Cat Scratch Reader
The Panthers get a better return for Mingo than they got for Diontae Johnson.
The Carolina Panthers are trading Jonathan Mingo to the Dallas Cowboys according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
According to Schefter, the Panthers are sending a 7th round pick away with Mingo. In return, they’re getting a 4th round pick from the Cowboys. As it stands right now, that would be the 11th pick in the 4th round, 112th overall.
It’s a significantly better return than the Panthers got for Diontae Johnson, who is inarguably a much better wide receiver. Clearly contractual things and player perceptions played a part in the respective value of each player.
Mingo finishes his Panthers career with 55 catches on 111 targets for 539 yards. He never scored a touchdown. He never scored a touchdown. He had 12 catches for 121 yards so far in 2024 but hadn’t recorded a catch in the last three games.
He’ll join a Cowboys team that is bereft of receiver talent after CeeDee Lamb. Many would argue that this trade does nothing to fix that.
It’s a decent return for a player that doesn’t seem to be in the Panthers plans. It’s hard giving up on a 2nd round pick so early, but Mingo hadn’t shown anything, so the iron probably wasn’t going to get any hotter. He’d been usurped on the depth chart by rookies Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker, and veterans David Moore and Adam Thielen are still clear priorities over him in the pass game as well.
The Panthers currently hold 11 picks in the upcoming 2025 draft. Five of those are in the first four rounds. That’s a good collection of assets for a team that badly needs to add talent.
