Did the Philadelphia Eagles really hit a home run by landing Jalen Carter? Did the Houston Texans overpay when trading up for Will Anderson? Did the New York Jets and Dallas Cowboys really get outmaneuvered, or are those storylines self-serving fiction? What might the Tennessee Titans have planned at wide receiver? Were the San Francisco 49ers misguided drafting a kicker in the third round?

Now that the 2023 NFL Draft is complete and teams have had a week to process what happened — including a draft-record 43 trades — we check in with executives around the league for perspectives on the key developments. It’s my annual 32-team post-draft look at what execs, speaking on the condition of anonymity for competitive reasons, found most interesting, most confounding and worth considering.

The draft began with the Cardinals mysteriously ceding capital to Philadelphia as punishment for tampering with Jonathan Gannon before hiring Gannon away from the Eagles. It ended with Arizona’s new general manager, Monti Ossenfort, standing atop a pile of 2024 draft capital so high, the Cardinals could see a potentially bright future.

“It looks like Arizona has a structure, has a plan, after years of just collecting players without discipline, without thought to the total build,” an exec from another NFC team said.

Dropping from third overall to 12th fetched from Houston the 33rd pick, plus 2024 picks in the first and third rounds. Arizona then moved up six spots in a trade with Detroit, selecting tackle Paris Johnson Jr.

“The kid Arizona took, historically speaking, he is not a top-10 type player, but to get him plus the picks they got for trading, you really like that,” an exec said of Johnson.

In the final tally, Arizona traded the third, 34th, 105th and 168th picks for the sixth, 33rd and 81st picks, plus the 2024 first- and third-rounders. The Cardinals scored an additional 2024 third-rounder in another deal with Tennessee.

“After overpaying for J.J. Watt, moving picks for Hollywood Brown at the deadline and drafting two linebackers in the top 20, they are now playing the compensatory game in free agency and collecting draft capital for next year,” the exec said. “They could have two top-five picks, their own and Houston’s.”

If you had to bet on any single player in this draft becoming an All-Pro, you’d probably bet on Bijan Robinson, the running back Atlanta selected with the eighth pick.

The downside: Your team owner might one day lament selecting a running back so early, as the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones recently did regarding Ezekiel Elliott, the two-time NFL rushing champ his team took with the fourth pick in 2016.

“Everyone selected below Bijan probably has fewer first-round grades amongst the 32 teams than Bijan did,” an exec said. “Would you rather have a guy at a non-premium position that you feel confident being top three at that position, or a guy that is just going to be OK or carry greater risk? The goal is to draft good players, first and foremost.”

The salary for Robinson is expected to rank 15th among all NFL running backs, according to overthecap.com. Players from some other positions would enter the league ranked lower among their positional peers: 43rd among wide receivers, 42nd among defensive tackles, 36th among defensive ends, 36th among cornerbacks, and so on. The gap represents surplus value, all else equal.

Would you rather have a top-three back on the 15th-highest salary at his position or, say, the 20th-best defensive tackle on the 42nd-highest salary at his position? The Falcons two years ago used a top-10 pick for Tight end Kyle Pitts. This offseason, they invested in a $20.5 million guard (Chris Lindstrom) and a $16 million safety (Jessie Bates).

“I see the perspective of, ‘We are going to run the ball and make Desmond Ridder the best version of himself, which will be to win with him, not because of him, and take the ball out of his hands,” another exec said. “I see what they are trying to do, but it did not solve any problems for them. They had a top rushing offense last year without putting a lot of resources into the running back position. You get a better player, but you have other holes to fill.”

Signing free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr., re-signing quarterback Lamar Jackson and drafting first-round receiver Zay Flowers in a three-week window has brightened the outlook for the Ravens. New offensive coordinator Todd Monken now has clarity to proceed in implementing a new offense.

“Monken is a receiver coach by trade,” an evaluator said. “OBJ will be the big wild card. Is he going to still have big-game potential? Flowers’ upside is Stefon Diggs. He has that from a route-running capacity. I like their core. It has gotten better. That said, none of those guys are true No. 1s, which the Ravens can actually get away with. It is scheme, play-action, and their No. 1 guy is Mark Andrews, basically.”

Another evaluator questioned Flowers’ selection because the receiver stands 5-foot-9 and weighs 185 pounds.

“If we learned anything at Baltimore with Lamar Jackson, it’s that small, short receivers don’t do well,” this evaluator said. “The guy he throws it to is the 6-6 tight end.”

Doubling up was a theme for Baltimore. The Ravens selected Flowers after signing Beckham for $15 million per year. They used their third-round pick for inside linebacker Trenton Simpson after trading their second-round pick to Chicago for inside linebacker Roquan Smith, who signed an extension worth $20 million annually.

“Even though Zay is a small target, from a ball-in-hand, explosive play, run-after-catch standpoint, he gives them that more than Hollywood Brown did,” an exec said. “That is where I don’t have a problem with the player. I just think you have to have a plan for him.”

Becoming an elite team is difficult. Remaining elite requires efficient management. Continuing to ascend becomes almost impossible as the expensive contracts pile up.

If the Bills plateaued last season, can first-round tight end Dalton Kincaid help them get over the top in the AFC? Such a scenario has played out before. In 2005, Heath Miller caught 39 passes for 459 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie first-round tight end (30th overall choice), helping the Steelers to their first Super Bowl victory since the 1970s.

“I like Kincaid to Buffalo,” an exec said. “He was clearly the No. 1 tight end for us. You put him in that offense, then you take the guard in the second round. That is scary for a top-five offense to reload and potentially get better. I like what they did.”

The Athletic’s Randy Mueller ranked Kincaid as the 10th-best prospect in this draft and his favorite overall evaluation.

“Getting the player is one thing, deploying him is another,” another exec said. “When you start talking about the contenders, Buffalo is not necessarily going the other way, but they do rely too much on their quarterback. The key is going to be how well their coordinator is able to use two tight ends. You don’t see every coordinator do that well.”

The Panthers secured the No. 1 pick from Chicago so they could make Alabama’s Bryce Young their franchise quarterback. Most execs thought it was the right move but also a risky one. Some preferred Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud.

“Bryce Young is going to have good games,” an exec said. “The problem is, he is just so small and so slight, and he is not fast. We are not talking about a Kyler Murray, who runs away from people and buys 20 seconds of time and lets one rip downfield or outruns your safety to the boundary. Young is a normal quarterback in the pocket, where he buys time with feeling it and stepping up and stepping to the side. He is going to get hit.”

Young measured 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds. Most see his natural weight closer to 190. A post-draft photo showing Young meeting Brian Burns, the Panthers’ 6-5 pass-rusher, brought into focus a size differential that will come into play every time Carolina drops back to pass.

“He’s got two years of great tape, dominated every level so far, just one game missed to injury, interviewed off the charts, character off the charts, Nick Saban and Bill O’Brien raving about him — he is a clean prospect,” another exec said. “People in the beginning thought this was a four-man quarterback class. Really, I think most teams had it as one, then a line, 2-3 and then a line, and then the fourth.”

Another exec saw Carolina as a team that could instantly make a big jump and win a weak division.

“Not many quarterbacks that size have gone on to great success, but it was probably the right decision for the franchise,” an evaluator said.

Chicago Bears

Every rebuilding team covets salary cap space and draft capital.

The Bears entered this offseason with lots of both.

We are beginning to see what those resources are getting them: most notably, two expensive off-ball linebackers in free agency, veteran receiver D.J. Moore, first-round right tackle Darnell Wright, a cornerback and two defensive tackles on Day 2 of this draft. The Bears still have Carolina’s 2024 first- and 2025 second-round picks in their pocket.

One criticism: The Bears entered this offseason with the No. 1 pick but did not necessarily emerge with a consensus elite difference maker in a draft that was short on them. No one is game-planning for a solid right tackle, which is what the Bears targeted in Wright with the 10th pick after moving back twice from No. 1.

“If they are going to spend this year evaluating Justin Fields to see if they are going to be going up for a quarterback next year, you’ve got to give him every chance,” an exec said. “Getting a solid tackle is the way to go. But when you turn Roquan Smith into Gervon Dexter and get Tyrique Stevenson with one of the Carolina picks, is that going to get us fired up?”

It’s a reminder that picks become prospects, who have uncertain futures.

“Maybe these guys are going to be good,” the exec said. “My guess is they are going to be, at best, solid starters who play four years and hit free agency.”

Three of the Bears’ top four picks addressed the line of scrimmage.

“Anyone who thought the Bears were not spending their first pick on a lineman was drunk,” another exec said. “In a league where Bill Belichick was out there in free agency clapping over the fact he signed Riley Reiff, I think Chicago looked at Detroit as the model for building a solid offensive line. Think how many drafts Detroit took to shore up that line. That is what Chicago is going to do.”

The Bengals were one of five teams to rank among the NFL’s top 10 in expected points added (EPA) on both offense and defense last season, according to TruMedia. Buffalo, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Dallas were the others.

Remaining in that group will become tougher for Cincinnati after the team enters into a new contract with quarterback Joe Burrow, which could explain why Cincinnati targeted defensive players with its top three choices.

“They addressed their offensive line in free agency, so now going heavily on defense in the draft makes sense,” an exec said. “Time will tell if those are the right pieces, but in terms of how to put together a complimentary plan, it makes sense.”

Another exec connected first-round defensive end Myles Murphy to former Bengals draft picks Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson.

“There were some questions about Murphy’s tenacity, which I wouldn’t usually put a ton of stock into, except he was not a consistent producer on the quarterback,” this exec said. “Dunlap was seen similarly, great length and ability, perceived as a little aloof. They took him at the top of (round) two and Michael Johnson in the third and had success with both.”

Murphy had 6.5 sacks at Clemson last season. Dunlap and Johnson each had nine sacks in their final college seasons.

“Murphy doesn’t need to be the guy,” another exec said. “You still have Trey Hendrickson. You’ve got D.J. Reader. It’s a good defense, good front. How do you get over the hump? They felt like they needed to find a way to slow the Chiefs down even more. Secondary and pass-rush help them do that.”

The Browns’ offseason has been mostly about shoring up their run defense and reconfiguring their receiver group to facilitate a more wide-open passing offense with Deshaun Watson entering his first full season in Cleveland.

“I wasn’t high on the receiver they got (Cedric Tillman in the third round), but I can see them saying, ‘We want to diversify the group,’ ” an exec said. “It feels like they are trying to change their M.O. to be less run-centric, and maybe they said, ‘OK, we gotta get a receiver’ instead of maybe targeting a better player.”

The Browns’ first-round pick went to Houston in the Watson trade. Their second-rounder went to the Jets for receiver Elijah Moore and a third-rounder, which Cleveland used for Tillman. Had the Browns held onto that second-round pick, No. 42 overall, they could have considered receivers Jayden Reed, Rashee Rice and Marvin Mims. Instead, the pick went to the Jets, who traded it to Green Bay in the Aaron Rodgers deal. The Packers finally used the selection for tight end Luke Musgrave.

Third-round choice Siaki Ika, a defensive tackle from Baylor, arrives after the Browns invested heavily in free-agent run-stuffer Dalvin Tomlinson. Baylor suspended Ika one game in 2021 for what the team called an off-field incident. Last year, Cleveland used a fourth-round choice for defensive tackle Perrion Winfrey despite off-field concerns. Winfrey was recently arrested in Houston, accused of assaulting a woman he was dating.

These are things to consider for a team that entered into a historic contract with Watson while the quarterback faced civil suits alleging he sexually assaulted more than 20 women.

“Beyond the Watson deal, which they took a ton of heat for, they have quietly added pieces that carry some risk but will not be noticed on the surface,” an exec said.

Dallas Cowboys

Intrigue surrounded the Cowboys as their pick in the first round approached. Were they targeting Dalton Kincaid, the tight end Buffalo landed after trading ahead of Dallas? It seemed plausible after the Cowboys let veteran tight end Dalton Schultz leave in free agency. The Bills said they had “a good feeling” Kincaid was going to be Dallas’ man.

“That’s a dangerous game to play, because what if Dalton Kincaid isn’t the best tight end out there?” an exec said. “What if Dallas had (Michael) Mayer as their top tight end, but really wanted Mazi Smith all along? I’m old enough to remember when the Eagles outmaneuvered Houston for the tackle, Andre Dillard. How did that work out?”

Dallas got its Schultz replacement in the second round with Michigan’s Luke Schoonmaker. Smith, also from Michigan, delivers girth to a Dallas defense that must face within its own division the Giants’ Saquon Barkley, the Eagles’ innovative sneak packages and a Washington team with three runners weighting at least 220 pounds.

“I’m not a huge fan of taking a two-down nose high, but Mazi Smith is a good player,” another exec said. “He will control the middle of the field. He gives them some needed beef, he plays with leverage, he is strong, he has enough range to go tackle to tackle. He is good at what he does, even if you don’t love the skill set early in the draft.”

The Broncos’ first-round pick, No. 5 overall, went to Seattle in the Russell Wilson trade. The first-rounder Denver acquired from Miami for Bradley Chubb (No. 29) went to New Orleans as compensation for coach Sean Payton.

Short on draft capital, the Broncos mortgaged themselves even more instead of moving backward to acquire picks.

“Sean Payton’s M.O. has always been to trade future picks for ‘now’ currency,” an exec said. “The difference is, when he was in New Orleans, he had Drew Brees. It will be interesting to see how it goes in Denver.”

After trading up five spots to select receiver Marvin Mims Jr. at the bottom of the second round, Denver traded a 2024 third to Seattle in moving up 25 spots to select Iowa cornerback Riley Moss with the 83rd selection.

An exec whose team was picking in the general vicinity called this a “holy s—” moment in the draft room. Last year, future thirds allowed Carolina to climb 43 spots to select quarterback Matt Corral at No. 94, before Indy jumped 83 spots to select safety Nick Cross at No. 96.

Though the pre-Payton 2022 Broncos were actually on the receiving end of Indy’s jump for Cross, they moved in only one direction — up — with their trades this year. Their moves also included sending a sixth-rounder to Payton’s former team, New Orleans, for tight end Adam Trautman and a seventh-rounder.

“Everything they do now feels coach-driven,” another exec said.

Execs offered a range of opinions on Moss, the corner Denver spent its 2024 third-rounder to acquire.

“I think he is polarizing because teams are looking at it like taking a White corner, but if you take everything away from it, he is one of the better athletes in this draft, a freaky athlete,” one of these execs said. “He is a good football player.”

Detroit Lions

The Lions are a bit like the Falcons. Both teams unapologetically invest early picks in players they love with less regard for positional value.

For the Lions, that meant spending their first four picks on running back Jahmyr Gibbs, inside linebacker Jack Campbell, tight end Sam LaPorta and safety Brian Branch. Adding Gibbs precipitated trading D’Andre Swift to the Eagles.

“Using a first-round pick to swap out a non-premium position, that was a weird one,” an exec said. “How great does Gibbs have to be to justify it?”

Execs thought Detroit was poised to select cornerback Devon Witherspoon at No. 6. The Lions traded back six spots after Seattle selected Witherspoon at five.

“I think it’s really high to take Gibbs (No. 12), and it was high to take Campbell (No. 18), and you paid those positions in free agency with almost identical three-year, $18 million contracts,” one exec said. “That said, Gibbs is dynamic, and that offensive coordinator (Ben Johnson) is going to get the most out of him. They are going to be hard to defend.”

An evaluator called Branch the smartest defensive player he evaluated.

“I thought Detroit had a solid draft,” another exec said, “but when you have five picks in the top 68, you should do well. LaPorta might be the best tight end in the draft. I liked him more than I liked Kincaid because he can block better. He’s fast, has just as good ball skills and he’s just got a confidence about him that these other guys didn’t have.”

Green Bay Packers

For the first time since the AFL and NFL combined for a common draft in 1967, the Packers selected three pass catchers among the top 100 selections in the same draft, but not before adding a league-high seventh first-round pick to their defense since 2018.

“Why didn’t they do this like eight years ago?” an exec asked.

The last time Green Bay selected more than one pass catcher among the top 100 picks was in 2014, when the Packers drafted Davante Adams and Richard Rodgers.

“When you have a top-tier quarterback, whether it’s an Aaron Rodgers or Peyton Manning, you don’t always need top-tier receivers,” another exec said. “Think about all those New England teams with (Tom) Brady.”

Rodgers’ departure cleared the way for Jordan Love to take over an offense that now features second-round tight end Luke Musgrave, second-round receiver Jayden Reed, third-round tight end Tucker Kraft and 2022 second-round breakout receiver Christian Watson.

“We really liked Jayden Reed,” another exec said. “That was a good pick given what we knew of him. Feisty, competitive — a really good, sound No. 2 receiver.”

As for first-round pick Lukas Van Ness, well, he famously never started a game at Iowa.

“He’s a good player,” an exec with NFC North experience said. “They probably took him where he should go.”

Houston Texans

For the first time in years, the Texans appear all-in on a head coach (DeMeco Ryans), a quarterback (C.J. Stroud) and a signature defensive player (Will Anderson).

“They were sitting out the last few years and now they’ve re-entered the world,” an exec said.

No one is questioning the Texans for adding the Ohio State quarterback Stroud and Alabama pass-rusher Anderson with the second and third picks, respectively. Lots of people are questioning the price Houston paid in jumping from No. 12 to No. 3 for Anderson, but no one can say for sure if the Texans could have made the jump more affordably.

“In a vacuum, everybody without pressure can do better,” the exec said. “I don’t know if their GM survives a really bad year and is making the picks next year, anyway. And then they are drafting C.J. Stroud, so giving up a shot at a quarterback next year doesn’t matter. I don’t think it’s a terrible deal for them. They paid far less than San Francisco paid to make the same jump for Trey Lance two years ago.”

This was the third time since the rookie wage scale arrived in 2011 that a team traded from 12th to third in the order.

Houston spent the 12th and 33rd picks, plus 2024 first- and third-rounders, to acquire the third and 105th picks from Arizona. The 49ers’ move from 12 to three for Lance cost them two future firsts and a future third, far more than Miami paid when making the same jump in 2013 for Dion Jordan. That move required sending only the 42nd pick to the Raiders in a draft that saw no quarterbacks selected until E.J. Manuel at No. 16.

“It was a fair trade on all the charts,” another exec said of the Texans’ move. “My guess is that they were split between the two players, Stroud and Anderson, and they said you know, this pick we acquired from Cleveland is 12, and our pick from Cleveland next year is going to be lower, so let’s see if we can move up and just get them both.’”

Teams flush with picks might sometimes become freer with their spending.

“Miami did it trading up for Jaylen Waddle, Houston did it for Will Anderson, and I’m not sure Detroit takes Gibbs if they had just the one first-round pick,” another exec said. “But since they had two, ‘Yeah, well, whatever, we’ll take Gibbs.’”