Panthers turned down Rams, 49ers trade efforts for No. 8 pick

The Panthers stood tall at the No. 8 pick despite several trade offers.

The Carolina Panthers had the No. 8 pick in the NFL Draft, and they used it to take wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan. There seemed to be a few teams that were interested in the No. 8 pick, but the Panthers stood tall and took the guy they wanted all along. There was a reason why the Panthers turned down those offers, according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

“So Carolina wound up resisting trade overtures from teams such as the Niners and Rams, not wanting to get cute and risk losing him,” Greer wrote. “And after getting him, and Scourton, they added Ole Miss pass rusher Princely Umanmielen, who’s seen as having a lot of untapped potential.

The Rams seemed to be the team most interested in the pick, and it was because they were intrigued with several skill players.

“The Rams’ bet in this year’s draft is on their own evaluations,” Breer continued. “As we mentioned above, Los Angeles did sniff around on trading into the top 10 with a focus on getting another offensive weapon—if they got to No. 8, McMillan, and the top two tight ends, Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland, would’ve been there. And just because they didn’t pull off that move up doesn’t mean they weren’t able to accomplish what they were aiming to do.”

Tetairoa McMillan ready to contribute to Panthers

The Panthers have invested in trying to improve their receiver room in the first round of the past two drafts, as they selected Xavier Legette last year, and this year, went with McMillan. After being drafted by the Panthers, McMillan said that he was ready to take the Panthers to the next level, and he’ll do so with what he’s able to do on the field.

The Panthers had Legette and Adam Thielen as their top two receivers last season, and adding McMillan will make them more dynamic, especially with Bryce Young coming more into his own. The Panthers showed growth toward the latter part of last season, and the hope is that they can continue to build on that momentum.

Not only did the Panthers look to upgrade their receiver room, but they double-dipped on edge rushers in the second and third rounds. The Panthers have some young talent already on defense, and adding players such as Nic Scourton and Princely Umanmielen will help them on the line. In the fourth round, the Panthers drafted Lathan Ransom to help in their already promising secondary.