Heading into Friday, the Chicago Bears owned the first overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. Exiting Friday, however, that pick will ultimately belong to the Carolina Panthers.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN on Friday, the Bears and Panthers have agreed to a big trade that includes Chicago receiving quite a haul in exchange for the first overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Schefter reports that the Bears will receive a 2023 first and second round pick from the Panthers in addition to Carolina’s first round selection in the 2024 NFL Draft and their second round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft. Additionally, the Bears are receiving wide receiver D.J. Moore from the Panthers as part of that blockbuster deal.
With this deal now agreed to, many analysts believe that the Panthers are poised to take former Alabama quarterback Bryce Young with the first overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft. However, if Young is not the Panthers’ choice, it would likely be former Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.
The Bears receiving Moore from the Panthers as part of the big trade now means their receiver room for the 2023 season is likely set and thus includes Darnell Mooney and Chase Claypool, who Chicago acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers right ahead of the 2022 trade deadline. That trade with the Steelers costs the Bears a second round pick, which wound up being the first selection in that round, the 32nd overall in the 2023 NFL Draft.
