Carolina Panthers Can Become Contenders With Trade For Top Pick

As hype for the 2023 NFL Draft intensifies with the start of the Scouting Combine this week, it is looking increasingly likely the Chicago Bears are ready to hold an auction for the number one overall pick.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on Monday that the Bears are “leaning toward” trading the top pick in the draft in a move that clearly makes sense for a talent-poor team that needs as many picks as possible as Chicago looks to build around quarterback Justin Fields.

The Bears will have no shortage of suitors for the pick with several quarterback-needy teams in position to make such a deal in a year where there are four signal-callers, Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis and Anthony Richardson, who many view as having the tools to make the grade at the highest level.

Of the teams in that group, there is one whose motivation for making such a move could be fueled by short-term aspirations as well as their long-term hopes.

The Carolina Panthers had a play-in game for the NFC South title in Week 18 of last season and, though they fell to defeat at the hands of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what proved to be his final regular-season game, the moves they have made since have fostered optimism the Panthers can contend in 2023 – if they can find the right quarterback.

Carolina made sure Frank Reich – fired in November by the Indianapolis Colts as their season began to unravel – was not out of work for long, making him their head coach as the permanent replacement for Matt Rhule.

A key part of Carson Wentz’s best season with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2017, Reich is renowned as a coach who gets the best out of his quarterbacks. He lived up to that reputation by succeeding in keeping the Colts in the hunt consistently despite dealing with a revolving door at the game’s most important position each season.

Working with general manager Scott Fitterer, Reich has a potential opportunity to groom one of the top signal-callers in the class, with the Panthers slated to pick ninth in the draft but possessing the ammunition to trade up.

Carolina has two second-round picks and a pair of fourth-round picks as well as a third-rounder, the Panthers having gained significant capital in the trade of Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers.

And Reich has compiled a staff that figures to be effective in helping him a young quarterback and an exciting roster to blossom.

On offense, Josh McCown brings a wealth of playing experience to the quarterback coach role while assistant head coach/running backs Duce Staley is extremely highly regarded and excelled in the same role with the Detroit Lions over the last two campaigns.

Ejiro Evero was hired as defensive coordinator having been one of the hottest assistants on the market following an excellent season with the Denver Broncos, whose defense ended 2022 ranked ninth in Expected Points Added per play, per rbsdm.com.

He takes over a defense that was 16th in yards per play allowed last year and impressed against the run, and Evero will have some extremely experienced help in the form of senior defensive assistant Dom Capers.

With Jim Caldwell – who has a 62-50 record as a head coach – serving as a senior assistant, the Panthers have a coaching staff ideally suited to helping their young team take the next step.

Between that staff and the supporting talent, the Panthers have a superb incubator for a young quarterback.

The defense has emerging stars up front – Brian Burns and Derrick Brown – and in the secondary with Jaycee Horn and Jeremy Chinn. D.J. Moore headlines an offensive skill position group that is better than it is given credit for, and the offensive line allowed a pressure rate of 17.4% that was the sixth-best in the NFL last year, according to Pro Football Reference.

The challenge for the Panthers would be putting together a package that would land them the top pick.

Carolina would obviously need to pay a substantial price but, given the support system the Panthers have in place on the field and on the sideline, their odds of vindicating such an ambitious move look to be significantly better than the likes of the Colts and the Las Vegas Raiders, who head into free agency and the draft with more flaws to address.

In the post-Tom Brady NFL, the NFC South is a wide-open division but, after a 2022 that gave reason for hope and the arrival of Reich and his staff, the Panthers have the chance to make it their own with a big move up the draft board, provided of course they settle on the right quarterback.