Reporter discusses if Bryce Young has started final game for Panthers

Before veteran quarterback Andy Dalton guided the Carolina Panthers to an impressive 36-22 win at the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that the Panthers’ relationship with benched second-year signal-caller Bryce Young was “over.” 

Dan Graziano of ESPN seemed to echo Russini’s take less than 24 hours after Dalton completed 26-of-37 passes for 319 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Raiders. 

“In one week, Dalton made this look like a legitimately good NFL offense, whereas with Young, it was absolutely the worst,” Graziano said. “If Dalton keeps playing well and Carolina actually wins some games, how can the coaching staff look the rest of the roster in the eyes and say it is going back to Young just because he’s the future? He’s not — not anymore. Barring an injury to Dalton, I say there’s a better chance that Young gets traded before the deadline (or in the offseason) than he starts again for the Panthers.”

This season’s trade deadline arrives on Nov. 5. 

Young was reportedly “p—-d” to learn he’d been benched following Carolina’s 26-3 Week 2 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers. On Saturday, ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that “several teams” had “expressed an interest in trading for” Young. 

“Sources around the league believe it is only a matter of time before Carolina completes a deal involving the second-year quarterback — with the most likely time coming at some point in the offseason,” Schefter said.

While Graziano pointed out that “there’s ample evidence that the Panthers under David Tepper’s ownership don’t know what they’re doing,” The Athletic’s Mike Sando noted on Monday that he is “not buying the idea that” Tepper essentially forced first-year head coach Dave Canales to sit Young last week. According to ESPN stats, Young began Monday ranked last in the NFL among qualified players with an 8.9 adjusted QBR and a 44.1 passer rating. He recorded no touchdown passes and three interceptions before he was relegated to backup duties. 

“Young was the top pick in the draft and frankly was repeating too many of the same mistakes and didn’t appear to be developing,” Graziano added. “Benching him was not an objectively bad decision. It’s just that the timing of it makes it difficult to see how the Panthers can go back to him.”

That last point suggests the Panthers could keep Young inactive on gamedays to avoid the type of injury that could impact his trade value ahead of the upcoming offseason. Some teams may pass on Young due to his lack of size and poor play across his 18 career regular-season starts, but all it takes is one club to want to take a flier on him as soon as March 2025 for the 23-year-old to receive a needed reset away from Carolina.