The Panthers trading Adam Thielen sends clear message on Tetairoa McMillan

If the Carolina Panthers had drafted Jalon Walker in the first round or if Tetairoa McMillan had a bad preseason, then there's just no way the Panthers would've traded Adam Thielen. Excluding McMillan, the WR room is now:

• Xavier Legette
• Jalen Coker
• David Moore
• Brycen Tremayne
• Jimmy Horn Jr.

There's certainly some intrigue there, but that's hardly the ideal situation for your third-year QB who's still developing in Bryce Young. However, with McMillan, who looks more and more like a WR1 all the time, it's a much better situation.

Thielen was good, but he was the de facto WR1. He got that role because no one else was good enough to even consider for it. On a lot of teams, he'd have been a WR2. Now, the Panthers have a true WR1, so they were able to part with Thielen.

It continues the youth movement and opens up targets for players like Legette and Coker who will probably develop better as WR2 and WR3 than as WR3 and WR4. They'll be much more involved now, and McMillan will be the focal point.

It's a win for those young receivers, especially McMillan. The Panthers gave him a vote of confidence by selecting him when they desperately needed any defensive help (particularly at edge rusher), but this is another huge one. It's his wide receiver room now, and there's no denying that. He just has to live up to the billing now.