Monday Morning Thoughts: This is Fitterer's Doing
Most teams that are in a rebuild have something to look forward to -- an offseason with an opportunity to land a premier talent at the top of the draft. Not only do the Panthers not have that light at the end of the tunnel but to make matters worse, they will more than likely be giving up the No. 1 overall pick to Chicago.
For a team that desperately needs help on the offensive side of the ball, it will be painful for owner David Tepper to see on the TV screen with the first overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft via the Carolina Panthers, the Chicago Bears select...fill in the blank.
Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr., Washington WR Rome Odunze, Penn State OT Olu Fashanu, Notre Dame OT Joe Alt, and Georgia TE Brock Bowers are all prospects the Panthers would love to be in position to pick but they'll all be long gone by the time they are on the clock at the top of the second round.
I don't disagree with Scott Fitterer's decision to make the big move with Chicago to draft Bryce Young a year ago. What I would have an issue with (if I'm Tepper) is if I give you the 'okay' to make the deal, we have to put pieces around Young to make this thing successful and not become the laughing stock of the league.
Fitterer said it himself last spring that one of the reasons he felt comfortable making the trade was because "we won't be picking in the top 10 again anytime soon." Openly stating that and following it up with the worst on-field product in the league by a mile is something that is difficult to recover from.
Should Carolina get antsy next spring and feel like they have to climb back into the bottom of the first round, they will be openly admitting they are trying to correct a mistake. Giving up more draft capital because this team is so bad that it needs a first round talent clearly shows that this whole thing was mismanaged.
Looking back at the massive trades Fitterer has made, none of them have paid off. At least not yet.
Trade No. 1:
Jets receive: 2021 6th round pick, 2022 2nd round pick, 2022 4th round pick
Panthers receive: QB Sam Darnold
Analysis: At the moment of the deal being made, I thought the Panthers gave up a little too much for an unproven quarterback. Looking at it now, whew boy. It's even worse.
Trade No. 2:
49ers receive: RB Christian McCaffrey
Panthers receive: 2023 2nd round pick, 2023 3rd round pick, 2023 4th round pick, 2024 5th round pick
Analysis: The Panthers packaged the 2nd round pick in the trade with Chicago. Carolina then sent the 3rd and 4th round picks to Pittsburgh to move up to draft edge rusher DJ Johnson, who has played in just 43% of the team's defensive snaps and has been a non-factor. Woof.
Trade No. 3:
Bears receive: No. 9 overall pick in 2023, 2023 2nd round pick, 2024 1st round pick, 2025 2nd round pick, WR DJ Moore
Panthers receive: No. 1 overall pick (Bryce Young)
Analysis: The jury is still out on Bryce Young but if he ends up not being a franchise-changing quarterback and C.J. Stroud continues to do what he's doing, this will go down as one of the worst trades ever made in the NFL. Not only do you give up a receiver like DJ Moore and four draft picks, but you give that all up and potentially draft the wrong guy.
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