Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles gave up partial ownership of the NFL offseason when he traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers.
Ryan Poles got a good return for relinquishing controlling the pre-draft trade market. The Chicago Bears will still draft in the top 10 as the Panthers swapped the No. 9 pick to move up.
The Panthers are also sending a late second-round pick (No. 61), a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second-rounder, and wide receiver DJ Moore.
Ryan Poles acquired a No. 1 wide receiver for quarterback Justin Fields (we will get to him in a bit) and now has four draft picks in this year’s top 75.
Plus, the Carolina Panthers do not project to be a playoff team in 2023 so the first-round pick next year has a good chance to be in the top 10. The Chicago Bears now have a future that includes two first-round picks in 2024, two second-round picks in 2025, and a cleaned-up salary cap.
Ryan Poles’ first major move appears on paper to be a winner. Some others came out as winners while some parties are losers in this deal.
Justin Fields is a clear winner in this deal.
Fields will be throwing to Moore, Chase Claypool, and Darnell Mooney. That is a massive upgrade over last season’s receiver corps that included N’Keal Harry, Byron Pringle, and Equanimeous St. Brown. He was given an extension, but St. Brown has no guarantee of making the team.
Moore posted three consecutive 1000 yards receiving between 2019-2021. He only gained 888 yards last season, but still had seven touchdown catches. Also, he had to deal with Carolina’s quarterback carousel. Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and PJ Walker all started games for the Panthers.
That is one reason the Panthers made the trade.
Fields now has three legit receiving targets. Yes, Chase Claypool did not perform well after coming over in a midseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Injuries and having to learn a whole new offense were big contributors to his poor performance.
Hopefully, Claypool will spend the off-season working on developing chemistry with Fields.
Mooney can go back to being a No. 2 or No. 3 receiver. He was thrust into being a top target, but he is a better fit in a supporting role.
Add in Cole Kmet’s breakout season and Fields has some weapons to move the ball downfield.
This trade also signals that Ryan Poles is all in on Justin Fields as the franchise quarterback of the Chicago Bears. There was some speculation that Poles would use the No. 1 pick on one of the quarterback prospects and move on from Fields. Ryan Poles did not draft Fields. Fields also emerged as a playmaker but still has ways to go as a pocket passer.
That is why there was a belief that Poles would reset the rookie contract clock and go with a rookie quarterback.
Instead, Ryan Poles is going to see it through with Justin Fields. Poles still needs to address the offensive line but getting Moore is the step in the right direction to help Fields realize his immense potential.
The Chase Claypool trade did not get minimized.
Claypool sort of loses in this trade. Well, at least the legacy of this trade has now been put in an interesting situation.
As of now, the Chicago Bears are the clear losers in that deal. The Steelers got the Bears’ second-round pick that turned out to pick No. 32. Normally that is the last pick of the first round but since the Miami Dolphins had to surrender their first pick because of NFL sanctions, it is now the first selection in the second round.
It means that Steelers essentially got a first-round pick for a player they took with the 49th pick in the 2020 draft. It did not help that Claypool caught only 14 passes after he arrived in Chicago.
The trade could have been mitigated had Poles been able to acquire pick No. 39 (the Panthers’ first of two second-round picks) instead of No. 61.
Poles can still mitigate the trade by packaging his two second-round picks to move up. Another way the Claypool trade can work in the Chicago Bears’ favor is Chase produces next season. With Moore in the mix, Claypool can settle in as the team’s No. 2 wide receiver. If he can produce in that role, then this trade no longer looks like a loser.
Pundits hoping the Chicago Bears would take a quarterback with the No. 1 pick lost in this deal.
There are some talking heads like Colin Cowherd or Skip Bayless that were advocating the Bears take Alabama’s Bryce Young. The reason varied from Justin Fields’ win-loss record as a starting quarterback to his issues as a pocket passer.
Colin Cowherd Gives a Cautionary Tale on Justin Fields' NFL Future https://t.co/3wYVnjZLOW
— Fox Sports 1230 THE GAMBLER (@TheGamblerRadio) January 12, 2023
Folks like Bayless just felt like Young is better than Fields.
I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: THE CHICAGO BEARS WILL ULTIMATELY REGRET NOT TAKING BRYCE YOUNG WITH THE NO. 1 OVERALL PICK. JUSTIN FIELDS IS PRETTY GOOD. BRYCE YOUNG WILL BE EXTREMELY GOOD.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 10, 2023
The main reason pundits wanted this was to just have content. Debating keeping Fields versus trading him and starting over fills airtime. It is good clickbait. The trade puts an end to any future segments.
The Arizona Cardinals came out as a big winner in this deal.
The Panthers moved up to make sure they can get their quarterback of the future. The Houston Texans pick second and need a young quarterback. The Cardinals then pick third and they are set at quarterback with Kyler Murray.
With this rookie quarterback class featuring four players worthy of a first-round selection (Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Kentucky’s Will Levis, and Florida’s Anthony Richardson), the Cardinals now sit in prime position for a team desperate to trade up get one of the four QB prospects.
The Indianapolis Colts, the Atlanta Falcons, and the Las Vegas Raiders still need a cornerstone quarterback. The Cardinals could get a nice trade package if they trade down with the Falcons or Raiders. They could get a good return if the Colts, who pick fourth, want to swap spots to secure getting one of the young quarterbacks.
Arizona sits in the same driver’s seat the Chicago Bears once sat in when it comes to controlling the draft. Well, the Cardinals need to hope all three teams fall in love with these quarterbacks.
The Colts are a clear loser because of this deal.
The Colts have tried the veteran band-aid approach to solve their quarterback issue ever since Andrew Luck surprisingly retired right before the start of the 2019 season.
Jacoby Brissett, Phillip Rivers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan have not worked out. Brissett proved he was a better backup quarterback. Rivers, Wentz, and Ryan were washed up.
With all these veteran washouts, there was a belief that Colts general manager Chris Ballard might trade up to secure the right to have his choice between Young, Stroud, Levis, or Richardson.
Now, he might be stuck with whoever is left between four–provided a team trades with the Cardinals to move ahead of the Colts.
Ballard could like all four quarterbacks so it might not be a problem being stuck with whoever is left. It also means he might love only one or two of the prospects and then must watch them come off the board.
The Colts could pass on taking a quarterback and hope to be able to draft Caleb Williams next year. The risk is not being bad enough to land the No. 1 overall pick next year. It also means rolling with Matt Ryan again, or even worse, going with Nick Foles or Sam Ehlinger.
Indianapolis has the same assets that the Panthers gave up. They could have offered wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. Then again, Pittman only has a year left on his deal and will be 27 when he hits the free-agent market.
Still, the Colts are in a spot where they must hope other teams do not jump ahead of them in the draft. They also got to hope the Panthers and Texans do not take the quarterback they truly love. Hope is not the best draft strategy. That is why the Panthers can make their hopes a reality.