in their hypothetical quest to swindle a top-tier talent from one of the league's bottom-feeders for next to nothing.

If Marshall cannot meet expectations and become Carolina's primary pass-catching option next season, those in power will have no option but to make adding a big name among their top priorities. But for now, hopes remain high that the motivated player can seize his moment en route to a breakout campaign.