The Panthers Should Do Right by Bryce Young at the Trade Deadline

The second-year quarterback was in an impossible situation Sunday. Carolina should either deal him away or do something to help him.

The Panthers fell to 1–7 following a 28–14 loss to the Broncos. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

At some point, it becomes a question of humanity. Even though most teams in the league are now owned by the kind of ruthless pirates who will break your arm because they happened to own a cast company, we can still uncover a potential trade that would serve a player’s best interest instead of the ego of the man in the big, leather chair. And if the Carolina Panthers plan on gutting their roster again this year ahead of the Nov. 5 trade deadline, those at the very top of the organization should channel their inner post-haunting Scrooge and right some wrongs. 

Bryce Young started Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos, a 28–14 blowout, with the first opening-drive touchdown of his career. He was a perfect 5-of-5 before the Broncos started beating Carolina like the mercy rule was in play and they had an early flight to catch. I saw Young make one of the better throws I’ve seen all year—a 29-yarder to undrafted rookie free agent Jalen Coker—while getting clubbed and drawing a roughing the passer call. I also saw someone who struggled to get the offense situated and the ball snapped in time. He was picked off once via a clear miscommunication with his tight end and again, at the end of a promising fourth-quarter drive, by Ja’Quan McMillian on one of the better defensive plays I’ve seen all year. 

I saw a coach eschewing the surrender punt and putting his own rear end on the line by allowing Young to go for it a handful of times in the second half, while also greenlighting a fake punt that will be lampooned all week until we realize that, like Young, he was trying to make something happen with the worst roster in the NFL and was tired of trying to accumulate style points in the process. 

Young was 24 for 37 on 224 yards while throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions against Denver. / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Earlier this week, my colleagues and I wrote a little primer for the trade deadline and Carolina was all over the radar. Questions about whether the team would, like it has in years past, continue to allow young talent to escape the roster and find success elsewhere have been prevalent around the league. Christian McCaffrey used to play there, don’t you know. DJ Moore, too. 

While these are fluid conversations and could be more reflective of other teams’ hopes than the actual plans and interests of the Panthers, I have a request if they are indeed true: If the Panthers are going to burn the entire thing down again, please allow Young the chance to go somewhere else instead of holding him captive. 

If they do not plan on trading Young, then please add someone—anyone—at the trade deadline to prove that you are serious about seeing his development through. Even though this would be seemingly ridiculous, as the Panthers are in desperate need of assets and a veteran addition would have a pebble-in-the-ocean type impact, it’s a matter of declaring seriousness. It’s a matter of not just letting something go to ruin. 

Prolonging the process of separating from Young only makes the inevitable—Young finding success elsewhere—feel more like ego protection when it comes to ownership than a smart business decision. Trade Young to the Miami Dolphins, where he can back up the injury-prone Tua Tagovailoa and be rehabilitated by a coach who understands how to heal quarterbacking wounds and has the roster to make it happen (that second part is important, because I believe Panthers coach Dave Canales possesses that ability but, with Tommy Tremble as his top offensive weapon, simply doesn’t have the pieces to implement that plan). Trade him to the Minnesota Vikings and let Sam Darnold explain to him firsthand that it’s truly darkest before the dawn. Trade him to the Cleveland Browns, where every quarterback not named Deshaun Watson turns into Dan Marino in this offense. Trade him to the San Francisco 49ers, where Young can earn his master’s degree in football theory while hanging around with Kyle Shanahan all day. 

Trade him like the Chicago Bears traded Justin Fields. Not as a matter of recouping assets but as a kind of faux apology for how it all went leading up to this point; a well-wishing and generous parting of ways before you select the next poor sucker. Maybe the animus toward this team and the sort of legendary cartoon bad guy facade that Carolina’s owner has constructed for himself could start to diminish a bit. 

Not appealing? Here’s the other bottom line for David Tepper, one which he might be able to understand. The Panthers are on a bullet train toward the No. 1 pick again. The second the season ends, Young’s trade value, à la Josh Rosen’s the moment it was clear the Arizona Cardinals were zeroing in on Kyler Murray, will be torpedoed. The team is that bad, as we saw on Sunday. Everyone knows it, and someone will eventually see a world where Young plops into their laps for the veteran minimum after Tepper has paid the bulk of his contract. Either way—satisfying the ego or the need to be generous—it’s best if Young’s days in Charlotte are numbered.