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Carolina Panthers owner reveals team planned to trade to No. 2 pick and take CJ Stroud

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is dealing with a number of questions surrounding his organization this season. The Panthers are just 1-10 overall and recently fired head coach Frank Reich during his first season with the team.

Carolina is also dealing with the fallout of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Panthers jumped up to take Alabama QB Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick while Ohio State QB CJ Stroud went to the Houston Texans at No. 2. So far, Stroud has outplayed Young during their rookie seasons, and Houston is 6-5 as a result.

At a recent press conference, Tepper was asked about the draft plans and admitted the goal was to trade to No. 2 overall and select Stroud based on a belief the Texans would take Young. However, he did say Young was the team’s No. 1 pick on the board, a decision the team had a lot of conviction about.

“It’s been reported and we talked about it. Originally we were going to go with the No. 2 pick and we thought we would get CJ (Stroud) cause we thought the Texans would take Bryce (Young),” Tepper said. “Listen, we preferred Bryce, he was our No. 1 pick, we had a lot of conviction. But, in answer to your questions, it’s just not the way the process was done. The process was done the way the process was done.”

Tepper said he could “always veto” any choices that came in but ultimately said he supported both choices. “Whatever is good, bad or indifferent is ultimately because the buck stops here,” Tepper admitted.

Moving forward, Tepper said the team maintains confidence in selecting Young, all the way from the owner to those who made the pick to begin with.

“As far as Bryce Young is concerned… we are totally confident in that pick. I think the people that made that pick first would be totally confident in that,” claimed Tepper. “And for me, I’m totally confident in agreeing with that pick.”

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.

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