Bears looking out for No. 1 thanks to trade with Panthers

By the time the Panthers-Bears game kicked off Thursday at Soldier Field, the trade that sent the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 draft from the Bears to the Panthers for receiver DJ Moore and four draft picks — including the Panthers’ first-rounder in 2024 — already was paying dividends.

Even the most disappointed, disillusioned fans were rooting for the Bears to win instead of lose.

That wasn’t the case last season, when bitter fans were pulling for the Bears to lose every game to get a better chance at the No. 1 overall pick. This time, with the Panthers 1-7 and behind only the 1-8 Cardinals in the draft order, fans could root for the Bears to win and still have a better chance of getting the No. 1 overall pick next spring.

That was one storyline, but it wasn’t the only one in the national focus with the Panthers in town Thursday. Not much has gone right for general manager Ryan Poles in his second season. The Bears were 2-7 going into the game, and Matt Eberflus — Poles’ handpicked coach — is the favorite to be the next NFL coach fired (+275). Quarterback Justin Fields, meanwhile, missed his fourth consecutive game after suffering a dislocated thumb and remains a question mark for 2024.

But ‘‘The Trade’’ is keeping Poles’ listing ship afloat.

Poles turned down the opportunity to draft Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or any of the other highly rated quarterbacks with the No. 1 pick. Instead, he traded the pick to the Panthers for what was almost universally acclaimed as a substantial bounty. In addition to Moore, a three-time 1,000-yard receiver, the Bears got four draft picks — in the first (No. 9) and second rounds (No. 61) in 2023, in the first round in 2024 and in the second round in 2025.

It seemed like a masterstroke at the time and still might be one when the deal has fully played out. It kept the Bears in the top 10 of the 2023 draft and, in acquiring Moore, gave Fields a weapon he had been lacking. It also removed a weapon for whichever rookie quarterback the Panthers likely would be starting this season, in theory increasing the chances the first-round pick from the Panthers in 2024 might be in the top 10.

Besides Moore, the Bears also acquired Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright with the 10th overall pick after trading down one spot with the Eagles. In the second round, they traded up five spots to take Miami cornerback Tyrique Stevenson at No. 56.

It has worked out well so far for Poles and the Bears. Wright has been a plug-and-play right tackle who already looks like a foundation piece with staying power. Stevenson also has been a starter since Week 1. And at this point, the rookie trials he’s going through look like part of the development most talented cornerbacks go through more than a red flag. He’s fast. He’s physical. And he’s learning what he can and can’t do at the NFL level.

But it’s the Panthers’ first-round pick that looks like the marquee part of the trade. It remains to be seen whether the Panthers will stay in the running for the No. 1 overall pick, but it would give Poles options to draft a quarterback — USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye — or at least be high enough to select Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.

However that scenario plays out, ‘‘The Trade’’ gives Poles a little more time to see how his long game develops. With the Bears’ spinning their wheels, the Eberflus era on tilt and fan frustration mounting, Poles needs to buy himself as much time as he can.