Trade back? The Panthers will look at it. What history shows the Panthers could get.
.JPG "Carolina Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer speaks during a press conference at the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)")
The Carolina Panthers’ front office and coaching staff have spent hours interviewing prospects at the NFL combine, figuring out what they’ll do with the sixth pick.
While taking a top-notch offensive lineman with that pick seems to be the direction they are heading in, trading back is also a possibility.
“Oh, yeah. We can definitely look at that,” Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer said when asked whether trading back was a realistic option. “Now if there’s a franchise-type player sitting there and we think he can be a cornerstone for us the next 10 years, we’re going to take him.
“You don’t pass on a really good foundation piece. However, if there’s opportunities or the compensation is so much you can’t pass on it, we’ll always go back and look at other options, because there’s a lot of good players in this draft.”
The 2022 NFL draft is heavy with offensive linemen. And that’s what Carolina needs most. N.C. State’s Ikem Ekwonu, Alabama’s Evan Neal and Mississippi State’s Charles Cross are ideal candidates for Carolina at No. 6. Those tackles are said to be ahead of the rest of the tackles in this class.
But the Panthers also don’t have enough picks to fully address all of their needs. After their sixth pick, they don’t pick again until the fourth round. They traded away their 2022 second-round pick in the trade for Sam Darnold, and their third round pick in a trade for cornerback C.J. Henderson.
Trading back could help recoup at least one of the picks they gave away.
If Ekwonu, Neal and Cross are all off the board by six, trading back might be their best option.
The Panthers’ best trade partners are teams looking for quarterbacks. There are a number of teams who could benefit from drafting a quarterback, but the most well-known teams are the Denver Broncos (ninth pick), Washington Commanders (11th pick), who have been searching for a quarterback for years, New Orleans Saints (18th pick), who are still looking to fill Drew Brees’ shoes, and the Pittsburgh Steelers (20th pick), who recently lost Ben Roethlisberger to retirement.
Teams rarely trade with their division rivals, so the Panthers best potential trade partners could be the Broncos, Commanders and the Steelers.
Here is what trades with those teams could look like based on past history:
A trade with Washington?
History shows that Carolina could potentially get a lot in a trade with Washington, despite moving back only five spots.
In 2021, the Philadelphia Eagles traded back six spots with the Miami Dolphins, who wanted Jaylen Waddle. They got the Dolphins’ fourth-round pick for their own fifth-round pick, as well as the Dolphins’ 2022 first round pick.
Getting a potential 2023 first-round pick could be beneficial in the Panthers’ pursuit for a franchise quarterback if they are unable to get one this offseason.
In 2018, the Buccaneers traded back five spots with the Bills from No. 7 to No. 12, also giving away their seventh rounder. Along with the 12th pick, the Bucs got two second-round picks from the Bills. The Bills needed a quarterback and took Josh Allen, which has worked out for the Bills.
A trade with Pittsburgh?
The Steelers also appear to be all-in on finding a quarterback in this draft. And while they could likely draft one at No. 20, trading up to get the quarterback they desire would make more sense, especially with Washington wanting one, too.
Fitterer said that the Panthers wouldn’t trade back unless the package was too much to pass up.
But any trade from No. 20 to No. 6 would have to come at a steep price.
In 2017, Kansas City moved up from No. 27 to No. 10 to get Patrick Mahomes. They gave up their 27th pick, a third-round pick and a future first-round pick in the trade.
In 2011, the Browns traded back with the Falcons from No. 6 to No. 26. The Falcons wanted wide receiver Julio Jones. In return, the Browns got the 27th pick, a second-round pick, a fourth-round pick and a future first- and fourth-round pick.
It was a historic trade that actually worked out in the Falcons’ favor at the time.
Moving back 14 spots is a far drop in the draft. At that point, the Panthers believe the talent level drops off some when it gets past the 19th pick.
So the compensation the Panthers would receive in a potential trade would have to outweigh the loss in talent.
A trade with Denver
The Broncos drafted Drew Lock in 2019, but he hasn’t worked out for them. And former Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was just OK in 2021 for Denver.
While the Broncos don’t have to draft a quarterback, it still remains in the cards.
The Panthers could trade trade back three spots with Denver.
Trading back only three spots would be the least likely scenario for the Panthers. For the Broncos, there may be little incentive for them to want to trade up. Of the eight teams ahead of them, only the Panthers need to address quarterback.
It would also be hard to imagine the Panthers passing up on one of the top tackles in the draft just to move back three spots.
In 2006, Denver traded with the St. Louis Rams to move up four spots from No. 15 to No. 11, and took quarterback Jay Cutler. In the trade, the Rams also got a third round pick in return.
There are still eight weeks left until the draft, and free agency begins later this month. That’ll have an impact on what happens next for Carolina, as well.
But given the fact that the Panthers still have many holes on offense and only one pick within the first three rounds, trading back isn’t a bad idea.
A lot will depend on who is still available at No. 6 for the Panthers and what other teams are willing to part give up in a trade.
History shows that the Panthers can get a lot.
Panthers picks in 2022
The Panthers have six picks in the 2022 draft, including their own first- and fifth-rounders, the Rams’ fourth (from a trade with Houston), the Jaguars’ fifth-rounder, the Raiders’ sixth-rounder, and the Titans’ seventh-rounder (from a trade with Miami).
This story was originally published March 6, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
