CJ Henderson is one of the happiest players in the NFL right now after the Carolina Panthers acquired the second-year cornerback and former first-round pick in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday morning.
The Panthers will send tight end Dan Arnold and a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft in exchange for Henderson and a fifth-round pick from the Jaguars. The Jags selected Henderson with the #9 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, but he missed half of his rookie season with a shoulder injury.
The Panthers had an open spot in their secondary after rookie CB Jaycee Horn broke his right foot last week on Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans. Horn, a first-round pick from the 2021 NFL Draft, is out for an indefinite amount of time after fracturing several bones.
Henderson goes from the worst team in the league to one of a handful of undefeated teams in the NFL. The Jaguars look awful after an 0-3 start and there are already murmurs about firing rookie head coach Urban Meyer. Meanwhile, Meyer continues to deny rumors he’s interested in the USC job next season.
The Panthers are 3-0 after a strong start and sit in first place in the NFC South ahead of the Tampa Bay Bucs and New Orleans Saints, who are both 2-1. The undefeated Panthers will be tested in the upcoming weeks without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey, who tweaked his hamstring on Thursday Night Football.
The Panthers saw their Super Bowl 56 futures jump to +6500 odds. Meanwhile, the Panthers are still a long shot to win the NFC South at +850 odds, and are trailing the Tampa Bay Bucs (-300) and New Orleans Saints (+350) as divisional favorites.