For the second time during Day 2 of this year’s draft, the Panthers have traded up to select an edge rusher.
Carolina has been wheeling and dealing, this time sending No. 85 and No. 126 to New England in exchange for No. 77.
With that pick, the Panthers have selected Princely Umanmielen out of Ole Miss.
Umanmielen, 23, played his first four collegiate seasons at Florida before transferring to Ole Miss for 2024. After recording 7.0 sacks for Florida in 2023, he led Old Miss with 10.5 sacks in 2024. He missed a pair of games with an ankle injury.
In all, Umanmielen recorded 25.5 sacks in his 56 college games.
He’ll stay in the South as he heads to Charlotte.
The Panthers have traded up with the Broncos to take a defensive player.
With the No. 51 overall pick in the second round, Carolina has selected edge rusher Nic Scourton out of Texas A&M.
Scourton, 20, spent his first two collegiate seasons at Purdue before transferring in 2024. He was a second-team All-Big Ten selection in 2023 when he led the conference with 10 sacks.
In 2024, he tallied five sacks and 14 tackles for loss, earning first-team All-SEC honors for the Aggies.
The Panthers sent No. 57, No. 74, No. 111, and No. 230 to the Broncos in exchange for No. 51, No. 85, No. 122, and No. 208 in this year’s draft.
The final pick traded to the Bears as part of the Bryce Young trade has been used.
The Bears selected wide receiver Luther Burden III with the 39th overall pick on Friday night. He joins tight end Colston Loveland as rookie additions to the offense ahead of Ben Johnson’s first year as their head coach.
Carolina traded wide receiver DJ Moore, their 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, and their 2023 and 2025 second-round picks to the Bears in order to move up to the first overall pick in 2023. The 2024 first-rounder turned out to be the first overall pick, which the Bears used to take quarterback Caleb Williams. They also added tackle Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson with picks they received in that deal.
Burden had 61 catches for 676 yards and six touchdowns last season. He joins Moore and 2024 first-rounder Rome Odunze in the Bears receiving corps.
In the run-up to the draft, an old clip of Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan saying he didn’t watch game film surfaced. Some questioned whether it would be wise to draft such a player. McMillan said the person who said that was younger and dumber than the person the Panthers took with the eighth overall pick on Thursday night.
McMillan said at his introductory press conference with the Panthers that he has long since learned the importance of the mental side of the game and recognizes the importance of watching film.
“I definitely have grown, I definitely have matured since that. I feel like I wouldn’t be here before you today without loving this game and watching film. I was just a young and dumb freshman. I definitely have matured,” McMillan said.
McMillan thinks he’s proven what kind of player he is with his play at Arizona. The Panthers obviously thought McMillan’s comments were a non-issue.
The Panthers set an NFL record for points allowed in a single season last year, but they didn’t add a defensive piece with their top pick in this year’s draft.
Wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan was the team’s choice with the eighth overall pick and General Manager Dan Morgan said on Thursday night that the wideout will “add a different dimension to our offense.” That will help quarterback Bryce Young’s continued development and a better offense should lead to less pressure on the defense, but Morgan went on to make it clear that the Panthers plan to address that side of the ball as well.
“It’s still a need, and you know we have eight more picks,” Morgan said, via the team’s website. “We wanted to add the best player, we wanted to follow the board, follow our board of who we thought was going to help us the most up there. Again, we got our guy, and we’re excited about it. . . . We did attack our defensive needs through free agency. And again, we have eight picks left, and our board has a lot of defensive guys on there as well. So, it’s definitely not something that we’re going to neglect.”
The Panthers are currently set to wait until No. 57 to make their next selection, but having eight picks might give them enough capital to jump on the board earlier than expected.
