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Even though the Bryce Young experiment hasn’t worked for the Carolina Panthers since they selected him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, other teams still believe he could be an asset if he were to get traded.
On the latest episode of Scoop City (starts at 23:00 mark), The Athletic’s Dianna Russini said there are a lot of coaches and general managers around the league who are “licking their chops” at the thought of working with Young if the Panthers wanted to move him.
Young hasn’t given any indication he wants to leave the Panthers after being benched in favor of Andy Dalton prior to Week 3 following an 0-2 start this season.
Per ESPN’s David Newton, Young has been offering his support to Dalton on the field throughout the season in any way he can.
“I feel for Andy in the situation,” Young told Newton. “I’m doing stuff to help him, to be there for him, talking and trying to be as much help as I can on the sideline.”
Young also said he hopes to remain with the Panthers when asked directly about it: “Yeah, yeah. I’m grateful to be here at Carolina and be a Panther.”
The Panthers may have hinted their approach with Young has changed in recent weeks. Head coach Dave Canales said after benching the 23-year-old a trade was “not something we’re really considering.”
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Canales said Panthers executive vice president of football operations Brandon Tilis and general manager Dan Morgan are having those types of conversations when asked about a potential Young trade.
Given how bad everything with the Panthers has been since the start of the 2023 season, it’s hard to know how much of the blame should be assigned to Young for how poorly he played.
No one would argue that Young was playing well despite the circumstances around him, but opposing teams could make the case that he developed bad habits that could be fixed because of the roster around him in Carolina.
Things haven’t improved with Dalton at quarterback. They are coming off a 40-7 loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday in which the offense put up 180 total yards and got 10 first downs.
It could be hard to justify trading the player who was the No. 1 pick in the draft just 18 months ago, especially for the package that Carolina gave up to acquire that selection from the Chicago Bears, but it might be in the interest of both sides to get a clean break soon.
If the Panthers decide to go in that direction, Young sounds like he will have plenty of suitors from teams that want to take on a developmental project at quarterback.