Chicago Bears trade first overall pick to the Carolina Panthers
After what seems like forever, the Chicago Bears have finally made the decision to move their first overall pick. After the Houston Texans unexpectedly beat the Indianapolis Colts the final week of the season, the 3-14 Chicago Bears were awarded the first overall pick for the 2023 NFL Draft.
There has been a lot of back and forth about what they should do with it. Majority of people thought the Bears should trade it away for more assets, which would mightily help their rebuild. While others thought they should keep that pick and take one of the top defensive talents or even a quarterback. Safe to say those people were wrong. Justin Fields clearly proved most of his doubters wrong this past season as he showed major flashes.
Personally, I think that Justin Fields will be the franchise quarterback Chicago has been looking for as long as they get him protection, more weapons, and upgrade that defense. But with this trade, the Chicago Bears fill one of those holes as they acquire wide receiver, D.J. Moore. Not only do they upgrade their wide receiver room and gain more assets, but they show people they are fully in on Justin Fields being their guy.
FULL TRADE DETAILS:
Carolina Panthers receive:
2023 1st overall pick
Chicago Bears receive:
WR D.J. Moore
2023 9th overall pick
2023 61st overall pick
2024 first-round pick
2025 second-round pick
With all of this being said, what do these teams do with these newly acquired picks? There is no doubt that the Panthers will take a quarterback. But which one do they go with? They could go with either Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson, or even Will Levis. There doesn’t seem to be a clear number 1 quarterback in this draft, so it is very possible they don’t make their decision until right before the draft. It should be very interesting to see what route they go, as their new head coach and general manager both seem to have their eyes set on separate quarterbacks.
The Chicago Bears have a few different routes they can go here. They could consider trading back again or just going with the best player available since they have several holes to be filled. I expect some of their options to be one of the top wide receivers, one of the two best offensive tackles, or an edge rusher. Either way, Chicago can’t go wrong with this pick; there are so many options for them. The Chicago Bears are going to have a very bright future ahead of them as long as they capitalize on their draft picks and pick up the right free agents while having the most cap space of all teams.