Revisiting the Carolina Panthers 2024 Draft Night Trades: Was selecting Xavier Legette a mistake?

Locked On Panthers - Daily Podcast On The Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers entered Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft without a first-round pick due to trading up for the number one pick the previous year. However, Panthers GM Dan Morgan managed to secure a selection that night by calling the Buffalo Bills and trading up to take South Carolina WR Xavier Legette in the first round. While Legette potentially represents the Panthers' future WR1, his rookie year, although promising, did not measure up to the other rookie WRs taken in the first round or a few selected immediately after him. Did Morgan make a mistake in taking Legette?

The Panthers continued their quest for offensive weapons on Day 2 of the NFL Draft, trading back in the second round before later trading up to select Texas RB Jonathon Brooks. The Panthers chose Brooks knowing he was coming off a torn ACL. Unfortunately for Brooks and the Panthers, he wouldn't debut until Week 12 and then would re-tear the ACL in his right knee three weeks later, ending his season and raising questions about his long-term future with the organization. Was drafting Brooks also a misstep by Morgan?

The Panthers weren't finished moving around the draft board on that Friday evening in Detroit, as Carolina later traded back with the New York Jets to select Kentucky linebacker Trevin Wallace, who has positioned himself to start in 2025. The trade also yielded a fifth-round pick, which became Chau Smith-Wade, who, like Wallace, is also projected to start on the Panthers' defense in 2025. Was this unassuming trade in the third round the best one Morgan made during the draft?

Morgan made one last trade before the deadline, sending Jonathon Mingo and a seventh-round pick to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for a fourth-round pick. Mingo had been a second-round pick the previous year but was clearly in need of a fresh start. Was this the best trade decision Morgan made during his first year as GM?

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