Report: Panthers Trade Significant Haul for Bears’ No. 1 Pick in 2023 NFL Draft

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Chicago Bears have traded the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft in a significant compensation package that includes the No. 9 overall pick, wideout D.J. Moore, and a 2024 first rounder—among other picks going to the Windy City:

This is obviously big news for the still quarterback needy Colts, who are sitting at the No. 4 pick—as well as the divisional rival Houston Texans, just ahead of them with the No. 2 pick.

The Texans are no longer poised to be able to take the quarterback prospect of their choosing—had Chicago simply held the pick, while the Colts will likely end up with no better than the 3rd quarterback off the board by the time they end up on the clock.

While this may mean that both Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud could be gone within the first two picks to both the Panthers and Bears (in no specific order yet, although Stroud definitely seems like a fit in new Panthers head coach Frank Reich’s system), it does still put the Colts in a position to draft, say Florida’s Anthony Richardson—assuming another suitor doesn’t jump just ahead of them for the Arizona Cardinals No. 3 overall pick, which also may be available in trade negotiations.

In any case, the board is a little bit more laid out regarding the top quarterback prospect landscape, knowing full well that the Panthers will now have the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft—and the Colts may very well be getting the third player drafted at the position.