"I thought there was an opportunity to do something historically pretty cool with a trade from one to two and two to nine. That had potential to add more draft capital this year, and then the possibility that you’re sitting on three ones in the following year. That had my attention. But my gut told me to trigger on it now. At the combine, I thought those quarterbacks did an outstanding job in their interview process. A lot of teams felt really good about some of those guys, but as you get further away from the combine, maybe there’s a bad pro day or something that turns teams off.”
Don't think this is complicated. He is saying he had prelim discussions with Houston but nothing concrete. So it would have taken more time with no guarantee Houston meets his demands so he opted to pull the trigger now. So more than likely he wanted a 2024 first from Houston and Houston was still debating whether they wished to give in. Given they were only moving up one spot, they likely would have wanted to fully finish their evaluation process before making a deal as you only trade to 1 from 2 if you rank one prospect significantly above all others.
Further, if they trade 1 to Houston they are unlikely to move 2 until closer to the draft or draft night because teams moving to 2 likely would want to have a sense for who Houston is taking particularly if they have one clear cut preference at QB. So you run the risk of Carolina not wanting to trade for 2 or not wanting to include DJ Moore when it is clear Poles wanted help for Fields right now this season.