The Carolina Panthers traded a haul to the Chicago Bears for the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and it is expected that they will select quarterback Bryce Young out of the Alabama football program. However, before the trade between the Panthers and Bears was completed, the Bears nearly completed a trade with the Houston Texans to move back to No. 2, then trade from No. 2 to No. 9 with the Panthers after that, according to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports.
The deal between the Bears and the Texans was pretty much done, according to Glazer. It looked like it was going to happen, and a deal with the Panthers was lined up once that was completed. They could not get part of the deal done, so the Bears eventually moved on to complete the trade with the Panthers.
Now, according to Glazer, the Panthers will select Bryce Young, and the Texans likely would have selected him if they had landed the No. 1 overall pick.
The Texans have now nearly gotten the No. 1 overall pick two times. The first time around was in the last week of the regular season, when the Texans beat the Indianapolis Colts. If the Texans had lost that game, they would have the No. 1 pick and this would never have been a problem, they would have their pick of the litter, whether it be a quarterback in Bryce Young or a different position.
As a result, there are rumors that the Texans might pass on a quarterback altogether with the No. 2 pick. It will be interesting to see whether or not that comes true in the first round of the NFL Draft.