It may go down as the single most consequential trade in Chicago Bears history. GM Ryan Poles engineered a blockbuster deal with the Carolina Panthers for the #1 overall pick. They would use it on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young. Chicago used the massive return package to score DJ Moore, Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, and Tory Taylor. Five starters, including a potential franchise quarterback of their own. That doesn’t include the 2nd round pick they still have next year.
People have struggled to find out what compelled the Panthers to give up so much. Yes, they wanted a franchise quarterback and love Young. Even so, it felt like the move was made in a panic. Otherwise, teams don’t usually give up that much. As it turns out, such an assessment is accurate. According to Adam Jahns and Joe Pederson of The Athletic, another team was making strong overtures about a move up for Young. This is likely what pushed Carolina to make a renewed push after the scouting combine.
With the Las Vegas Raiders also eyeing a move up in the draft for Young, the Panthers were prepared to send several high draft picks to Chicago for the No. 1 pick. Their initial offer did not include a player. But as the talks would stall and heat back up, Poles asked former Carolina GM Scott Fitterer about edge rusher Brian Burns, defensive tackle Derrick Brown and Moore, all former first-rounders.
The Raiders’ interest in Bryce Young set everything in motion.
Poles knew he wanted to trade the pick. The key was getting the market to a point where teams would bid against each other. Once Las Vegas entered the picture, it put instant pressure on Carolina. Team owner David Tepper was a big fan of Young and had grown tired of trying various veteran options like Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield at quarterback. He refused to be outbid and instructed GM Scott Fitterer to get the deal done. After some back and forth, the package came together as we know it.
Incredibly, the Panthers sacrificed all of that for what amounted to 18 games of Bryce Young. The former #1 pick was horribly mismanaged from the jump. Carolina had offensive line problems, no credible playmakers, and a coaching staff immediately under the gun from the start. Just a few games into this season, Young was benched for Andy Dalton. While it stabilized their offensive problems, it doesn’t erase how much those lost picks could hurt them in the long run.
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Meanwhile, they might set the stage for Chicago’s return to relevance.
Tvagina, it’s official, ur the biggest dooooshhh bag on earth. And once we find out more about what’s out in the universe, u will win that too. So because poles wanted three first rounders and the market did not produce three first rounders, that is a failure within the evaluation of the trade? U idyuuutt. And clearly, 15 plus other teams w crap qbs also made the same mistake as the bears by not coughing up anything better than a 6th rounder (but looking like 4th now, bitch!) The trade was a landslide. The jury is in. Tyrique alone is… Read more »
@barryurcockinurmouth, so ur already chalking caleb up to a Trevor Lawrence? LOL. Fields is having a good year. Similar to his Chicago days statistically but with better line and coaches. Caleb is a rookie, w the same bad line, and has al4eady learned how to do something fields could never in his rookie year… complete a pass in the pocket w an awful oline.
The Young trade was, in isolation, a great deal for CHI. But it instigated a cascade of decisions that led to Poles quitting on last year’s QB1, tossing him aside for a rookie. Fields is indeed playing better this year than Caleb is — not only according to the eye test, but also according to statistical output (including the net passing yards that some of you on here are so obsessed about) and, ultimately, wins and losses. Say Fields ends up being a franchise QB1 for PIT and Caleb ends up as a comp to, say, Trevor Lawrence, a so-called… Read more »
TGena, No, I got the point. I just think we differ on the outcome. In my ever so humble opinion, I feel that after the original offer and renegotiation, Ryan Poles came away with an even better deal. On another point, if Burns was so important to the Panthers, how did Fitterer allow himself to get Fleeced only a season later for essentially a 2nd and a 5th for him. I guess if you want to be nit picky, you could say Poles could have let them keep a 2nd, thrown in a 5th and came away with both Moore… Read more »
@mbearest —
You’re missing the point:
We can each evaluate the trade and the competence of Bears GM, Ryan Poles, for ourselves.
But the actual history of the trade is the issue, here.
Person, Jahns and Fishain’s article has never been refuted.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said — ‘You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.’
That’s the point here.