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After weeks of speculation the Chicago Bears ended up trading the #1 overall pick in the draft. Now there were multiple teams that were mentioned in possibly being interested in acquiring that pick, but in the end, it was the Carolina Panthers that gave the Bears the package they accepted.

For the #1 overall pick in the upcoming draft the Bears will receive Carolina’s #1 pick which is 9th overall, A 2nd round pick which is 61st overall, a 2024 1st round pick, a 2025 2nd round pick and wide receiver D.J. Moore.

It appears as though the Bears got good value for that #1 overall pick, but we’ll never actually know until we see how those draft picks turn out. What we do know immediately from the trade is that Chicago filled one of their biggest off season’s needs, to get a #1 wide receiver.

Last season Moore started al 17 games for the Panthers. He caught 63 passes for 888 yards and scored 7 touchdowns. Moore spent five seasons with the Panthers and had a career high 93 receptions in 2021. He’ll immediately step in as the Bears #1 wide receiver.

Now the question becomes, which quarterback will the Panthers take with the #1 overall draft pick they now own. There have been reports that the owner and the new head coach like two different quarterbacks. Apparently, owner Dave Tepper likes Alabama quarterback Bryce Young while head coach Frank Reich favors Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud.

Carolina is now on the clock, and they’ll have until April 27th to figure out which quarterback they’ll be taking with that #1 overall pick.

The other thing that this trade signifies is that the Bears have decided that Justin Fields will be their quarterback going forward. At one point there were some rumors that the Bears would trade Fields and use that #1 overall pick to select their new franchise quarterback. This trade should put all of that talk to rest.

It still appears as though there will be three quarterbacks taken with the top four picks in the April 27th draft. With Carolina picking 1st then the Houston Texans taking a quarterback with the 2nd pick and then the Indianapolis Colts selecting a quarterback with the 4th pick.

As of right now the Arizona Cardinals seem to be holding onto an interesting pick at #3. Is it possible that a team that couldn’t come to an agreement with the Bears to move up to the #1 slot in the draft still be interested in moving up to get a quarterback? If they are they’d have to deal with the Cardinals as it’s very doubtful that either Houston or Indianapolis would deal their 1st round picks since it appears as though they’re both interested in selecting a quarterback.

Of course, there still are and there always are quarterback questions that still have to be answered. Aaron Rodgers met with the New York Jets this week, so it’s possible that he’ll be their quarterback next season. Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens haven’t seen any movement on his contract situation, so it’s unclear where he’s at right now. Jimmy Garoppolo is also out there as a free agent and I’m sure he’ll be someone’s starting quarterback next season.

So, what do you think of the Bears/ Panthers trade? Do you think that the Bears go enough for the #1 overall pick? And which quarterback do you think Carolina moved up to get?

I haven’t seen too many predictions on the upcoming Major League Baseball season just yet, but I’m sure they’ll be popping up soon. When those predictions come out, I’m sure there will be a lot of people picking the New York Yankees to be a contender to win the World Series. The Yankees are always a trendy pick, but if they’re going to contend, they’re going to have to get off to a solid start and it looks as though they’re running into some rotation troubles.

The Yankees announced almost right as spring training started that right-handed starting pitcher Frankie Montas probably wouldn’t pitch at all in the 2023 season as he shoulder surgery. Well, the Yankees suffered another blow to that starting rotation when Carlos Rodon went do with a mild forearm strain. Rodon is being shut down for 7 to 10 days but is going to start the season on the Injury List.

Rodon was expected to hold down the #2 spot in the Yankees starting rotation behind Gerrit Cole. He was also the only left-handed starter that the Yankees have. If he’s healthy Luis Severino might be able to step into the spot behind Cole in the starting rotation until Rodon returns but will have to see how the Yankees end up setting up their rotation.

Rodon started his career with the Chicago White Sox, so I’m used to hearing that he’s injured. He’s managed to stay relatively healthy the last two seasons and actually made 31 starts for the San Francisco Giants last season. That led to the Yankees giving him a 6-year $162 million dollar contract as a free agent this off season.

Now it was also reported that Rodon underwent an MRI and there was no damage to his UCL. That means it’s possible that Rodon may only miss a start or two when the season gets underway but will have to wait and see how his recover goes.

Don’t forget to look for me on Twitter, I’m @Burketime.