Revisiting Bears-Panthers trade for 2023 No. 1 draft pick: The 4 players the Bears landed (so far)

LAKE FOREST – One trade created two divergent paths.

One team gave up a bag full of goodies to select a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick, only to bench that quarterback just 18 starts into this NFL career. The other team collected that bag of goodies – which included a veteran receiver and four high-level draft picks – and waited on its quarterback situation.

The 2023 trade between the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers will be talked about for years to come.

After multiple seasons of cycling through has-been veteran quarterbacks, the Panthers were eager to make a splash in March 2023. Former Panthers GM Scott Fitterer called Bears general manager Ryan Poles looking to move up from the No. 9 slot to the first overall pick in the 2023 draft.

Poles made it clear in the days leading up to a potential trade that he wanted a veteran player in any deal that included the No. 1 draft pick. At the time, he felt inclined to stick with quarterback Justin Fields for another season.

The Bears and Panthers worked out a package that sent star receiver DJ Moore to Chicago along with the 2023 No. 9 overall pick, a 2023 second-round pick, a 2024 first-round pick and a 2025 second-round pick.

Not only did the trade land the Bears a star in Moore, who they have since locked up with a major contract extension, but it directly led to the Bears drafting quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick a year later.

“It’s really remarkable when you think about it, how it all fell together like that,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said Wednesday at Halas Hall. “A lot of that’s luck. I mean, a lot of that you can’t predict, but it’s also putting yourself in position. Ryan Poles and his staff did a great job of that.”

“It’s really remarkable when you think about it, how it all fell together like that. A lot of that’s luck. I mean, a lot of that you can’t predict, but it’s also putting yourself in position.”

—  Matt Eberflus, Bears head coach

The Bears and Panthers will square off Sunday at Soldier Field, and the vibes around these organizations couldn’t be more different. The Panthers fired coach Frank Reich mid-season last year, and have since fired Fitterer as GM. New head coach Dave Canales benched Bryce Young, whom the team drafted No. 1 overall in 2023, after two games this season.

There’s another universe in which the Panthers stay put at No. 9 in 2023 and eventually land Williams with the No. 1 pick this year. Instead, the Bears have what they hope are four foundational pieces for their future, plus another still to come.

When the trade happened, Williams was just a few months removed from winning the 2022 Heisman Trophy at USC. He was preparing for another college season with hopes of elevating the Trojans to the College Football Playoff.

He registered the trade, but it was far too early to know what impact it would have on his career.

“Obviously [I’m] grateful that it happened and to be a Chicago Bear,” Williams said. “I’m not too deep into the history of what happened, but I do know it got us a lot of different things — DJ and the picks, myself included.”

A year and a half later, here’s what the Bears have landed in exchange for the 2023 No. 1 pick:

• Wide receiver DJ Moore
• 2023 first-round pick: Right tackle Darnell Wright
• 2023 second-round pick: Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson
• 2024 first-round pick: Quarterback Caleb Williams
• 2025 second-round pick: TBD

All four players are starters, and the last remaining future draft pick currently projects to be in the top 40 next spring.

“I mean, it was a lot, but I haven’t really sat down and really looked at all the pieces we got,” Moore said. “I mean, you can see [the talent], but not to really go and think about and like, ‘Damn, we really made an impact,’ but we really did. Shout out to Poles for that.”

It’s too early to say just how good Williams will be as an NFL quarterback. He has started only four games, though he looks the part in many ways.

Still, it’s looking like the Bears easily won the trade by sheer volume alone. Plus Young will be sitting on the bench this Sunday, backing up longtime veteran Andy Dalton. At 5-foot-10, 204 pounds, Young was a historical outlier at the quarterback position. He was one of the shortest QBs ever drafted, let alone in the first round.

During the first two games this season, Young resorted to jumping in order to get passes over defenders. His size has clearly been an obstacle.

This won’t be the first time the Bears and Panthers have squared off since the trade. The Bears beat the Panthers 16-13 last November. But it will be the first time since the Bears used the Panthers’ first-round pick on Williams.

The trade is bound to be a talking point this weekend, even if the Bears aren’t interested in reliving the past. Moore said he doesn’t feel any extra motivation going against his former team.

“I don’t really live in the ‘what if,’ ” Moore said. “It happened, I’m here now, another contract later, and I’m grateful.”

The Panthers probably wish they could forget the trade so easily.