The Carolina Panthers’ Bryce Young experiment isn’t over. It certainly seems to have been paused, however.
On Monday — two weeks into the 2024 NFL regular season, one day after Young pieced together one of the worst games of his burgeoning career and roughly 21 hours after first year head coach Dave Canales told reporters the former first overall draft pick was “our quarterback” — the Panthers are reportedly making a move behind center. Young is headed to the bench. In his place will step a soon-to-be 37-year-old Andy Dalton.
It’s yet another stunning turn in a frustrating saga for Panthers fans. 2023 head coach Frank Reich was reportedly the leader of a group in the locker room who wanted to draft Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud with the top overall pick. Instead, owner David Tepper overruled that decision in favor of Young, who exits the lineup with a 2-17 record as a starter.
If that were all, it would still be a brutal blow for a team stuck in a rebuild without a clear end date. But Carolina didn’t earn that first overall pick in 2023; it traded up from the ninth slot with the Chicago Bears to get there. The pieces the Panthers gave up for what’s now a backup quarterback fewer than 18 months later is the kind of short story Hugh Hefner would have rejected from Playboy for being “too depressing.”
Here’s everything Carolina sent to Chicago for the right to draft Young first overall:
- WR D.J. Moore, who had career highs of 96 catches, 1,364 receiving yards and eight touchdowns in 2023 despite playing with Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent at quarterback
- the ninth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which became starting right tackle Darnell Wright and punter Tory Taylor via trade
- the 61st overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which became starting cornerback Tyrique Stevenson via trade
- QB Caleb Williams, the first overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft
- a 2025 second round pick, which at the moment figures to be a top 35 selection
That’s four starters including a quarterback, a core special teamer AND what’s likely to be a valued pick in next spring’s draft. All for the guy Dave Canales looked at and said “nah, let’s roll with Andy Dalton instead.”
Oof.