Don't Count Out a Draft Night Trade from Dan Morgan
The Panthers have been one of the more-trade happy teams in the NFL in the Dan Morgan era.
The Carolina Panthers are scheduled to be on the clock with the 19th overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Mock drafts are flying about, with most expecting general manager Dan Morgan to add a playmaker of some sort: a pass catcher or defensive back.
But lost in all of those mock drafts and speculation is the idea of a trade - in one way or another.
Trades happen all over the board in round one, and in spite of there being only four trades in last year’s first round, the possibility of Carolina trading down or up from the 19th pick serves as a more real possibility than what one would initially think - particularly with Dan Morgan’s history specifically.
Dan Morgan’s previous stops
The first thing here that I want to cover is Dan Morgan’s history with both the Seattle Seahawks (executive from 2015 to 2018) and Buffalo Bills (2018 to 2020).
Throughout Morgan’s time in Seattle, the Seahawks were among the more trade-happy teams, often moving down to acquire additional capital.
The Seahawks traded down from their original first round pick in both 2016 and 2017 to acquire day two draft capital. Seattle left both of those drafts with at least ten players.
In Buffalo, Morgan was a part of a staff that also prioritized draft picks, though Morgan’s stint was in a more aggressive time period for the Bills, as they traded a first-round pick for Stefon Diggs in 2020.
Here are what those drafts looked like, per Pro Football Reference:
Seahawks:
Bills:
There isn’t a single draft class listed here in which the Bills/Seahawks didn’t bring in at least seven rookies. And in the lone draft class of only seven players, the Bills had traded for Stefon Diggs.
Dan Morgan’s Drafts in Carolina
The Panthers have been arguably one of the most trade-happy teams in the NFL over the course of the past two drafts. They’ve made a grand total of six deals over the past two seasons - and almost dealt the 8th overall pick to the Los Angeles Rams before selecting Tetairoa McMillan.
There has been a clear emphasis on extracting the maximum value out of each draft pick that Carolina holds. It’s not just me saying that either.
Here’s what Morgan said on the possibility of moving back from the No. 8 pick prior to the 2025 NFL Draft:
"I don't really wanna get into specifics on where I would want to trade back to, but we're definitely open to trading back and acquiring more picks. I think we're gonna be open to all possibilities — let's put it that way."
And here’s another quote from Morgan prior to the 2024 NFL Draft:
“Trading up, those are discussions that we still have to have. I think everything’s on the table. I don’t want to box us in right now.”
There is undoubtedly a certain comfort level that Morgan (and his staff) have with trading up and down, but the first-round specifically is a different type of calculation.
But the No. 19 pick is much different than owning a top-10 pick.
The Panthers have made a trade for every single top-100 pick they’ve selected with the exception of McMillan (No. 8) last year.
They traded up for Xavier Legette.
They traded down (and then back up) for Jonathon Brooks.
They traded down for Trevin Wallace.
They traded up for Nic Scourton.
They traded up for Princely Umanmielen.
That’s a lot of movement.
But draft day movement is a bit more common than maybe what you think. In 2025, six teams picked in spots that were not their original pick (in the first round). From 2020 through 2024, at least ten teams each year picked in spots that was not their original pick (in the first round).
This is all to say one thing: while we currently project the Panthers to pick at the 19th overall selection, the odds of them trading up or down from that pick are much higher than what we might think.
If I had to put an actual number to it, I’d say there’s probably around a 40% chance make a draft night trade during the first round.