The Carolina Panthers may have laid the blueprint out for the Red.
According to ESPN senior NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, the Arizona Cardinals—who are looking to offload wideout DeAndre Hopkins—hope to receive a Christian McCaffrey-esque return for the three-time First-team All-Pro. The Carolina Panthers, of course, traded McCaffrey in the middle of the 2022 season—a deal that netted them a handful of draft picks from the San Francisco 49ers back on Oct. 20.
That swap sent Carolina four pieces of draft capital—second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a fifth-round pick in 2024—in exchange for the superstar running back. The Panthers would, in another blockbuster move about five months later, then include that second-rounder (61st overall) in their acquisition of 2023’s No. 1 overall selection.
So, will general manager Scott Fitterer try to make lightning strike twice—but get the stud veteran in return this time? Well, it’s possible.
Even with the recent free-agent signings of Adam Thielen and DJ Chark, the offense is still without a clear No. 1 option at the receiver position. Plus, the Panthers—who still have a pretty decent amount of salary cap space left—will likely be able to get the Cardinals to work with them on the remaining two years and $34 million left on Hopkins’ contract.
But is this really a deal—one that’ll further deplete Carolina’s drafts for a 30-year-old who’s missed 15 games over the past two seasons—that Fitterer wants to be in on?
