With the Panthers throwing in the towel on the Bryce Young experiment, other teams spot an opportunity to buy low.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, “several teams” have inquired about trading for the first overall pick in the 2023 draft. Others have mulled the possibility internally in the days since Young was benched for veteran Andy Dalton.
The Panthers, per Schefter, don’t “intend” to trade Young. As we’ve seen time and again, however, intentions can quickly change; often, the pre-trade talk is just posturing to get the best possible deal.
For the Panthers, the best possible deal likely comes after the current season, when the inevitable list of teams looking for new quarterbacks is finalized. That said, an injury to a starter can change everything, creating desperation for the team that needs a quarterback and, in turn, a bigger and better haul for the Panthers.
The Panthers will feel compelled to get the best possible deal for Young, given what they gave up to get him: No. 9 pick in 2023, receiver DJ Moore, second-round pick in 2023, 2024 first-round pick (which became No. 1 overall), and second-round pick in 2025.
At this point, what could they really get? Not a first-round pick. Maybe a second-round pick to replace the one they’ll send to Chicago for the next draft.
Whatever they can, or can’t, get, the Panthers need to do right by Young and trade him. It doesn’t have to happen in the next six weeks and two days (that’s when the window closes for 2024 trades). It should happen on the first day of the 2025 league year, giving him a fair chance to reset his career with a new team.
Young wasn’t a reach at the No. 1 overall pick. Plenty of teams would have taken him there. If those teams are willing to attribute Young’s struggles in large part to the inherent dysfunction of the Panthers, some of those teams will be willing to make a move.
It nevertheless makes for an awkward, breakup-style sales pitch by the Panthers.
It’s not him, it’s us.
