What Carolina Panthers signing D.J. Chark means for Chicago Bears

After creating so many headlines for acquiring the first pick in the 2023 NFL draft in a trade with the Chicago Bears, the Carolina Panthers and general manager Scott Fitterer have been continuously working overtime to better their team and surround the quarterback position with reliable, experienced weapons.

Chicago Bears will watch everything Carolina Panthers do

First, it was picking up the former Cincinnati Bengal, Hayden Hurst. A few days later, they signed Pro Bowler Miles Sanders, a runningback who seemingly found his dominant stride in Philadelphia last year. You also can't forget the nine-year veteran wide receiver, Adam Theilen, who has racked up over 6,600 receiving yards over the course of his career.

And finally, on Friday morning, they made another splash and signed the ex-Detroit Lion, DJ Chark, who played a somewhat intermediate role in delivering the Lions their best season record since 2017, to a prove-it short-term deal. Not only are the Panthers building their roster for the incoming first pick that will line up under center, but they are also solidifying their offensive core for the near future by securing multiple 3+ year deals for their new skill players on offense.

• TE Hayden Hurst: 3 year, 21.5 million dollar deal

• RB Miles Sanders: 4 year, 25.4 million dollar deal

• WR Adam Theilen: 3 year, 25 million dollar deal

• WR DJ Chark: 1 year, 5 million dollar deal

Carolina will now have these new players on their offensive squad, along with running back Chuba Hubbard, second-year wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr., wide receiver Shi Smith, and left offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu, some notable players on the team last year.

So, you may be asking by now, "What does this mean for Chicago?". Well, it definitely puts them in a worse situation than they were in before. Two weeks ago, the Bears made a massive trade with the Panthers which forced them down eight spots in the draft order put gave them a haul of picks and a star wide receiver in return. This gives the Bears tons of draft capital to work with in order to fill the various holes they had in their roster in 2022.

As a result of this acquisition, the Lions lost a top-three receiver on their depth chart. However, they shouldn't be worried, because they still have an abundance of weapons, including a star wide receiver in Amon-Ra St. Brown, utility role Kalif Raymond, and incoming second-year wide receiver Jameson Williams, a star at the University of Alabama who was sidelined for 11 games and only had 41 total yards due to a torn ACL.

It likely will not be fun to play the Lions two times this year, but we really won't know for sure until after the first game. The Bears (3-14 in 2022) lost in a close Week 10 home game versus Detroit, 31-30, and lost on the road at Ford Field, 41-10. Though, since the conclusion of the 2022 season, Chicago's roster has improved monumentally on both sides of the ball, and we are still a month away from the draft. Moral of the story: even though they lost Chark, they still have a plethora of weapons to depend on, with quarterback Jared Goff, a first overall pick in 2016, behind the wheel.

Now moving on back to the Panthers, Carolina's 1st round pick in 2024 is in the hands of general manager Ryan Poles, so he can only sit and watch the standings come the 2023 NFL season, hoping for a disappointing turnout with a small handful of wins. But again, will that be the case? Carolina is starting to look like a more "average" team than it did just a few weeks ago, which could land the Bears a pick anywhere in the 8-22 range.

And with a new quarterback on the horizon, Panthers fans should be in for an interesting season, that could quite frankly go either way. Could the Panthers still be a poor team in 2023? Absolutely, but in order for it to be that way, their rookie quarterback would more than likely have a very poor performance, and their veteran signings would not live up to their hype. There's only one way to find out, and that is by playing the waiting game...