The National Football League holds a lot of history. Its modern day is influenced by what has happened in previous years to get teams to their current states. Every decision a team makes has a domino effect. Day-to-day decisions and trades affect them now, in the near future, and maybe even further down the line.
For example, one can put together a timeline that connects the Houston Texans trading up for quarterback Deshaun Watson in the 2017 Draft, leading all the way to the Bears drafting wide receiver Luther Burden III in the 2025 Draft.
Deshaun Watson & The Houston Texans’ Trade
At the 2017 NFL Draft, the Texans needed a quarterback. They’d just traded for veteran Brock Osweiler, but that was not enough to get the team into contention again. So, the management of the team made a big move. They gave up a first-round pick in the 2018 draft to move up from No. 25 to the No. 12 pick. Houston selected Clemson star Deshaun Watson, hoping that he would solve their quarterback woes.
Then, early in Watson’s rookie season, he was injured, and the Texans’ record plummeted as a result. The Browns ended up netting the No. 4 pick in 2018 from this trade, and took Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward. Ward became a star player with the Browns, notching multiple Pro Bowl selections throughout his career, among other accolades.
Upon Watson’s return to the Texans, the team instantly catapulted back into contention. Watson even led the league in passing yards for the 2020 season. However, Watson was unhappy with the way the Texans organization was running, and demanded a trade out.
After a season of not playing due to a combination of this trade request and sexual misconduct allegations against him, Watson was traded to the Browns in a blockbuster deal. The Texans got three first-round picks in return, and a haul of other later-round picks. The Browns gave Watson a contract extension after the trade, which completely reset the market for quarterbacks in the league.
Baker Mayfield & The Carolina Panthers
This trade left the Browns’ then-quarterback Baker Mayfield uncertain about his future. He was traded to the Carolina Panthers late in the 2022 offseason for a small amount of capital.
Mayfield floundered on the Panthers, starting a few games before being benched and eventually cut. He has reemerged as an above-average quarterback option for many league teams. Most recently, Mayfield led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to multiple consecutive NFC South titles, with playoff wins to match.
Mayfield’s underperformance with the Panthers led them to look for a new quarterback option in the 2023 Draft, but they needed to take an extreme measure to secure one.
Justin Fields & The Chicago Bears‘ Draft Trade
The Bears realized in 2021 that 2017 draft pick Mitchell Trubisky was not their answer to the quarterback position in the long-term. Trubisky performed well, but not at a level that was worth factoring him into the team’s future plans. The Bears took a swing in the 2021 Draft, trading up from No. 20 to No. 11 and surrendering their 2022 first-round pick to the New York Giants to make the move.
Chicago selected Ohio State QB Justin Fields with the pick. Fields was a prospect the team hoped would bring a new dimension to their offense. That new dimension would be a quarterback running game. Fields performed the best he could with the circumstances given to him in his rookie year. However, a coach fired midseason and a lack of talented players around him meant that Fields couldn’t produce much. The Bears’ first-round pick in the 2022 Draft ended up at No. 7 overall. The Giants took offensive tackle Evan Neal with the pick.
Fields continued to start for the Bears with poor results. A particularly bad season in 2022 gave the Bears the rights to the No. 1 overall pick in 2023. The team liked what they had seen in Fields and weren’t ready to move off of him just yet. Seeing value in a trade, they looked to net a lot of value from sending away that No. 1 pick. A quarterback-needy team in the Carolina Panthers came calling, looking to take that extreme measure.
The No. 1 Overall Pick Swap
The Bears and Panthers agreed to terms for a trade of the 2023 No. 1 overall pick, the Bears sending it to the Panthers, and got a haul in return. That haul included:
- The No. 9 overall pick in the 2023 draft
- The Panthers’ second-round pick in that draft
- The Panthers’ first-round pick in 2024
- The Panthers’ second-round pick in 2025
- Wide receiver DJ Moore
The Bears turned the two picks they received in the 2023 draft into talented starters in OT Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson. Under these new additions, plus the addition of Moore, the Bears did better in the 2023 season. Despite taking QB Bryce Young, the Panthers got far worse. New head coach Frank Reich was not the answer for the team, and they fired him after the season ended.
In trading their 2024 first-round pick, they traded the No. 1 overall pick to the Bears.
The Bears found themselves in the same cycle with Fields as they did with Trubisky, seeing some success, but not enough to warrant keeping him around for future plans. Loaded with the No. 1 overall pick from the Panthers, they had a prospect who promised to be a game changer at the position waiting there for them, Southern California QB Caleb Williams.
The Bears traded Fields to the Pittsburgh Steelers that offseason, where he saw some playing time, splitting snaps with fellow acquisition Russell Wilson.
In the final piece of this trade, the Bears took Missouri WR Luther Burden III with the Panthers’ 2025 second-round pick. He looks to be a fresh weapon to help the Bears and Williams take the leap to a contending team moving forward.
This is just one example of a singular trade sending ripple effects through the league up to 10 years in the future. It shows that the NFL is a living, breathing league, and the events that happen within it largely affect others.
