What a tumultuous 24 hours it has been for wide receiver Robbie Anderson.
The 29-year-old receiver started for the Panthers and played 23 snaps in the team’s loss to the Rams before being booted from the game after getting into a shouting match with WRs Coach Joe Dailey:
One day later, Anderson was shipped off to the Cardinals in the first major transaction since the Panthers fired Head Coach Matt Rhule.
Carolina isn’t messing around with lingering mistakes made by the old regime. Particularly not when the player comes along with a high-profile blowout in Steve Wilks’ first game as interim head coach:
The Robbie Anderson trade cuts multiple ways from a Bears perspective:
Firstly, it gets the ball rolling on a Panthers firesale. They might not go all out, but trading Anderson means they’re open for business. Not that we weren’t already expecting it. NFL insider Ian Rapoport was forecasting movement as early as yesterday:
Secondly, it takes a possible receiver target off the radar. Chicago’s football team might not be in the market for a big splash. HOWEVA, Anderson represented a moderate target that could’ve represented an upgrade from what the Bears have at the position. To be fair, it would be only a moderate upgrade. But incremental improvement still counts in the improvement column. Moreover, Anderson is under contract for the 2023 season. The free agent market isn’t looking as beefy as we’d like. So, trading for a player with team control next year is the type of shrewd move a GM like Ryan Poles should be considering.
Thirdly, this should set the market for that type of receiver target when trade talks pick up around the league. Finding out what Carolina got in return for Anderson tells us something about how teams can go about acquiring help along the roster fringes:
If it’s any consolation, at least Anderson isn’t going to the Packers. Especially after hearing Aaron Rodgers tell reporters that he expects Green Bay to navigate trade waters in search of help.
In the end, it’s back to the drawing board for the Bears if they were one of the teams talking trade with Carolina. Hey, what’s D.J. Moore up to these days?