For whatever reason (most definitely a ridiculous one), fans of the Carolina Panthers and Chicago Bears have been clashing on Twitter throughout most of the offseason. In fact, it all began around March 10—when their teams came together for a monstrous deal that changed the landscape of the 2023 NFL draft.
But can’t we all just get along?
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report recently gave the two sides a reason to engage in a little kumbaya, reevaluating and regrading this year’s most noteworthy moves. Among them was that super swap, which eventually landed Carolina their quarterback of the future in Bryce Young and Chicago a bevy of resources to continue the development around theirs—including the acquisition of standout wideout DJ Moore.
Knox maintained the ‘A+’ grade for the Bears while bumping the Panthers up to an ‘A’ from an ‘A-‘ due to the rave reviews for Young this summer. He writes:
With Young doing nothing to disappoint thus far, this is still looking like the biggest win-win trade of the offseason.
Chicago, of course, has since allocated some of that haul. They flipped the ninth overall pick for the tenth—which gave them Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright—and a 2024 fourth-rounder and used the 61st overall pick to move up for Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
And as for the Panthers, it feels like they’re getting exactly what they’ve needed from the No. 1 pick thus far.
