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From Peter King this morning:
“The prevailing wisdom: Chicago got enough for the pick, assuming D.J. Moore can be the primo receiver Justin Fields desperately needs. Carolina paid through the nose, and recent draft history is littered with lousy tradeups into the top five for quarterbacks who didn’t pan out (Robert Griffin III, Carson Wentz, Mitchell Trubisky, Sam Darnold). “If Carolina doesn’t pick the right quarterback, the trade’s a disaster,” said former NFL wheeler-dealer Jimmy Johnson.
Thoughts:
This deal was not getting done without D.J. Moore in it. The Bears had a bottom-five group of wideouts in 2022, even after trading for Chase Claypool in midseason. Darnell Mooney, Claypool and Equanimeous St. Brown, as a group, weren’t going to give Fields his best chance to emerge as a quarterback and developing Fields is priority one for the ’23 Bears. The free-agency wideout crop is a D-minus, and unless Poles wanted to use his only pick in the top-50 on a receiver, Moore (or a number one receiver like him) was vital. Certainly Carolina didn’t want to deal one of its best five players, in his prime; in the span of six months, the Panthers have dealt their two best offensive players, Christian McCaffrey and Moore. But if they wanted to be sure of having their choice of quarterbacks come April 27, Moore had to be sacrificed.”
FMIA Trade Notes: Jalen Ramsey goes MIA, Bears Send No. 1 Pick to Panthers for D.J. Moore and More - ProFootballTalk
Peter King breaks down the splashy trades to start 2023 NFL roster revamps, including Jalen Ramsey to Miami and Chicago sending the No. 1 Pick to Carolina.profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
More from King:
“Where is Chicago left? My column last weekfocused heavily on the Bears, and now that the deal’s been done, Poles faces a few truths. He knows he needs to bulk up on the offensive line; he has the cap room (a league-high $69.9-million in effective cap space, per overthecap.com) to afford one of the top three tackles in free-agency—Orlando Brown, Mike McGlinchey or Kaleb McGary. Re the draft: Being at nine takes him out of the ballgame for the best pass-rusher, Will Anderson of Alabama, and likely puts number two edge player Tyree Wilson of Texas Tech out of range. But the top offensive-line prospect, Peter Skoronski of Northwestern, could be there at nine. Poles could be smartest spending on one tackle in free agency, and one defensive linemen—Dre’Mont Jones or the pricey Javon Hargrave, or perhaps Frank Clark to beef up the pass-rush.
It’s amazing how different the Bears could look come training camp. Imagine Fields throwing to D.J. Moore outside or in the slot, with Brown protecting his blind side, and Skoronski plugged in either at guard or tackle as a day-one starter. Imagine Jones and Clark buttressing a needy defensive line. That’s all fantasy football, of course, but Poles has the cap room and draft picks (9, 53, 61, 64 overall) to make some plug-and-play decisions between now and May 1.”
@nc0gnet0Last quote from Peter King on the trade:
“1. I think the one tributary about the Carolina trade that should make Bears fans feel good this morning is this: The Panthers had previously turned down at least one offer of a first-round pick plus some lesser trade chip for D.J. Moore. So when you try to figure out the relative value of Moore in the deal, think of it as probably equal to a mid-first-round pick—because in a down year for receivers in the draft and certainly in free agency, a wideout in the range of 15th- to 20th– best in the league with three manageable years left on his contract entering his age-26 year has great value.
2. I think that means—or at least Chicago can argue—the deal to move down eight spots from the top of the draft is the equivalent of the ninth and 61st picks this year, two more first-round picks and a second-round pick … three ones and two twos. And that’s a load. Now the pressure’s on Ryan Poles to turn those pieces into a competitive football team.”