CHARLOTTE – Listen to Bryce Young and there’s no debate about at least one thing. The young Carolina Panthers quarterback is settled with some keen perspective when it comes to this NFL Moneyball business.
Go ahead, ask him if he senses any extra weight heading into what might be considered a “contract year” in the grand scheme of long-term equations.
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“I just try to be where my feet are. I trust God,” Young told USA TODAY Sports, chatting in a ground-level suite at Bank of America Stadium before a training camp practice. “That’s stuff for my agents to figure out, and upstairs (with the front office). I don’t put much thought to that at all. And luckily, I’m very blessed to play a position where all I really have to worry about is the team’s success, you know?”
The Panthers exercised the fifth-year option on the man they traded up to draft No. 1 overall in 2023, buying time that runs through the 2027 campaign. But the questions of if and when they’ll lock up Young with a long-term extension twists in the wind of a new season that begins at home against the Bears on Sunday.
“Prove-it” year for Bryce Young
Make no mistake. This may be a “prove-it” year for Young, but there is clearly a bigger picture for a team that needs to take another step after winning the NFL’s worst division last season with a record (8-9) that was under water.
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“Ninety-nine percent of the time if the team is successful, at my position, it correlates pretty strongly,” said Young, whose current $9.49 million average salary ranks 25th among quarterbacks, according to Spotrac.com. “So, for both of those reasons, it’s not something I think about. All that stuff takes care of itself like it’s supposed to. It’s just all about trying to help the team win.”
Spoken like a true leader. And what might be expected from Young, 25, poised and polished, as he tries to build on the growth of his first three NFL seasons.
Yet it’s a fact of NFL life that, fair or not, quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall are held to a higher standard. Remember, they are the ones who are supposed to put on the cape and carry the team on their back. Or so it seems.
And shoot, the last time the Panthers were rolling with a quarterback picked No. 1 overall, no one wondered whether Cam Newton was that franchise guy.
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Maybe that’s why Panthers coach Dave Canales’ response recently, when asked by Stephen A. Smith if Young is the franchise quarterback, caused a bit of a stir.
“He is right now,” said Canales.
That sounded similar to the vibe I got from Canales during training camp, when I caught up with the coach for a quick minute after a press conference and asked whether he sensed there was any extra pressure on Young.
“There’s pressure on all of us,” Canales said.
He was certainly speaking some truth, while it should also be noted that the coach typically couches such bottom-line assertions with glowing praise of his quarterback.
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Bryce Young contract negotiations
Dan Morgan, the Panthers GM, doesn’t sound like he’s sweating the matter. Morgan mentions how there have been “good conversations” with Young’s agents and puts a good spin on where those talks are headed.
“He knows where we stand and we know where he stands,” Morgan declared.
Morgan, who played seven NFL seasons as a hard-thumping linebacker for the Panthers and along the way set a record for most tackles in a Super Bowl (18), is encouraged by the progression Young has demonstrated along with a team that has improved. The Panthers were 2-14 during Young’s rookie year, then 4-8 with him during a sophomore campaign that came with a benching before breaking through with the playoff berth in 2025. Young posted career highs last season for passing yards (3,011) touchdowns (23) and, well, interceptions (11). So, no, the stats, with an 87.8 passer rating, won’t blow you away.
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It has to be much deeper than that.
“The biggest thing about him is how clutch he is in big moments,” Morgan said. “He plays his best when the game’s on the line.”
Morgan pointed out that Young, who won a national title at Alabama, has led 12 game-winning drives since 2023 – most in the NFL. Yet that’s a bit half-full.
“I think the thing we need from him now – and not just him, the team in general on the offensive side of the ball – is that we have to be more consistent,” Morgan told USA TODAY Sports. “The first halves of games last season we struggled. We turned the ball over. Interceptions. Then in the second half, it was a totally different team. We have to start faster, not wait until the game’s on the line to go make them plays.”
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Young is clearly aligned on this point as he gears up to work with a new play-caller after Canales turned over the duties to coordinator Brad Idzik. He said there’s been emphasis on being efficient with their operation, including adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
“Just being consistent in that efficiency, continuing to grow in that mastery of the system,” he said. “I think for me, and the group, those are places we want to keep building on.”
Of course, it’s a team thing. Young’s chemistry with Tetairoa McMillan bears watching as the go-to receiver projects to be an even bigger threat in his second season. The defense has significant additions with linebackers Jaelan Phillips, Devin Lloyd and Bobby Okereke.
Young felt that last year’s growth was big, getting a taste of the playoffs that ended quickly with a near-miss loss to the Rams in the wild-card round.
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“It was a learning experience for us,” he said. “And I also think that was last year. It’s going to take even more work.”
In the meantime, there will be no shortage of scrutiny on the man who would be the Panthers’ franchise quarterback – now and in the future.
Follow Bell on X: @JarrettBell
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Panthers QB Bryce Young isn’t flinching in the face of ‘prove-it’ year | Opinion
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