The Carolina Panthers' loss on Monday Night Football to the San Francisco 49ers was more than just a disappointing defeat in what could have been a statement game.
If you were paying close attention, you might have noticed the fork in the road that the Panthers crossed in the middle of the game - a clear landmark that indicates it's time for Carolina to make a decision about Bryce Young's future as their potential franchise quarterback.
There are still five games left to play this season, but Matt Verderame at Sports Illustrated has seen enough. He says it's time for the Panthers to move on from Young at QB.
Bryce Young
Nov 24, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) rushes the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
SI on Bryce Young-Panthers
"With a decision on Young’s fifth-year option coming after this season, Carolina has to make the easy, yet difficult, choice. Decline it and move on... Since Young entered the NFL in 2023, he ranks 32nd out of 32 qualifying quarterbacks (minimum of 900 plays) in EPA + CPOE at 0.029. He’s also last in success rate (41.9%) and EPA per play (-0.074). In short, he’s the worst quarterback in football since joining the NFL after starring at Alabama."
We have seen flashes of Bryce Young's ability to perform at a high level in the NFL. Unfortunately, those moments have simply been too few and far between.
If you add up all of Young's quality games in his career, it comes out to about 10 or 11 out of 41 starts since he was drafted.
That percentage is too low to justify making a long-term commitment to Young - or even the roughly $26.5 million it will cost to pick up Young's fifth-year option for the 2027 season.
In the right situation Young might be able to thrive - such as playing for Sean McVay's Rams or Kyle Shanahan's 49ers where he'd have a stellar supporting cast and a great playcaller. This ain't that, and the Panthers can't wait forever for Young to finally start delivering on his potential on a consistent basis.
As frustrating as it may be to start over yet again at this position, we just haven't seen Young play well enough often enough to say that he deserves to the title of franchise quarterback.
At a bare minimum, Carolina's front office should look to bring in a veteran to compete with Young for the starting quarterback job in 2026.
Bryce Young
Nov 24, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) rushes the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Levi's Stadium. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
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