Wheeling and dealing seemed to serve the Carolina Panthers rather well during the 2024 NFL draft. But if the wheeling and dealing didn’t come with intent, it didn’t come at all.
To get us ready for tomorrow’s episode of Panthers Blueprint, team reporter Darin Gantt rolled out his deep dive into Carolina’s draft from this past April. Among the many inside looks was an intriguing detail on the choice of running Jonathon Brooks, whom the organization took with the 46th overall pick.
That selection made its way to the table upon the Panthers’ third trade of the draft—when they sent the 52nd, 142nd and 155th picks to the Indianapolis Colts. New executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis provided some insight into the move.
“We’re not trading just to trade, like we’re doing it with intention,” Tilis said, via Gantt. “There are players on the board who we want, and we’re gauging where we think we can get them and still acquire more value along the way to get more players. So like the Brooks one, it was a really good example of that. There were a few players on the board who we liked. Brooks was by far a (or our) number one guy, and we were planning on a smaller move back, and then the Rams came in and offered what they did, and it was, frankly, too good to pass up. They really wanted that pick.
“And we knew that if we traded the pick there would be a player that we would miss out on. We were comfortable with that because we really wanted Brooks, and to be able to get the two next year, we said, OK, once our guys start going, then we’re going have to move back up. It’s not like we did anything that was so smart or great or whatever; we were just willing to take a larger risk to get that outcome of the trade. It’s like, let’s not get cute here. Let’s just get our guy.”
Their guy was the very first running back to be taken from the 2024 class. Before tearing his ACL in November of this past season, Brooks rushed for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns through 11 games.
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