5 winners of the NFL Trade Deadline: Chiefs, Rams walk away happy

3. Carolina Panthers

Because it happened well before Tuesday’s 4 p.m. ET mark for the 2021 NFL Trade Deadline, the moves that the Carolina Panthers made earlier in the season are going to get overlooked by some — but not here.

Say what you will about the direction of the Panthers overall and their Sam Darnold experiment, but this is still a quality defense that made wise investments in the trade market to not only improve that side of the ball this season but, potentially, also for the foreseeable future.

Carolina first gave up only a third-round pick and tight end Dan Arnold in exchange for cornerback C.J. Henderson and the Jaguars’ fifth-round pick. In essence, they moved down two rounds in the draft and gave up a veteran tight end while they have a younger backup to get a player one year removed from being a top-10 pick in the draft.

On top of that, the Panthers then got the best of the Patriots — a rare feat — in a trade that landed them cornerback Stephon Gilmore, giving only a 2023 sixth-round pick to New England in that deal.

As if those terrific value moves weren’t enough, the Panthers also didn’t compound any errors resulting from trading for Sam Darnold this offseason by then giving up the farm for Deshaun Watson. That would’ve been a short-sighted, bad move for Carolina, so for them to avoid that solidifies their position as a trade deadline winner.