Not even an hour after the Carolina Panthers acquired the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft were they reportedly open to trading it. But now, about two and a half weeks later, they may be closed for business in that particular department.
According to Peter King of NBC Sports, the Panthers do not have interest in moving the No. 1 selection. King, who highlights the pro day of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, wrote the following in the latest edition of his “Football Morning in America” column:
A rep of a team that will likely draft a quarterback this year told me Sunday: “If you watch Bryce Young, and you didn’t know he was 5’10”, you wouldn’t think about his height. It was a disadvantage from the tape I watched.” This team has Young as its top quarterback, for what it’s worth. I’d been told previously that Young, in not getting many passes batted down at the line, has a sense of playing bigger than he is. It’s just one of the factors that has to be weighing on Carolina as the Panthers consider what to do at number one—take Young, or take the quarterback five inches taller in Stroud. As of Sunday night, no team here had been in contact with the Panthers about trading the top pick, and it’d likely be a useless venture, at least now. Carolina has no interest in moving the pick.
That new development may not come as much of a shock for a few reasons. Not only did general manager Scott Fitterer tell reporters last Monday that he hadn’t received any calls about such a deal, but the Panthers are in the best position possible to finally address their longstanding problem under center.
So, why mess around now?
The solution will, of course, come out of the group of Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, Florida’s Anthony Richardson or perhaps even Kentucky’s Will Levis. And they’ll get closer to that solution later this week, when they wrap up the final fourth of their quarterback pro day tour in Gainesville on Thursday.
