Report: 'Aggressive' Panthers willing to take a discount to trade down in 2025 NFL draft

[ASFN Admin]

Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan didn't seem to be kidding when he said that he'll be waiting for a trade call on Thursday night.

Tomorrow marks the start of the 2025 NFL draft, where the Panthers hold the queue's eighth overall selection. But, based off Morgan's insinuations over the past few months, they're certainly open to moving off that pick in an effort to acquire more capital.

And that effort, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, isn't half-hearted. Breer wrote the following on Wednesday:

We’ve been over this, but just about everyone in the top 10 has sniffed around on trading down. The New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders are open to it. The Jaguars have made calls to explore the idea of it this week.

But there’s one team that’s been a little more aggressive than the rest and that’s the Panthers, who have the eighth pick. My understanding is they’re willing to take a discount to move down in an effort to try to build up their war chest of picks. It’s interesting, too, because Carolina isn’t hurting for volume with two fourths and three fifths.

For the Panthers, it’s an effort to try and build up more capital for Day 2, where the strength of this year’s draft is, and/or 2026, with the knowledge that, this year, there might not be a huge difference from the eighth pick to the 18th selection.

The Panthers are currently in possession of nine selections for this weekend. But they could, in adding more ammunition, be looking to close the near-50-pick gap between their first-rounder (No. 8) and their second-rounder (No. 57).

Morgan, during his pre-draft press conference last Tuesday, told reporters that his line will be open.

"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," he stated. "I think we're gonna be open to all possibilities—let's put it that way."

In his first draft at the helm last year, Morgan completed a total of four trades—including a move up into the back of the first round for wide receiver Xavier Legette.

Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.

This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: 2025 NFL draft: Panthers willing to 'take a discount' to trade down

Continue reading...