I'll be the first to admit, I love kudos... but in this case they're entirely undeserved. Roughly 7 hrs ago I tweeted that the Panthers should make a move from Greg Olsen, and you know what? It was just an educated guess. I won't claim that 'sources' led me to the news, but rather good intuition about what the Panthers wanted and Bears didn't.

Olsen and the Bears didn't fit, meanwhile Olsen and the Panthers fit like a glove. Rob Chudzinski was his TE coach at Miami, Ron Rivera wanted a serious upgrade at the position and Carolina got a soon to be elite TE to lockdown that position for them for years to come. In recent days Drew Rosenhaus and the Panthers front office had been bosom buddies, which likely greased the wheels for a trade. If Jeremy Shockey is an immediate upgrade, then Olsen is the long term spark this franchise needs.

As it currently stands word is that Olsen was traded for a player and a pick, but no official word on who these players are. If one had to guess who this player was it would likely either be WR David Gettis or LB Dan Connor, but no word at this time. 

I have been a long time proponent of Olsen's and feel the 26 year old TE will be the safety valve Cam Newton needs along with Jeremy Shockey. Depending on who the player is we gave up, this is a very bright day for the Panthers

Olsen's stats after the jump

UPDATE: Chicago beat writer Brad Biggs who originally broke the news is reporting it was for a third round pick now, with no player mentioned. If this is correct, we have a serious steal on our hands.