Assuming a franchise quarterback doesn’t fall to Carolina at No. 8 and the team rolls with Sam Darnold in 2021, Carolina will have plenty of flexibility to do what I advocate every year: Smartly trade down!
As the benevolent dictator of Trade Down Island I’ve shared TDI’s constitution before which outlines how to win the draft by effectively trading down. It starts by having the humility to admit the draft is just educated guesswork and no team can beat the market over time, so the more good draft picks, the better. Smartly trading down in Rounds 1-2 to get additional picks in Rounds 2-4 still allows good talent evaluators to potentially land a first round Pro Bowler later in the first round while having a couple more picks in the early rounds to land additional starters.