Panthers get a quarterback, trade up to pick Matt Corral in NFL draft
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The Panthers traded up late to the third round Friday night and got their potential quarterback of the future.
The Panthers traded their fourth round pick (No. 137) and their 2023 third-round pick to the New England Patriots for their third round pick (No. 94) in this year’s draft and with it took Mississippi quarterback Matt Corral. Carolina had considered Corral among the top three quarterbacks in this draft class.
In 2021, Corral threw for 3,342 yards, rushed for 614 and totaled 31 touchdowns. He’s only 6-feet tall but his athleticism helps him create off-script plays.
“He was a guy we considered taking in any round, so to get him here is a win for the Panthers,” coach Matt Rhule said.
Corral’s slide to the third round was a bit of a surprise, as it was for other quarterbacks in this draft. Though this draft was viewed as an off year for quarterbacks, some draft experts had Corral going as high as the late first round and early second round.
“It was definitely an emotional roller coaster for sure,” Corral said Friday night. “But you’ve just got to control what you can control. I feel like I put my best foot forward.”
In fact, all of the quarterbacks fell in this draft.
Kenny Pickett was the first quarterback to come off the board at No. 20. The next quarterback drafted, Desmond Ridder, wasn’t drafted until the third round. Corral was the fourth quarterback to come off.
Fitterer said Thursday night that the Panthers would consider trading up into Day 2. But he added that it would have to make sense. They tried to get into Round 2, however, teams were asking for far more than what the Panthers were willing to give up.
So they waited. And when it was time, they made the trade with New England.
Drafting a quarterback also decreases the likeliness that the Panthers will trade for Jimmy Garoppolo or Baker Mayfield, unless either were to be on a cheap deal. The Panthers had discussions with the Browns for a potential trade, but they never came to fruition.
One of the biggest issues all along was how much salary the Browns would be willing to take on.
“We came into this weekend with getting a quarterback in mind,” Fitterer said, when asked were they out of the veteran trade market. “And we did that. We feel good about adding Matt (Corral) to this group with Sam (Darnold) and P.J. (Walker)and that was our goal for the weekend.”
When pressed further about being out, Fitterer said “I would never put an absolute on anything.”
“I think we’re really happy with the group we have, and we’re going to go with this group.”
Finding a future franchise quarterback has been one of the biggest priorities for this team since it parted ways with Cam Newton for the first time in 2020.
The Panthers’ staff spent a lot of time with Corral. They were in full force at his pro day last month, sending Rhule, offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo, Fitterer, assistant general manager Dan Morgan and more.
Corral then visited the Panthers earlier this month on his top-30 visit.
Entering the draft, Carolina was without a Day 2 pick after trading both away in the Sam Darnold trade last year and the C.J. Henderson trade in September. Fitterer said the Panthers view Henderson as their third-round pick this year.
For their first-round pick, the Panthers took former N.C. State offensive tackle Ikem ‘Ickey’ Ekwonu at sixth overall.
Ekwonu, a Charlotte native, was expected to go as high as No. 1, but he fell after a string of defensive players came off the board in the first five picks.
“To think we would have no picks and end up with (Corral) in the third round to go along with Ickey is really well done by, not just Scott, but the entire scouting staff,” Rhule said.
This story was originally published April 29, 2022 at 11:01 PM.
