Carolina Panthers pick up Bryce Young’s fifth year option as they ponder a long term extension

The Carolina Panthers seem to be sold on the quarterback of the future. They got knocked out of the playoffs by the Los Angeles Rams over the weekend, but they are ready to pick up their starting quarterback, Bryce Young’s, fifth year option as they evaluate a long term contract extension at Bank of America Stadium.

Young staying put, for now

The option would keep Young around to the end of the 2027 season, which would leave you to believe that the Panthers are invested in keeping Young together with his head coach Dave Canales. The tandem led Carolina to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017 season, but it’s been a long road for both, especially for the former Alabama Crimson Tide QB.

Young has been through it all in his first three years at Carolina. He was taken as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft over CJ Stroud and and Anthony Richardson, who were the other two QBs taken in the first round of that draft. In that time he has been benched, seen coaches come and go and has been under constant criticism but this year things started to turn around.

Carolina general manager Dan Morgan can feel a turning of the tides, and decided to put pen to paper with Young for a fifth year before the Panthers will have to thing about rewarding their QB1 with a long term contract. “Bryce did a great job this year, and I’m just really excited about moving forward and still developing chemistry with our receivers and just the pieces around him.’’

Young has shown “flashes of greatness”

Young was almost on his way out the door in Carolina after a two win rookie season and a sophomore season that saw him get benched after just two weeks. He won his job back later that season and led the Panthers to four wins in their final nine games, which was the best stretch Panthers saw in a while. This season there were flashes that proved Young could lead this team, and Morgan took notice.

“Bryce has shown flashes of greatness this year against high level competition,’’ Morgan said in the final press conference of the season. “Just as a team we weren’t as consistent as we want to be on a game-to-game basis, but that’s part of what happens with a young team.

Young played in 16 of 17 games this season, and had a career year across the board. His 3,011 yards passing 23 TDs and 63.6% completion percentage were career highs but most importantly he led the Panthers to an NFC South title as Carolina returned to the playoffs for th first time in a long time.

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