Buccaneers
- Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline says he’s heard the Buccaneers really like TCU WR Quentin Johnston and he might not make it past their first-round pick at No. 19 overall.
- The Buccaneers hosted BYU QB Jaren Hall for a top 30 visit. (Justin Melo)
Panthers
The Panthers’ trade to move up for a quarterback initially looked quite different. The Bears were poised to first trade down from No. 1 to No. 2 with the Texans for a haul of their own, including a starting offensive player, then move down again with the Panthers. But the bidding for the No. 2 pick was also fierce, to the point where the Panthers had to include WR D.J. Moore in a package that featured a 2024 first and their later second-round pick in 2023.
But the Texans kept dragging their feet and eventually the Panthers wondered whether it wouldn’t just make more sense to trade for the No. 1 pick on its own.
“At a certain point, it was like, let’s go to one,” Panthers GM Scott Fitterer said via Darin Gantt of the team website. “And so we did over about the course of an hour.”
“We were kind of tired of waiting,” assistant GM Dan Morgan said. “It’s like, let’s quit messing around, let’s go take control of this draft.”
The Panthers were also exploring what it would take to move up to No. 3 overall for a quarterback, but ultimately it was just as expensive as it would have been for the No. 2 pick. With the knowledge that another team had offered three firsts and a second for the No. 1 pick, Carolina felt it was worth it to box out the competition.
“We’re trying to protect ourselves by talking about three, and it was a pretty good deal to go to Arizona, but then there’s two quarterbacks in between that are possibly going right?” Fitterer said. “And that’s why we said, let’s just go get the one. Yeah. And let’s control this. Then it’s like, if you want to go three to one, a month from now, there’s another cost involved. And that’s going to compile, basically, into more than we’re giving up to get to one at this point.
“But then the other team comes in, and they’re offering what is actually more than we gave up, pick-wise. So that’s where the DJ factor came in. That’s what put us over the top. We didn’t have to do as much pick-wise because we knew DJ’s worth more than a one.”
In a fluid, fast-moving situation, Panthers HC Frank Reich said owner Dave Tepper was instrumental in pushing the deal forward. In the end, the Panthers added just a second-round pick in 2025 to close the deal.
“Mr. Tepper’s analysis and leadership at that point really shined through,” Reich said. “Just evaluating the price of going from all the different options of where we were looking to move up to. What does it cost? And where are we in the process? You know, I think now, looking back, it was absolutely brilliant to do it, to put our foot on the gas and go all the way to one. And I ultimately think that Mr. Tepper played a very, very significant role in that. You know, in his evaluation of the price of the options that we were looking at, and then just the leadership to say, ‘let’s go for it.'”
“In my case, I just listen, I just do numbers, right? I can do value,” Tepper said. “I pointed out, in this particular case, I said it will be the cheapest trade-up in the history of the world from two to one, the last increment. Now, it might have been that we were overpaying for everything else. I do a lot of trades in my life. That’s what I do. I’ve done OK with it. So the decision was made. And so we all agreed, let’s do it, let’s go.”
Saints
Saints GM Mickey Loomis wouldn’t rule out taking a running back in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft.
“It kind of depends upon the level of talent and the impact the player can make,” Loomis said, via Luke Johnson of Nola.com. “It’s definitely different than it was 10 or 20 or 30 years ago, but there are still valuable players. Every position is valuable, particularly if you can get an elite player at any position.”
Loomis said Alvin Kamara‘s potential suspension is not influencing their decision.
“It’s not going to influence who we pick,” Loomis said. ”That’s a short-term issue — and we don’t know what it’s going to be yet. Am I concerned about it? Certainly, it’s going to affect our team if something happens there, but it’s a temporary issue.”
- ESPN’s Dan Graziano highlights the Saints, picking at No. 29 in the first round, as a team who may be willing to be aggressive and trade up.
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