The Panthers History of Trading up(or into) the Draft

[kungfoodude]

Given the negative impression that I had about Gettleman and Hurney's draft trades, I decided to take a closer look at how we have done as a franchise when we trade up or into a draft spot to get a target we were after. Note that I am not evaluating any of the "trade down" scenarios, which we have done a far better job of executing(IMO). Feel free to debate my evaluations or recollections or include any trades I might have overlooked.

 

1995

1st Round (#22) - Tyrone Poole
Traded up from #32, including 6th rounder(#188) for #22, 3rd Rounder(#65) and 6th Rounder(#173)
Verdict: Good trade. Poole was a three year starter prior to being traded to the Colts and ended up having a solid career.

1st Round (#29) - Blake Brockermeyer
Traded for 2nd Rounder(#34), 3rd Rounder(#98) and 4th Rounder(#100)
Verdict: Fair trade. Although the price was definitely steep for a late first round pick, Brockermeyer was a four year starter for the Panthers and ended starting for 7 years in the NFL.

1996

4th Round (#111) - Emmanuel McDaniel
Traded up from #122, including 5th Rounder(#159) and 7th Rounder(#235)
Verdict: Bad trade. McDaniel ultimately ended up playing only one year and appearing in only two games(1 total AST) before he was released. While the price was relatively low, certainly not worth trading up to obtain.

2003

3rd Round (#82) - Ricky Manning Jr.
Traded for 4th Rounder(#108), 4th Rounder(#120) and 7th Rounder(#227)
Verdict: Great trade. Manning started 26 games in his three year Panther career, accumulating 10 INT's, 22 PD's and 164 TKLs/ASTs while being a valuable contributor. While his overall career was short, he provided excellent value for a relatively reasonable price.

2004

1st Round (#28) - Chris Gamble
Traded up from #31 for 4th Rounder(#127)
Verdict: Great trade. Gamble ended up starting 117 games for the Carolina Panthers over his 9 year career. While the jump up from #28 was relatively small, a 4th rounder was a small price to pay for one of the best cornerbacks in Panthers franchise history.

2005

3rd Round (#89) - Atiyyah Ellison
Traded for 4th Rounder(#115) and 4th Rounder(#126)
Verdict: Bad trade. Ellison ended up getting cut by the Panthers the same season and spent the majority of his career as a practice squad player. The price was much too high for a player that never made a meaningful impact at all.

2008

1st Round (#19) - Jeff Otah
Traded for 2nd Rounder(#43), 4th Rounder(#109) and 2009 1st Rounder(#28)
Verdict: Bad trade. Otah was a two year starter for the Panthers but injuries derailed his career and he only appeared in 29 games over his four year career. Certainly not worth a future 1st round pick.

2009

2nd Round (#43) - Everette Brown
Traded with 4th Rounder(#111) for 2010 1st Rounder (#17)
Verdict: Bad trade. Brown lasted only two seasons with the Panthers and only started 3 games. The included 4th Round pick was used for Mike Goodson, who was by far a more impactful player for the Panthers. Neither of their bad to pedestrian careers were worth a future 1st round pick, however.

2010

3rd Round (#89) - Armanti Edwards
Traded for 2011 2nd Rounder(#33)
Verdict: Bad trade. Armanti accumulated a total of 789 multipurpose yards and 0 TD's over his four year career. Not even remotely worth the #33 overall pick of the 2011 draft.

2012

4th Round (#103) - Frank Alexander
Traded for 6th Rounder(#180) and 2013 3rd Rounder(#74)
Verdict: Bad Trade. Alexander's career spanned only 3 seasons, during which he started 6 games and 34 TKLs/ASTs and 3.5 sacks. Worth a 6th round pick but certainly not a 3rd round pick.

2014

5th Round (#148) - Bene Benwikere
Traded up from #168 for a 7th Rounder (#225)
Verdict: Good trade. Benwikere started 14 games for the Panthers over his three year career in Carolina and was an excellent value for the price of a 7th round draft pick.

2015

2nd Round (#41) - Devin Funchess
Traded up from #57 for a 3rd Rounder(#89) and a 6th Rounder(#201)
Verdict: Fair trade. Funchess has started 28 games in his three year Panther career, producing a respectable 117 Rec, 1684 yds and 17 TD's. For the price of a 3rd and 6th rounder, he has been relatively valuable. Heading into the 2018 season as the #1 WR, this could quickly become a good or even great trade.

2016

3rd Round (#77) - Daryl Worley
Traded up from #93 along with 5th Rounder(#141) for 4th Rounder(#129) and 5th Rounder(#168)
Verdict: Bad trade.  While Worley did log 25 starts in his two years with the Panthers, it was a rocky career that ended up with him being traded in 2018. Ultimately probably not worth trading up to obtain a player that gets dealt this quickly in his career. 

2017

2nd Round (#64) - Taylor Moton
Traded up from 3rd Round(#72) for Kony Ealy.
Verdict: TBD. Moton has not made much of an impact yet in his career but considering that Ealy had been pushed down the rotation and ultimately was cut by the Patriots, this will likely have a floor of being a "Fair trade" as a worst case scenario.

3rd Round (#77) - Daeshon Hall
Traded up from #98 for 4th Rounder(#115)
Verdict: TBD. Hall missed the entire 2017 season with injury.
 

[kungfoodude]

Also, if we see Hurney trading up in the draft.....beware.

[RumHam]

lol all the hurney fails

[MtnProwler]

Man that's some good info!

[Zaximus]

I disagree about Otah.   That was a fantastic draft pick.   You couldn't see the injuries coming.    When he was healthy, he was one of the best in the league, and was a mauler and dominated the defense.    That 2008 season was amazing, our line was top notch, we ran down everyone.

[kungfoodude]

Just now, Zaximus said:

I disagree about Otah.   That was a fantastic draft pick.   You couldn't see the injuries coming.    When he was healthy, he was one of the best in the league, and was a mauler and dominated the defense.    That 2008 season was amazing, our line was top notch, we ran down everyone.

For a 1st rounder though? I can't agree with that because of the injury factor. I am not saying he was not an excellent player but how can it be anything but a bust pick when you look at what we gave up? It is unfortunate because I do think he could still be playing for us to this day.

[rippadonn]

7 minutes ago, Zaximus said:

I disagree about Otah.   That was a fantastic draft pick.   You couldn't see the injuries coming.    When he was healthy, he was one of the best in the league, and was a mauler and dominated the defense.    That 2008 season was amazing, our line was top notch, we ran down everyone.

Otah was a BEAST! He could have been a borderline great if his body held up. Talentwise it was well worth the trade. Totally agree

[Zaximus]

7 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

For a 1st rounder though? I can't agree with that because of the injury factor. I am not saying he was not an excellent player but how can it be anything but a bust pick when you look at what we gave up? It is unfortunate because I do think he could still be playing for us to this day.

Yes.    He was an impact player, you hardly get a guy like that.    I'm not a huge Hurney fan but Otah was a monster and I can't blame him for this.

When he was playing in 2008 we had the best running game easily, probably the best running team in the last 20 years or more if I remember.    He was a huge reason.

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Zaximus said:

Yes.    He was an impact player, you hardly get a guy like that.    I'm not a huge Hurney fan but Otah was a monster and I can't blame him for this.

Oh I wouldn't even say I blame him for that move. But hindsight being what it is, absolutely a bad move to make that trade. Injuries and bad luck still make for busted trades and picks. It is what it is.

[thefuzz]

Just now, kungfoodude said:

Oh I wouldn't even say I blame him for that move. But hindsight being what it is, absolutely a bad move to make that trade. Injuries and bad luck still make for busted trades and picks. It is what it is.

I agree with you here.  If we are looking back, and we are, it ended as a bad trade.  Plain and simple.

He was a good player, and injuries did derail his career, however he simply wasn't worth what it took to get him in the long run.

 

As to the trades....Hurney's were awful, but not nearly as bad as it would have been had we gotten someone to take our 2011 1st rounder.....

 

[MechaZain]

Way too much heat on Hurney if he trades up again. He knows that and won't.

[kungfoodude]

1 hour ago, MechaZain said:

Way too much heat on Hurney if he trades up again. He knows that and won't.

To be determined. I would like to say that he has learned his lesson but you never know.

[Swaggasaurus]

Hurney will move up somewhere. Maybe only up further in RD 3, but I expect a move.

[PleaseCutStewart]

3 hours ago, Zaximus said:

I disagree about Otah.   That was a fantastic draft pick.   You couldn't see the injuries coming.    When he was healthy, he was one of the best in the league, and was a mauler and dominated the defense.    That 2008 season was amazing, our line was top notch, we ran down everyone.

Agreed. Otah was a really good run blocking tackle when healthy (honestly may have been one of the best run blocking tackles in the NFL at that time), even though his pass blocking was sub-par.

I don't think any trade was worse than the Everette Brown one. I have no idea what the front office saw in him, but nothing stood out as impressive about him. We got fleeced big time in that trade.