Did Texans Almost Take Panthers Place in 'Historic' Draft Trade With Bears?

While the Texans are comfortable with their No. 2 pick, they almost saw themselves move up a spot in the the draft.

If you are a quarterback-needy team there are far worse positions to be in draft wise than holding the No. 2 overall pick, which is where the Houston Texans sit just over a month out from the draft. 

Of course, they could have the No. 1 overall pick but a 32-21 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 18 saw them slip to No. 2 while the Bears took No. 1. 

Now, though, that No. 1 pick now belongs to the Carolina Panthers following an offseason trade that saw the Bears acquire the No. 9 overall pick, receiver DJ Moore, a second-round pick this year, a 2024 first-round pick, and a second-round pick in 2025.

However, Bears general manager Ryan Poles told Peter King in Football Morning in America that he considered trading down twice, in a move that would have seen the Bears swap with the Texans to No. 2 and then trade down with the Panthers at No. 9. 

“I thought there was an opportunity to do something historically pretty cool with a trade from one to two and two to nine," Poles said. "That had potential to add more draft capital this year, and then the possibility that you’re sitting on three ones in the following year."

"That had my attention. But my gut told me to trigger on it now.” 

Rather than wait to see who the Panthers select at No. 1, the Texans could have their pick of the litter when it comes to the quarterback class. Whether that would have been C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young, or a late riser in the process, is impossible to know yet. 

For now, though, they sit at No. 2 and still have a good chance of drafting a franchise-altering quarterback while maintaining their loaded stock of draft capital. 

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