Winners, losers of the Panthers-Jets Sam Darnold trade

Being able to acquire three draft picks for a struggling quarterback everyone and their mother knew would be traded is a major win for Douglas. He had no built-in relationship with Darnold.

Meanwhile, it’s become darn clear that the Jets are going to draft a quarterback with the second pick in the 2021 NFL Draft later this month. It’s absolutely insane that New York was able to acquire a second-round pick for Darnold. Add in the two mid- to late-round selections, and Douglas took Carolina’s brass to the proverbial dry cleaners.

Loser: Teddy Bridgewater’s future up in the air

Signed to a three-year, $63 million contract last offseason, Bridgewater was the true definition of a mediocre quarterback in his first season with Carolina. The former Minnesota Vikings first-round pick completed 69.1% of his passes for north of 3,700 yards. However, he also threw just 15 touchdowns against 11 interceptions.

There’s a chance Carolina simply looks to release Bridgewater after June 1. Said move would save $7.9 million against the cap. It would also create an absurd $15 million overall dead cap hit. A trade or restructure could also be in the cards.

Winner: Zach Wilson is the future in New Jersey

That’s it. This former BYU standout is now likely to head to New Jersey and be the Jets’ quarterback of the future. He’ll end up being the face of the franchise after jumping onto the scene for the Cougars last season. He’ll have a widely respected head coach in Robert Saleh as well as an innovative offensive mind, coordinator Mike LaFleur.

Wilson seems to be an ideal fit in LaFleur’s system. It’s going to be run much like what we see from Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers. With above-average accuracy and a cannon of an arm, Wilson is set up to succeed out of the gate. New York’s ability to add wide receivers Corey Davis and Keelan Cole to the mix will also help out.

Loser: Panthers show desperation in Sam Darnold trade

It’s already known that Carolina offered up the eighth pick to the Detroit Lions for Stafford before he was dealt to the Los Angeles Rams. It also showed interest in Watson before the above-mentioned allegations of sexual assault. Simply put, Tepper wants to find that franchise quarterback he had in Pittsburgh with Ben Roethlisberger when he was a part-owner of the Steelers.

From what we’ve seen Darnold do in three NFL seasons, he’s not going to be the answer. A total of 45 touchdowns against 39 interceptions in 38 starts are just not going to cut it. Meanwhile, Carolina gave up three valuable NFL Draft selections and will pick up the 2022 option on Darnold’s contract for a whopping $23.6 million.

Winner: San Francisco 49ers’ trade market for Jimmy Garoppolo

This is a pretty major backdrop. Despite his struggles with injuries over the past few years, there’s no objective person out there who believes Jimmy Garoppolo is a lesser quarterback than Darnold. Heck, the 29-year-old signal caller threw for nearly 4,000 yards with 27 touchdowns against 13 interceptions en route to leading San Francisco to the Super Bowl back in 2019.

Despite what the 49ers want us to believe, Garoppolo is firmly on the trade block after they acquired the No. 3 pick in this month’s draft. San Francisco wants a first-round pick in exchange. Based on what Darnold netted the Jets, that’s now no longer out of the question.