Re-grading the Bears-Panthers trade for 2023 No. 1 pick after Keenan Allen deal

The Carolina Panthers attempted to do what every NFL team tries to do, get their franchise quarterback. The Panthers had gone more than a half-decade without a clear solution at the quarterback position since Cam Newton was under center, so doing whatever they could to land one they felt would lead their franchise for the next decade or more made all the sense in the world.

With that in mind, the Panthers made a blockbuster trade with the Chicago Bears, trading up to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They had their choice of any QB to select and finally had the QB spot solidified. Or so they thought.

Fast forward to one year later, and the perception of this trade is completely different. There is a clear winner and a clear loser. The winner only became clearer after the Keenan Allen trade. Let's regrade it.

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There are a lot of moving parts here. The Panthers acquired Bryce Young in exchange for all of this. The Bears had initially acquired the No. 9 pick in the draft, but traded back with the Eagles who selected Jalen Carter. The Bears, at No. 10, selected Darnell Wright and landed an extra fourth-round pick. That pick turned into Keenan Allen late on Thursday night.

Now that the pieces are cleared up, let's get into a regrade.

Bears trade re-grade: A+

This could not have worked out any better for the Bears than it has so far. The big piece of the deal at the time was DJ Moore, a now 26-year-old wide receiver who had his best year with the Bears, and that was with Justin Fields throwing him the football.

The Bears selected tackle Darnell Wright with the tenth overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft. He looks like their right tackle of the future. They also got Tyrique Stevenson, a corner who had four interceptions as a rookie, in the second round. The Bears did pretty well with the first year of draft capital, and haven't even arrived at the best part yet.

Thanks to an abysmal season by the Panthers, the Bears have the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft and a free ticket to select Caleb Williams, a generational prospect. They get Williams, Moore, Wright, Stevenson, AND have another second-round pick coming next season. Just an absurd haul.

Ryan Poles has been far from flawless as a GM, but this trade could not have turned out any better for Chicago.

Panthers trade grade: C-

The Keenan Allen insertion is not their fault as it took an additional Bears trade to pull that off, but the rest of it looks quite bad for Carolina. They gave up a monster haul while in return not seeing much progress from their new franchise quarterback.

Young was quite bad in his rookie season, completing just 59.8% of his throws for 2,877 yards with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The Panthers were 2-14 in games he played in, and Young had just a 33.4 QBR. There is no silver lining. He was bad.

Perhaps with Moore or Allen in the mix, Young would've performed better. Getting Diontae Johnson this offseason should help. Still, what we've seen so far has not been pretty. Giving the Bears the additional ammo to eventually land Allen certainly doesn't help them.

The Panthers don't get anything lower than a C- because we need to see more out of Young. If he takes a leap in his second season, it's not as lopsided as it appears to be right now. If he has another rough year, the grade will only go lower.