There was more for Fitterer to sort through, too. He had discussions with
Arizona and
Seattle about the No. 3 and No. 5 picks, respectively. Fitterer spent two decades in the Seahawks’ front office and remains close with GM John Schneider, but the talks for the fifth pick never intensified.
The Panthers weren’t alone in wanting to jump to No. 1, and they sensed there would be competition. Indeed, Poles said a “wave” of teams checked in after Carolina. The Bears had calls with QB-needy teams throughout the draft — not only in the top 10, where three were willing to discuss potential compensation.
The Raiders had conversations about what it would take to get to the top pick from No. 7. The Colts (including Poles’ former colleague in Kansas City, Chris Ballard) were also involved but only to a certain point; the timing just wasn’t right for Indianapolis and some other clubs.
What intrigued Poles most, though, was the possibility of moving down one spot to Houston’s pick at No. 2 and then down to No. 9. For the Bears, it would be two big moves wrapped into a bigger one. The Panthers, who were comfortable with two of the top four quarterbacks, were open to it. But Poles’ dream scenario hinged on the Texans moving up.
“Houston had to be good with it first,” he said.
With free agency getting closer, Poles started to get anxious. The Texans weren’t committing.
Fitterer had heard about the Bears’ talks with other teams and called Poles on his way to his daughter’s high school soccer game on Tuesday, March 7.
“He’s like, ‘Yeah if you want to jump in on this, make an offer,'” Fitterer said.
Poles met Tepper when he interviewed for the Carolina GM job in 2021. Based on that experience, he knew Tepper to be an aggressive businessman. The Panthers had swung big for a quarterback a couple of times after Tepper bought the team in 2018, making trade offers for
Matthew Stafford and
Deshaun Watson.
“If they saw value in this, then they would be very motivated to get it done,” Poles said.
After his conversation with Poles, Fitterer called Tepper, and the owner agreed it was time to make a bold move to escape the quarterback purgatory that had existed in Carolina since Newton’s body began to break down in 2018. Fitterer then called Poles back, and the two talked through the entirety of Fitterer’s daughter’s soccer game. The Panthers made a second offer, this time including Moore.
Fitterer was reluctant to part with Moore, Carolina’s first-round pick in 2018 whom the Panthers extended last offseason at three years and $61.9 million before the wide receiver market blew up. Moore never went to a Pro Bowl in Carolina. But he was one of only three receivers in Panthers history with three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons — a tough, durable player who missed two games in five seasons.
“We couldn’t get there with just picks,” Fitterer said. “So we argued that D.J. was worth a 1, plus somebody else. We both agreed how valuable he would be for a young quarterback, to give him a proper evaluation.”
Poles had said publicly he thought he could get three first-round selections for the pick. But by including Moore in the deal, the Panthers were able to hold on to one of their future firsts.
“There were certain players that we never really wanted to trade,” Fitterer said. “It’s so hard to replace a Derrick Brown or Brian Burns, a pass rusher (and) an interior, dominant young player on a (first) contract. D.J., we didn’t want to move either. But it’s a little bit easier to replace a receiver than it is a pass rusher or a three-tech.”
The framework of the deal was mostly in place, but there was a hangup: The Bears wanted the Panthers’ second-round pick (No. 39), which Fitterer was determined to keep. Instead, the Panthers countered with their other second-round pick (No. 61), which they’d acquired in the McCaffrey trade.
“We didn’t want to have that big gap in there,” Fitterer said. “We thought the sweet spot in this class is somewhere between 20 and 45, just really good value in there. At 61, that’s a heck of a fall, and you’re gonna watch a lot of good players (get taken).”
Fitterer proposed a sweetener to close it out — the Panthers’ second-round pick in 2025 — to go along with 9 and 61 this year, next year’s first and Moore. Tepper, the hedge fund manager worth $18.5 billion, signed off on the additional second.
“He thought that was a pretty inexpensive move to get up there to get your future quarterback to change the direction of your franchise,” Fitterer said. “Dave’s very good at managing value, showing some restraint yet being aggressive. This is the world he lives in.”
The Bears were comfortable with the move down to No. 9, too. Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson might not be an option, but other “blue” graded players on their board should be, especially if three quarterbacks get drafted before them.
“Play the percentage game, it’s probably a chance one (quarterback) slides in, but … there’s different tiers in the first round,” Poles said. “There’s always that cut-off of ‘elite’ and then it’s ‘very good starters.’ I know we’ll be in range for the players that are going to be in that first round that kind of hit that value bucket and for our team are going to make us better.”
After talking through different scenarios with Poles and other front-office members on Friday, March 10, Eberflus left for the Deer Path Inn in Lake Forest. It was time for dinner. And that’s when the deal got done.
“We went with the best option that we thought was good for the franchise,” Eberflus said. “It was the right thing to do.”
In Halas Hall, Poles stopped pacing. As coaches exited the building for the weekend, he let them know. They were “stoked.” He texted chairman George McCaskey and new team president Kevin Warren.
Poles remembered his first major move as Bears GM, when his agreed-upon signing of defensive lineman
Larry Ogunjobi fell through because of a failed physical. He was excited but would remain anxious until Wednesday afternoon when Moore was in the building and officially a Bear.
“I liked the compensation a lot,” he said. “I started getting excited about what we can do for the organization — not only having D.J. enhance and help Justin develop but also down the road. And at this time next year, we’re having two 1s. I don’t know where they’ll be, but I know they will help us get better.”
With Tepper participating remotely via conference call, the Panthers were fired up after finishing the deal. But first, they had to get in touch with Moore and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus.
“It was an exciting moment for everyone. There were a lot of high-fives,” Suleiman said. “But it was — I hate to say short-lived, but we had to immediately call D.J. and let him know so he wasn’t learning (by) reading about it. We wanted him to hear it from us first.”
Afterward, Fitterer and Morgan would go to dinner with their wives. But all of the Panthers’ decision-makers unwound in Fitterer’s office first, talking about the trade for a half-hour or so.
“Wow,” Fitterer said to the group, “Did we just trade up for the first pick?”