Did Bears move too far down by trading with Panthers?

The Chicago Bears got a massive haul by trading with the Carolina Panthers, but did they potentially trade down too far in the draft?

Talk about a blockbuster on Friday night. The Chicago Bears may have changed the fortunes of their franchise with a trade that sends shockwaves.

The Windy City has traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers in exchange for the ninth pick, a 2024 first-round pick, a 2023 and 2025 second-round pick, and wide receiver DJ Moore per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Good lord, have mercy. If anyone deserves thanks for this, it would be Lovie Smith. The former Houston Texans coach led a dramatic victory in Week 18 that allowed Chicago to jump Houston for the rights to the top overall pick. Somewhere, Bears fans should be preparing to build a shrine in his honor.

That said, this begs the big question. Did the Bears move down a bit too far in their quest to gain more capital to build their team?

Did the Chicago Bears move too far down in the draft with this trade?

Not really. It would have been a bit concerning if they moved down to maybe No. 16, where Washington is, unless Washington packaged Terry McLaurin in such a deal. In retrospect, this is probably the best the Bears could have done at this point. They did something right.

However, you can’t completely celebrate this move. There is far more work to be done. While this trade helps Chicago secure a true No. 1 wide receiver, there are far too many holes on this roster that are preventing the Bears from making any proclamations of being a contender. This process is still 2-3 years away from throwing confetti.

With this move, it’s realistic to expect the Bears to invest heavily in the trenches in free agency as they should have done, regardless of whether or not they traded the pick before or during free agency. Also, the Bears will likely focus on the trenches in the draft to ensure quality depth, as we just saw in the Super Bowl.

For now, it’s a nice trade, but let’s not go celebrate too much. There is still far too much work to do, but this is a nice start.