LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The Bears and Panthers have met since completing a blockbuster NFL draft trade that altered the trajectory of both franchises – Chicago won that matchup last season – but not since most of the picks exchanged turned into players.

And, in the Bears case, a bunch of good ones. That will happen Sunday at Soldier Field.

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We’ll break down the full trade GM Ryan Poles made in a bit, but the Bears have Caleb Williams, DJ Moore, Tyrique Stevenson and more from that deal. The Panthers only got quarterback Bryce Young, who was moved into a backup role earlier this season.

“Shout out to Poles,” Moore said. “…That was a good trade.”

For the Bears, yes. For the Panthers, not so much.

Young hasn’t played to expectation, though the organization didn’t surround him with much help or stability. The team’s struggles led to a coaching turnover, a demotion for Young and a bad 2023 record that boosted the Bears’ return.

Chicago is on the ascent thanks in large part to smart selections and a little luck to end up with the No. 1 overall pick in ’24.

“Grateful that it happened, to be able to be a Chicago Bear,” Williams said. “I’m not too deep into the history of what happened, but I do know it got us a bunch of different things, DJ and picks and myself included.”

Here’s a recap:

Chicago traded the No. 1 overall pick in 2023 to Carolina for the Nos. 9 and 61 selections in 2023, a first-rounder in 2024 and a second-round pick in 2025. Oh, and they also acquired Moore, a star receiver at the time.

As we all know, trades like these have tentacles, so evaluating them isn’t as simple as attaching names to draft slots. Why? Poles wasn’t done dealing.

He traded the No. 9 pick to Philadelphia to draft right tackle Darnell Wright at No. 10. They also got a 2024 fourth-round pick in the Eagles deal that was later used on punter Tory Taylor.

Poles traded up from No. 61 to select Stevenson at No. 56, giving up a fifth-rounder in the exchange.

And then, over the course of the 2023 season, the Bears were fortunate that Carolina was awful and ended up with the worst record and the top draft slot, which was already owned by the Bears.

That put Poles in position to take Williams at No. 1. Oh, and the Bears still have a 2025 second-round pick that could end up pretty high, considering Carolina’s continued struggles.

So, in sum, here’s who the Bears got in that fateful trade with the Panthers:

• WR DJ Moore
  • (Note: Moore also agreed to a contract extension that could keep him in Chicago through 2029)
• QB Caleb Williams (No. 1 overall in 2024)
• RT Darnell Wright (No. 10 overall in 2023)
• CB Tyrique Stevenson (No. 56 overall in 2023)
• P Tory Taylor (No. 122 overall in 2024)
• Second-round pick in 2025

Every player on the list should be considered an impact starter and major contributor at their position, and there’s still one more selection to add to the deal’s overall value.

“It’s really remarkable when you think about it, how it all fell together like that,” Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said. “A lot of that’s luck, I mean a lot of that you can’t predict. But it’s also putting yourself in position. Ryan Poles and his staff did a great job of that. There’s a couple players that we could’ve been going for at the time and I’m sure glad we got DJ. It worked out well.”

If Williams develops into the franchise quarterback many believe he’ll be, the trade will be remembered as a turning point for the Bears as a franchise. If the other young players remain starters and reach second contracts and Chicago turns into a perennial playoff contender, it might go down among best trades the franchise has ever made.

In the short term, though, players the Bears received in the deal will significantly impact Sunday’s game against Carolina, which has its part of the deal currently sidelined.