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Worst NFL trades and draft capital management. If the 2024 Carolina pick is #1, is this the worst trade of all-time? (1 Viewer)

dschuler

Footballguy
Team A receives: Bryce Young

Team B receives: DJ Moore, Jalen Carter, Caleb Williams.

Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.

They could have moved Brian Burns before the trade deadline for two first round picks and been able to keep their 2024 first round pick as well as DJ Moore but this was yet another blunder.

If the Carolina 1st round pick ends up being the number 1 pick, would this be considered the worst trade and draft capital mismanagement in NFL History. If not, which would be worse?
 
Team A receives: Bryce Young

Team B receives: DJ Moore, Jalen Carter, Caleb Williams.

Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.

They could have moved Brian Burns before the trade deadline for two first round picks and been able to keep their 2024 first round pick as well as DJ Moore but this was yet another blunder.

If the Carolina 1st round pick ends up being the number 1 pick, would this be considered the worst trade and draft capital mismanagement in NFL History. If not, which would be worse?
herschel walker and ricky williams come to mind.
 
Team A receives: Bryce Young

Team B receives: DJ Moore, Jalen Carter, Caleb Williams.

Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.

They could have moved Brian Burns before the trade deadline for two first round picks and been able to keep their 2024 first round pick as well as DJ Moore but this was yet another blunder.

If the Carolina 1st round pick ends up being the number 1 pick, would this be considered the worst trade and draft capital mismanagement in NFL History. If not, which would be worse?
herschel walker and ricky williams come to mind.
I agree. Two of the most famous NFL trades in history. This one could rival it. In the case of Ricky Williams, the Redskins ended up with Champ Bailey, Lavar Arrington, Derek Smith and Lloyd Harrison. Rick Williams was an excellent pro bowl level talent, and although still early, Bryce Young looks to be the worst of the 3 highly drafted QBs and very undersized. Although Bailey and Arrington were excellent, if Caleb pans out the Carolina trade will be worse in my opinion especially if you include DJ Moore and Jalen Carter.

For the Herschel Walker trade, it rewrote NFL history and laid the foundation for the Cowboys to be the dynasty in was in the 1990s. It changed the landscape of the NFC East from the Giants and Redskins dominating the division to the Cowboys. Definitely one of the most historically impactful trades of all time that affected several NFL franchises. It will be fascinating to see in the coming years if this Carolina trade can be a similar blunder or propel another franchise like the Herschel Walker trade did.
 
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1989 colts traded Chris chandler to the Bucs for a 1992 1st round pick. Ended up being 1.02. So the colts had the 1 and 2. Wasted on Emtman and Coryatt. 🤷
 
The Niners would like to be part of this discussion with their 2021fiasco.
It amazes me that they managed to completely botch that trade up for Lance, but look where they are right now. Dominating the league, SB favorites (at least from the NFC). Salary cap problems will likely arise later but for right now that bad deal didn't seem to set them back any...
 
As much as I want to hate on Caleb Williams I do believe he is extremely talented. However it is beyond a reach to say he’s HoF and SB winning potential. I guess one could argue anybody has this potential but let’s not put him on a pedestal just yet?
 
As much as I want to hate on Caleb Williams I do believe he is extremely talented. However it is beyond a reach to say he’s HoF and SB winning potential. I guess one could argue anybody has this potential but let’s not put him on a pedestal just yet?
Maybe just the best QB prospect since Trevor.
Still, as much as I like Bryce, that trade probably looks horrible if that’s the 1 overall.
 
Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.
In this scenario where they keep Moore, draft Carter, and don’t have Bryce Young so they play Dalton (or sign some other vet QB instead), they’re probably not bad enough to end up with the #1 pick.
 
Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.
In this scenario where they keep Moore, draft Carter, and don’t have Bryce Young so they play Dalton (or sign some other vet QB instead), they’re probably not bad enough to end up with the #1 pick.
Most likely back around the 8-12 range again with that roster.
 
Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.
In this scenario where they keep Moore, draft Carter, and don’t have Bryce Young so they play Dalton (or sign some other vet QB instead), they’re probably not bad enough to end up with the #1 pick.
You could be right although we will really never know. Still a bad look though right?
 
The Niners would like to be part of this discussion with their 2021fiasco.
It amazes me that they managed to completely botch that trade up for Lance, but look where they are right now. Dominating the league, SB favorites (at least from the NFC). Salary cap problems will likely arise later but for right now that bad deal didn't seem to set them back any...
the players associated with this: Jaylen Waddle, DeVonta Smith, Tyreek Hill, Bradley Chubb and Micah Parsons. Hell even Sean Payton is attached to this!
 
The Niners would like to be part of this discussion with their 2021fiasco.
It amazes me that they managed to completely botch that trade up for Lance, but look where they are right now. Dominating the league, SB favorites (at least from the NFC). Salary cap problems will likely arise later but for right now that bad deal didn't seem to set them back any...
The niners trade up for Trey Lance was pretty damn bad
it's not bad because with purdy they corrected the mistake right away. the 9ers got what they wanted anyway. it masks the blunder entirely. purdy is performing like a 1st round qb. the best of that class. as a result it's not among the worst trades ever. will be forgotten about as the years go on unlike the hershel walker one. the only people who harp on it like to play woulda, coulda, shoulda but in the end the 9ers obtained their goal of having a decent qb to help propel them into super bowl contention for now and maybe for a long time to come
 
The Niners would like to be part of this discussion with their 2021fiasco.
It amazes me that they managed to completely botch that trade up for Lance, but look where they are right now. Dominating the league, SB favorites (at least from the NFC). Salary cap problems will likely arise later but for right now that bad deal didn't seem to set them back any...
The niners trade up for Trey Lance was pretty damn bad
it's not bad because with purdy they corrected the mistake right away. the 9ers got what they wanted anyway. it masks the blunder entirely. purdy is performing like a 1st round qb. the best of that class. as a result it's not among the worst trades ever. will be forgotten about as the years go on unlike the hershel walker one. the only people who harp on it like to play woulda, coulda, shoulda but in the end the 9ers obtained their goal of having a decent qb to help propel them into super bowl contention for now and maybe for a long time to come
I was thinking about this yesterday how similar the situation of Mike Shanahan drafting RG3 in 2012 and Kirk Cousins later on is to Kyle Shanahan drafting Trey Lance in 2022 then Brock Purdy later on.

RG3s career lasted longer than Lances did with the team that drafted him, but both times a very high QB pick was followed by a very late QB pick from the same draft yet the late QB pick ends up being the starter instead.

Call it luck or whatever you want but the investment in the position still achieved the goal of getting a starting QB, which means the high draft capital used on the QB who did not end up being that starter for long did not hurt the team because of plan B working out.
 
Maybe not worst use of draft capital ever but I am super grateful Jacksonville took Travon Walker and handed Detroit Aidan Hutchinson.

We should have Jalen Carter too, but that is another conversation! :wink:

2023 Lions draft was reminiscent of the Seahawks in the early 2010s. We are going to draft our guys. Very much out of sync with conventional thinking + consensus, but OTOH Holmes has had a good enough hit rate he has earned the right to be his own dog.
 
Leave Carter out of it. Every team that didn't draft Carter or try to draft Carter made a mistake. Maybe Houston did the right thing.


Carolina will have squandered two top picks on Bryce. Essentially two years of premium picks, PLUS DJ Moore.

If it happens that Young is not great, and Caleb/Maye/whoever is the goods, that is that much worse. It's not just Caleb. There are a bunch of quality QBs this year, and most likely someone at the top of the draft is going to cash in.

The Bears may benefit because the Panthers owner wants to play general manager. Frank Reich is ALREADY giving painful, constipated answers about Tepper meddling.
 
Denver trade for Russell Wilson is still looking pretty bad since they handed him that huge guaranteed contract too. Deshaun Watson trade not looking good early on either although you could argue Houston squandered some of their return. BOB's trade of Hopkins to ARI is still pretty awful even if Hopkins got cut a few years later. BOB had another doozy trading two 1sts for Tunesil that the Dolphins parlayed with further trades into a huge success and a big part of their studly current roster.
 
Team A receives: Bryce Young

Team B receives: DJ Moore, Jalen Carter, Caleb Williams.

Had the Panthers not traded for the #1 pick this last draft, they would have kept DJ Moore. They could have drafted Jalen Carter who looks absolutely unblockable. Then, they could have taken the best QB prospect in several years in Caleb Williams. A potential Hall of Fame Super Bowl winning talent.

They could have moved Brian Burns before the trade deadline for two first round picks and been able to keep their 2024 first round pick as well as DJ Moore but this was yet another blunder.

If the Carolina 1st round pick ends up being the number 1 pick, would this be considered the worst trade and draft capital mismanagement in NFL History. If not, which would be worse?
Who is running the team?
-Part of the issue and why I feel no pity for the Panthers is their Owner, David Tepper. That guy could not wait to put his fingerprints all over the team, guess when you own/buy an NFL franchise, guess you have that luxury but he's almost as bas as Stephen Ross from the Miami Dolphins.

-Tepper has zero patience and that's either good or bad, Jimmy Haslam of the Browns is same way. They think because they were successful off the field that they can just turn a few knobs and watch it GO! Well, not so much and the less these owners are involved the better. Even if they are kind of good at football, it passes them by quickly what they deem are quality NFL players.

Very few teams/owners can go decades on decades and produce a quality product. Very few can do it for the long haul.
 
It's not that Carolina traded UP, I said it at the time and I will say it again
Tepper was connected to ARich first and that was the hype for a good week or two after they moved up and then maybe some of his people talked some sense into him.
Tepper gets off the ARich bandwagon and any one who watched OhioSt-Georgia last season LOADED with 1st Rd/2nd Rd picks in the Draft, you know...THE STARTERS typically
Stroud played outstanding against some of the best but that wasn't enough for Tepper, the FF community, almost everyone overlooked Stroud

Tepper decides to fall in love with Bryce Young and he was a terrible fit for what the Panthers have on their roster. Young has almost no time to throw that I can see
Reminds me of what Tua faced when he entered the NFL, but I don't think they are close at all in comparison.

Everyone turned their nose up at Stroud
Except the Houston Texans, right @GregR ?
:wink:
 
The Niners would like to be part of this discussion with their 2021fiasco.
It amazes me that they managed to completely botch that trade up for Lance, but look where they are right now. Dominating the league, SB favorites (at least from the NFC). Salary cap problems will likely arise later but for right now that bad deal didn't seem to set them back any...
The niners trade up for Trey Lance was pretty damn bad
it's not bad because with purdy they corrected the mistake right away. the 9ers got what they wanted anyway. it masks the blunder entirely. purdy is performing like a 1st round qb. the best of that class. as a result it's not among the worst trades ever. will be forgotten about as the years go on unlike the hershel walker one. the only people who harp on it like to play woulda, coulda, shoulda but in the end the 9ers obtained their goal of having a decent qb to help propel them into super bowl contention for now and maybe for a long time to come
I was thinking about this yesterday how similar the situation of Mike Shanahan drafting RG3 in 2012 and Kirk Cousins later on is to Kyle Shanahan drafting Trey Lance in 2022 then Brock Purdy later on.

RG3s career lasted longer than Lances did with the team that drafted him, but both times a very high QB pick was followed by a very late QB pick from the same draft yet the late QB pick ends up being the starter instead.

Call it luck or whatever you want but the investment in the position still achieved the goal of getting a starting QB, which means the high draft capital used on the QB who did not end up being that starter for long did not hurt the team because of plan B working out.
At least Jeff Fisher got to troll the Skins by sending all the picks out for the coin toss. Which was probably the high point of his tenure in STL.
 
At least Bryce isn't a bust (at least I don't think so). He's got some skills, but he is smack-dab in the middle of a talent desert.

He's got a smooth, quick release and seems like a cool customer back there. But he looks like a strong breeze could pick him up and carry him away.
 
Ross Tucker twitter poll is producing surprising results:

Who would you rather have as your QB for the next 10 years?
  • Bryce Young 22.5%
  • Brock Purdy 77.5%
 
Ross Tucker twitter poll is producing surprising results:

Who would you rather have as your QB for the next 10 years?
  • Bryce Young 22.5%
  • Brock Purdy 77.5%
I think Bryce would do well in the SF scheme (with that SF talent), but there's no denying what Purdy's doing. Kids a baller.

Both seem coachable and "good guys". But if I woke up tomorrow and heard Derek Carr got traded for one of them, I'd hope it was Young. I just think Purdy's a product of the system (which he is a perfect fit for) - take him out of SF with that coaching staff, that playbook, and those players - I think there's potential he gets exposed if he's around a knucklehead coaching staff and/or questionable on-field talent.

I think people answering that poll don't know that CMC and Shanahan don't come with him.
 
Ross Tucker twitter poll is producing surprising results:

Who would you rather have as your QB for the next 10 years?
  • Bryce Young 22.5%
  • Brock Purdy 77.5%
I don't think the results are really surprising and I'm not sure which one I would want for the next 10 years, but I will say that if Young were on SF and Purdy on Car, those results would be reversed. Young would be looking a lot better than Purdy. They're actually very similar players. Smart, read defenses well, work through their progressions well and accurate passers. The problem is, with this type of QB, if the receivers don't get open and they don't have time to work through their progressions, they are going to struggle mightily.
 
Ummmm ..Have we forgot the ultimate fiasco that was Ryan Leaf?
well, all they gave up was a 2-3 pick swap, a 2nd and a 1st.

Those became defensive end Andre Wadsworth, safety Corey Chavous and receiver David Boston with the 1998 first-round pick, '98 second-round pick, and the1999 first-rounder respectively.
 

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