Grading the Trai Turner-Russell Okung trade: There’s no way to rationalize the Panthers’ decision

The Panthers gave up the younger, cheaper and arguably better player and didn’t receive any draft picks.

This NFL offseason, Steven Ruiz will be offering his thoughts and grading every major deal that goes down, including contract extensions, trades and free-agent signings.

Player-for-player swaps are rare in the NFL, but we got one just weeks out from free agency when the Panthers sent five-time Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner to the Chargers for two-time Pro Bowl tackle Russell Okung.

The deal seemed to materialize out of nowhere, though there have been signs that Carolina is in rebuilding. The Panthers shipping off Turner doesn’t come as a huge shock; that they traded him for an older player without getting any draft picks in return does, however.

Both teams received good players in the swap, but which team got the better end of the deal? Let’s grade the trade…

I’ve spent the last few hours racking my brain for a way to rationalize this deal from Carolina’s perspective … I’ve got nothing.

Trading Turner would have made a lot more sense if the team was, in fact, rebuilding, but rebuilding teams don’t just give up assets for older, more expensive players, which is exactly what the Panthers are getting in Okung, who turns 32 in October and carries a cap hit of about $13 million in 2020. Turner would have cost about $12.9 million next season.

The trade will force Carolina to eat $9.6 million in dead cap — adding to an already large sum of wasted space — while saving just $3.3 million in the process.

Essentially, the Panthers paid $10 million and turned two seasons of a 26-year-old Pro Bowl guard into one season of a 30-something tackle who’s coming off a season in which he missed 10 games. And, oh yeah, he missed most of those games due to a “life-threatening” heart problem. It was a pulmonary embolism to be specific. Unsurprisingly, Okung was not ready rule out retirement when asked about it in December, so there’s a non-zero chance he never dons a Panthers uniform and Carolina gave up a valuable asset for nothing in return.

We’re not done. This trade comes a year after the Panthers used a second-round pick on tackle Greg Little, who figured to be the team’s blindside protector for the next decade. On top of that, 25-year-old Taylor Moton has played well at right tackle, so it’s not like the team had a pressing need at the position. But now a pressing need does exist at guard with Turner gone and starting LG Greg Van Roten headed for free agency. Maybe Moton kicks inside where he has experience, but he’ll be replacing a five-time Pro Bowler. This move arguably makes the Panthers offensive line worse. It certainly makes it older and more expensive.

From the Chargers’ perspective, this deal is a no brainer. Trading Okung freed up $13 million in cap space and Turner will only cost them about $20 million over the next two years. The 2020 draft class is loaded with good tackle prospects, so the front office should have no problem finding a replacement for Okung, who was on his way out of L.A. after this season anyway. The Chargers offensive line is now younger and cheaper and they didn’t have to give up any draft capital in the deal. Hard to beat that.

Meanwhile, the Panthers can’t seem to decide whether to rebuild or actually try to compete in 2020. What the team decides to do with Cam Newton will ultimately decide which course it takes over the next few months. At this point, I’m not sure if GM Marty Hurney even knows.

Panthers grade: F
Chargers grade: A