Chicago Bears general manager Ryan Poles reflected on trading the No. 1-overall pick to the Carolina Panthers on Friday, ESPN Chicago Bears beat reporter Courtney Cronin wrote in a Thursday tweet.
“That was a long process, lot of twists and turns but we got it done,” said Poles.
Ryan Poles said he and Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer had talked early on about a trade for the first pick, added the Athletic senior writer Adam Jahns. Poles said the Panthers made it clear that they wanted to be involved.
The Panthers needed to beat out three other teams to pry the pick from the Bears. One team that the Bears tried to engage with on a potential deal was the Houston Texans, who owned the second-overall choice after a closely-contested win over the Indianapolis Colts pushed them to 3-13-1.
“Whenever you play, it's pretty simple, you play to win the game,” Texans head coach Lovie Smith said during a postgame press conference. “That's all the way down in our organization.
“We understand what our win total is and that's not enough. That wasn't part of the plan. That's how it goes sometimes. … We wanted to leave the season with a good taste in our mouths.”
The Trade
Chicago brought back the No. 9 pick in 2023, the No. 61-overall pick in 2023, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2025 second-rounder and five-year Panthers wide receiver D.J. Moore for the first-overall pick.
The 25-year-old receiver racked up just over 5,200 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns since he was selected with the 24th-overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft. He started in every one of the 17 games he played for Carolina last season, earning a team-high 888 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns for the seven-win Panthers.
The Bears' wide receiver room now features Moore, Chase Claypool and Darnell Mooney. All three players are 25 years old or below.
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