Quick Hits: Fitterer Talks Trading Back, Options at No. 6, Recouping Day 2 Picks + More

Carolina Panthers GM Scott Fitterer met with the media on Tuesday ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Options at six

"We have a lot of flexibility. We have a lot of different ways we can go. We don't have a day two pick, a lot of that will be driven by what happens in front of us but one thing you can expect is we're going to be aggressive looking around and seeing what we can do."

Amount of teams interested in trading up to No. 6 and chances of trading down

"There's always a lot of communication. We may talk to 15-20 teams prior to the draft. That doesn't mean everybody is going to move up. I think there's a handful of teams maybe three to four that are really serious about it. We're just keeping all of our options open, it's definitely something that we're going to look into. But if there's a good player there at six, we're just going to stay there and pick the player. We have several players on our board that help us get to six, so if there's a good player we'll stay there and pick. Without having a second or third round pick we're going to keep all options open."

If any QB is worth the No. 6 pick

"Yeah, I do think there is a talent level on a couple of them that could help us whether it's at six, whether it's moving around. If we were to pick one at six, I would feel comfortable with one of them, well, actually a couple of them at six."

How QB needy is this team right now

"We want to stabilize the quarterback position. We need consistent play out of that. I sat down with Sam [Darnold] yesterday and we talked about everything. We need to help him out as well. We need to help him out with an offensive line. I think we did a good job of keeping DJ [Moore] here and with McCaffrey and surrounding him with the talent to where he doesn't feel like he needs to make every play. But in our conversation, I said, 'hey, listen, we are going to add to this group. Through this weekend there's a pretty good chance we could add to this group.' It's open competition. It's his spot right now, but whoever can take this spot and run with it, we're going to do that. He was good with that, we're on the same page."

Preference of drafting a QB versus trading for one

"We're going to get through the draft this weekend and see what happens. We do have options outside of the draft. We like guys in the draft, so we'll just see how it plays out and we'll make the best decision for this team over the next couple of weeks."

Weighing the rookie QB market versus veteran QB market

"Obviously, it's great to go with a young guy. You want to draft one, develop him and have him be your own. There's cost effectiveness that's involved in that and you also have to ask yourself why some quarterbacks are available? Ideally, you want him through the draft but however we get him, whatever it takes to get him in the door, we'll work with him and develop him."

If there is a priority to recoup day two draft capital

"We're not going to be so focused on recouping those picks because we look at CJ Henderson as our third round pick this year. We don't want to make the mistake of just moving around, moving around. So, if there's a good player there, we'll pick him. As far as future draft capital, absolutely. You want to protect those picks. A lot of the conversations I've had with other teams over the last week has been 'hey, do you want to give up something next year in two or three to move up this year. And my answer to that has been no. We want to protect those picks, they're very valuable to us."

How far would you feel comfortable moving back in the first round

"I think the comfort level would be really in the teens. This is a large group, a unique group between that 25-50 range there are a lot of good players that are foundation-type players. You want to be disciplined not trading out of those levels, but I think the teens, if I had to put a number on it, that would probably be the most comfortable spot but you just have to weigh what's on the table at the time."

If drafting 11 players last year takes away the desire to recoup day two picks

"It's a really good point. The whole idea is we have some guys that we drafted last year, we're going to keep developing those guys. The pure volume does help with out depth. Obviously every year we want to add many more players and we're going to try and do that this year."

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