2023 NFL Draft: Panthers GM reveals what it took for Bears to agree trading No. 1 overall pick to Carolina

We are just days away from the 2023 NFL Draft, meaning in a little more than 72 hours we will know who the Carolina Panthers select with their first overall pick. The Chicago Bears originally held the top spot, but Carolina was able to put together a deal the Bears found appealing enough to trade their No. 1 overall pick. 

Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer has spoken about the trade since it went down and this week gave even more insight on how Carolina and Chicago completed it. He said adding wide receiver DJ Moore to the haul of draft picks — a 2023 first- and second-rounder, a 2024 first-rounder and a 2025 second-rounder — is what finally got the deal done.

As a guest on ‘The Adam Schefter Podcast,’ Fitterer described the process as having “lot of twists and turns.” 

“We had to put a little something else in there to get it done, but we got it done,” said Fitterer, referencing the addition of Moore.

“Once they said, ‘Yeah we’ll do it,’ it was a great feeling … it’s exciting because you know you can control who you’re gonna pick,” Fitterer said. 

The conversations between the Panthers and the Bears began at the NFL Scouting Combine and based on conversations there, Chicago knew Carolina was interested. Fitterer said the Bears sort of made an offer after the combine, but they ended up wanting to discuss things more. 

Fitterer admitted that during the early stages in the process he got nervous when he heard other teams were interested in the No. 1 spot.

After everything was done, Fitterer was happy with how things turned out, even if they had to give up Moore. He said having the No. 1 pick is “pretty special.”

“I feel so good about it,” he said. “If we were still sitting at nine right now needing a quarterback I’d be so nervous. I felt great about the move going up to one. I think it was the right decision.”

He explained that the process of picking No. 1 also means you have to be confident in the class of prospects, which Fitterer is. Once he really got to see who the prospects are as players and as men, looking at their skills, strengths and leadership, it made him even more confident in the team trading up to the first pick.