The Denver Broncos and Carolina Panthers have made a trade that could potentially alter the landscape of the 2021 NFL Draft on Thursday.
Carolina is sending quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to the Broncos in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.
The Broncos add depth under center as they look for Bridgewater to push Drew Lock. Carolina, meanwhile, is seemingly opening the door for Sam Darnold — acquired earlier this offseason — to be its starting quarterback.
What are some of the other ramifications of the deal? Let's break it down and assign grades for both teams.
Denver has options
Broncos general manager George Paton did quite well here.
Bridgewater is not the most spectacular acquisition. He went just 4-11 with the Panthers in 2020 and threw for just 15 touchdowns against 11 interceptions. But there is upside.
The 28-year-old completed over 69 percent of his pass attempts and averaged a respectable 7.6 yards gained per pass attempt. There is also history between Paton and Bridgewater. Paton was with the Minnesota Vikings when the team drafted the former Louisville product in the 2014 NFL Draft.
A couple other important considerations here. Firstly, the Broncos are only paying Bridgewater $3 million, whereas the Panthers will pay him $7 million. Secondly, Adam Schefter of ESPN says the move does not take the Broncos out of the QB market ahead of Thursday's draft.
Denver has all sorts of options with the No. 9 overall pick.
The Broncos can hope one of the top signal-callers on their draft board falls to them with that selection. In which case, they could well take that player.
Bridgewater has an out after 2021, and the Broncos could simply choose to cut him without incurring a dead-cap hit. Alternatively, Denver could choose to trade back if a QB-needy team like the New England Patriots, Chicago Bears or Washington Football Team so desires to move up the board.
Either way, Paton has given himself some flexibility after adding quarterback depth.
Grade: A-
Will Panthers take a QB?
The Bridgewater trade is even more fascinating from Carolina's perspective.
On the surface, the deal would seem to suggest Darnold has been handed the keys to the franchise. But this complicates matters.
It was initially reported the Panthers would exercise Darnold's fifth-year option after Carolina acquired him from the New York Jets. However, Panthers GM Scott Fitterer has since said the team will wait until after the draft to make a decision on Darnold's option.
In essence, the Panthers might now express greater interest in a quarterback come Thursday night. They have a good chance to land a top prospect once the San Francisco 49ers make their choice at No. 3.
At the same time, this could all be posturing to force a team picking later in the draft to pay a king's ransom in order to move up the board. In that case, the Panthers can likely get massive draft capital.
Paying the $17 million dead-cap penalty hurts. But Carolina has more clarity in terms of either taking a QB or adding draft picks.
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