Grading the Kyle Allen Trade: Who Got the Better End of the Deal?

Full analysis behind the Kyle Allen trade to the Redskins

Carolina Panthers GM Marty Hurney has been extremely active on this fine Monday as he has made several roster moves. He signed linebacker Tahir Whitehead away from the Las Vegas Raiders and also made some shuffling at the quarterback position.

Hurney's first move was to sign XFL star quarterback, P.J. Walker, who played his college ball at Temple under Panthers first-year head coach Matt Rhule. Just a couple hours after signing Walker to a two-year deal, Carolina agreed to trade backup quarterback Kyle Allen to the Washington Redskins in exchange for a fifth-round draft pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Now, the Panthers have four quarterbacks on the roster (Cam Newton, Teddy Bridgewater, Will Grier and P.J. Walker). Of course this will likely dwindle down to three once the Panthers decide on how to move Newton off the roster. 

Carolina used a third round pick on Will Grier a year ago and even though he struggled in his two outings, they seem to still have hope that he can eventually develop into being "the guy." Giving up on a third round pick after one year, at any position, is too premature. Signing Bridgwater to a short-term deal was a solid move as it gives the younger quarterbacks on the roster time to sit and develop, instead of being thrown to the wolves early in their career and putting them in a position to fail. 

As for Walker, he is a project. Yes, he displayed some really quality production in the XFL, but he still has a lot to prove. He was unable to hold on with the Indianapolis Colts during his last stint in the NFL, so don't expect for him to immediately lockup the backup role.

Now, moving our attention to the trade, did the Panthers get the better end of the deal? 

Absolutely. 

Trading Kyle Allen for a draft pick was something that I thought was nearly impossible, yet they were able to pull it off. Carolina only had seven draft picks (one per round) prior to this trade and in the midst of a rebuild, accumulating draft picks is important. 

For Washington, this is a solid move, but not the move many were expecting. Ron Rivera needs someone to push Dwayne Haskins for the starting job and maybe even someone who can sit and allow him to watch and learn - acquiring Kyle Allen was not what came to mind. There were some talks that Washington may have had interest in Cam Newton , which would have made more sense, but the health concerns conceivably scared them off from pursuing him. As a backup plan, they were able to still acquire someone who has been in Rivera's system, which is something that seemed to be a priority of theirs.

Grade: A

Carolina needs to stock up as many draft picks as possible to give this rebuild a bit of a boost. Allen was a serviceable quarterback, but was never going to be the face of the franchise. 

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