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Albert Breer on how the trade happened


Mr. Scot
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A little more about the lead up to the initial discussions...

• The Panthers’ work in the fall wasn’t over the top, but it was thorough on the quarterbacks. The scouts were out, and the position was circled for them, obviously, with both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold in contract years. GM Scott Fitterer’s exposure to the top guys was limited: He saw Will Levis and Hendon Hooker play against each other in the Kentucky–Tennessee game (ahead of the Panthers’ Halloween weekend game in Atlanta), he saw Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud play against Maryland (the day before Carolina played in Baltimore).

• That Carolina could be picking in the top 10 crystallized around that game against the Ravens, which dropped the Panthers to 3–8. Early draft meetings started soon thereafter, and that’s when the discussion on strategy began. The front office didn’t think the team was far off, and, with a little luck, wouldn’t be drafting so high, in striking distance of the top of the board, anytime soon. Also, the feeling was the roster didn’t have a ton of needs—the team could use a tight end, maybe another receiver. That balance, the brass thought, plus the haul that came for Christian McCaffrey, would give the team flexibility to get aggressive.

• Fitterer, assistant GM Dan Morgan and the scouts went to work on the quarterbacks’ tape when the season ended, and then had new head coach Frank Reich, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown dive in with them once the staff was assembled. By the time they packed up for the combine, logically, they’d have to get to a comfortable level with at least a couple of the quarterbacks to justify having real discussions about moving to the top of the draft.

• The Panthers got there, and Reich was a big-time resource in helping find the way—his ability to see the tape through a quarterback’s eyes helped the front office get a cleaner read on Stroud, Levis, Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson, as well as a better feel for how each quarterback moved, felt the game and saw the field. Then, and now, the Panthers got conviction on a couple of the quarterbacks. They’ll keep working on all four and try to figure out whether there’s another one they gain a similar strong feeling for.

• Poles and Fitterer met first in Poles’s room at the Hyatt, and again later at Lucas Oil Stadium, more informally, after running into each other before prospect workouts. The Panthers showed motivation to get something done by being direct—going early would give Carolina a chance to fully vet every quarterback, and do it out in the open—but Fitterer also told Poles he could be patient, if that’s what it took. The two resolved to keep the lines of communication open, with both talking to other teams about trades as well.

• The Bears talked to Houston about dropping from No. 1 to No. 2, but it was a little unclear whether the Texans were ready to pull the trigger. (The idea appealed to the Bears because of the idea that they could trade down twice.) One other team seemed serious about coming up, with a fourth team also throwing its hat in late—but talks with the Panthers were advancing faster than with the other three.

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This is what I thought we’d see from Peter King, but appears he’s passed the torch down to Breer.

Ive stated it multiple times I hated trading D.J away but at the end of the day, we did what we had to do so this franchise can finally end this terrible cycle and pounce at a rare opportunity to pick their number 1 choice at QB, when there’s more than 1 guy potentially worthy.

This is the first offseason where the team has basically done everything I’ve wanted them to and it’s been amazing to see.

Now let’s go get Dalton Schultz, Jakobi Meyers and Adam Thielen!

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8 minutes ago, rayzor said:

people who think that we could have gotten out of that trade with DJ still wearing a panther uni or that we gave up too much have to realize it wasn't just about us moving up to 1, it was giving the bears incentive to trade down to 9. that's quite a leap so the cost was going to have to be high.

yes.  Fields needs the WR now, not in 2024 or 2025. They wanted to know that they had him before free agency.  It makes sense.

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