If you want a franchise-changing quarterback, you most likely need to trade up to get your guy — unless you conveniently had a disastrous season to hook your team up with a top pick. The Houston Texans used the second-overall pick to select C.J. Stroud and won their division in the same season. Their outlook as a franchise changed in large part because of Stroud’s play. But it’s just as crucial that the structure around the quarterback is stable for their development.
To get the first-overall pick to draft Bryce Young, the Carolina Panthers gave up:
- Their ninth-overall pick in the 2023 draft
- A 2023 second-round pick
- A 2024 first-round pick
- A 2025 second-round pick
- And receiver D.J. Moore
In his first season, they surrounded Young with Miles Sanders, Adam Thielen, and Hayden Hurst. These are veterans who have played in the NFL but were not in their prime or above average at their positions. Young ultimately did not have the rookie season that the Panthers were looking for after giving up so much to get him.
It’s still uncertain whether he will become their long-term answer, but head coach Frank Reich won’t get a chance to find out. Carolina fired him 11 games into the season. Young will be on his second head coach and offensive coordinator this upcoming season. The Panthers traded for wide receiver Diontae Johnson to help improve his supporting cast.
But the Panthers aren’t the only team to go all-in on a quarterback who didn’t work out. To select Sam Darnold, the New York Jets traded:
- Their sixth-overall pick
- Two second-round picks in the 2018 NFL draft
- And another second-round pick in 2019 to trade up to the third-overall pick
After Darnold’s first season, the Jets fired head coach Todd Bowles and replaced him with Adam Gase. New York produced the 31st and 32nd most points per game in the next two seasons, respectively, and they moved on from Gase. The Jets never made a big move at wide receiver to help support Darnold during the three seasons he started for them. In 2019, Jamison Crowder was his leading receiver with 833 yards. They never created a good environment for Darnold to thrive as a top-three pick in the NFL.
In 2018, the Baltimore Ravens traded back into the first round to draft Lamar Jackson. They gave up a second- and a fourth-round pick in 2018 and a second in the 2019 draft to receive the 32nd-overall and a fourth-round pick. Jackson sat behind Joe Flacco for the first half of the season before playing, and Baltimore developed him in a culture that head coach John Harbaugh had established.
Jackson became Baltimore’s opening-day starter in 2019, and the Ravens took wide receiver Marquise Brown in the first round of the draft that year. The Ravens surrounded Jackson with Brown and tight end Mark Andrews, who emerged as one of the best tight ends in the NFL that season. Jackson has led the Ravens to the playoffs four times since becoming the starter, with a record of 2-4, and was an MVP in 2019 and 2023.
In 2018, the Bills traded up for Josh Allen, giving up their 12th-overall pick and two second-round picks to trade up for the seventh-overall pick. They also received a seventh-round pick from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. People panned the trade and Buffalo’s decision to take Allen. In his first two seasons, Allen went through growing pains as he developed. However, he showed improvement in the second half of his second season.
Before his third season, the Bills traded for Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Allen had a breakthrough third season, earning second-team All-Pro honors. Since arriving, Allen has had the same head coach, Sean McDermott, and played under offensive coordinator Brian Daboll for four years.
When a reporter asked Bills GM Brandon Beane about the trade with the media at this year’s combine, he said, “I mean, we got criticized a little bit for how much we gave up for Josh. And I’m like, Well if he doesn’t work out, I’m not going to be here anyway. And if he does work out, nobody’s gonna give a s—.”
The Minnesota Vikings will have two first-round picks in this upcoming draft and what some people have considered the best supporting cast for a rookie quarterback. They have an All-Pro receiver in Justin Jefferson alongside Jordan Addison, T.J. Hockenson, new running back Aaron Jones, and two stellar offensive tackles. Kevin O’Connell has also been an excellent offensive play-caller in his first two seasons as Minnesota’s head coach.
If the Vikings decide to trade up for a quarterback, there is no price too high because Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and O’Connell are attaching their fates to that decision. They should go all-in for their quarterback of the future because it will determine whether this team will contend. Fortunately, given recent history, the rookie quarterback they pick would be stepping into one of the better environments in recent NFL memory.
