A few excerpts and notes…..
-the Texans have now begun long term contract extension talks with CJ Stroud.
-Since the implementation of the fifth-year option for first-round picks in the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, all eight quarterbacks drafted No. 1 overall had those options picked up. Young, the first pick in the 2023 draft, will become the ninth when the Panthers make it official sometime before the May 1 deadline.
Six of those eight QBs signed lucrative extensions with the teams that drafted them, with Jameis Winston and Baker Mayfield the exceptions. Among the six who were extended, four received their paydays before their fourth season: Jared Goff, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow and Trevor Lawrence.
Panthers great Cam Newton and the Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck signed their extensions prior to their fifth season.
The Panthers are not expected to offer Young an extension before next season. Morgan was noncommittal on the topic last week. “We’re still talking through the roster and kind of where things look from the big picture view,” he said. “So that’s stuff that’s still up in the air that we’re still working through at this point
from a veteran NFL personnel executive on another team……
"Tua Tagovailoa had his most success when they were paying him on his rookie deal because you can put more pieces around him. But once they made that move to pay him 50-something million dollars, now you start to lose other pieces. And now he’s got to perform even higher because he’s playing with less talent. And he needs all those pieces to win with because you don’t win because of him,” said the official, who was granted anonymity so he could speak openly on the topic.
“And at this point, I see Bryce Young the same way. If they pay him let’s say $50 million, it wouldn’t hurt them instantly. But over time (it would).”
Link to Joe Person's full article….
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6983537/2026/01/20/panthers-bryce-young-future-contract/
29 comments
Will be interesting to see what a Bryce deal looks like if he continues his upward trajectory, obviously hasn’t earned top QB money but nowadays most guys who are good get that.
He played great but no way he earned 50 mil with this year
I believe in Bryce but unless he is a top 5 qb next year he’s not anywhere close to worth 50 mil imo. If someone wants to offer him that they can
Im also a dolphins fan, and until this season I was all for Tua, Tua’s play also severely dipped after getting concussion after concussion.
He’s not making the reads he used to be really good at, and he’s playing like his next hit will be his last. The team also ignored protecting him with a solid o-line and was relying on him to get the ball out on 1.5 seconds so he doesn’t get hit
It’s a gamble given his inconsistent play (and I am a day one and steadfast Bryce truther), but I would not mind locking him down early with a reasonable contract. Something like 3 years/$30m per year. I do think he’s an ascending player and if he improves again next year, esp in a playoff scenario, his market value only goes up. I know some will say we need to see more for a contract but I’d love to know who we could draft or acquire in FA that is an improvement over Bryce?
I say send it. But I’m also not very smart.
Edited to clarify $30m per year, not total
I know the trend with contracts is for them to just keep growing, but I think we’re approaching a breaking point. Teams are going to start realizing you cant win if youre paying a guy 50 mil unless hes a clear top 5. The days of fringe top 10 qbs (at the time of signing extension) like tua, Lawrence, and kyler getting 50 mil just because “thats the market” are close to an end I think.
Best hope for BY himself and the Panthers is he balls out next year and leaves no doubt. Back up the Brinks truck and pay him. If he has another middle of the road year it’s gonna be tough.
Tua isn’t a great comparison because you have to factor in health and situations around him (like their big investment into Hill).
Dan already said they aren’t exploring anything until after the season.
This is why you let Bryce play through his 4th and 5th years and see if he’s earned the long term deal.
It should be very clear after the 2027 season if he is worth keeping around for another 5 years. If still unsure, you can even tag him for a 6th season.
Dan is going to have to have a frank conversation with BY and his agent.
“Just because your deal is up, doesn’t mean you’re going to be the highest paid guy in the league. You’re a system QB and the Panthers are committed to building a team around you to ensure that we succeed”
Then offer him the rate ranks him in the 15 to 20 range.
This is completely not worth worrying about right now. He’s played 3 years. Wake me after his 4th.
They need to lock him up in a long-term team friendly deal. If not, once again we developed a star for another team.
Agents and GMs have created this nonsense. There are only 3 or 4 QBs that are worth $50m. If they keep singing 2nd tier QBs ant tier 1 money imagine what the tier 1 guys will end up getting.
I would not mortgage the team for Bryce.
He is not playing at even a tier 2 level yet.
I assume the Browns are eternally screwed how many QBs are they paying ?
1st round QBs are a more complete analogy than 1st overall picks and its not uncommon to be signed to an extension instead of a 5th year option.
I rather not extend this dude until after his fourth seasons. I don’t care if we have to pay more. I still need to see more
I dont see the comparison to Tua and his contract with Dolphins.
You have to factor in Tua’s extensive injury history that has impacted his play. Also, we have yet to see Bryce with the level of talent of Jaylen Waddle, Tyreek Hill, and Devon Achane at his disposal.
Bryce has been inconsistent, but I’ve also seen him elevate his play against superior teams like the Rams, Chiefs, and Eagles with lesser talent.
Im confident if we build our roster, he wont limit this teams ceiling.
Need to start finding the replacement soon
I wouldn’t offer him more than 26 million even if he improves next year
I have an issue with what this exec said and it makes me question that opinion.
The Dolphins have a good line (started rough but were quite good this year overall), an elite RB, a pricey Tyreek Hill and a young highly drafted rookie WR. And decent tight end help.
He says they had to skimp on pieces around Tua because of the contract…but how exactly did they do that? He has pieces, they just happened to suck and Tua himself was mostly the cause.
Idk, to me Bryce seems like a guy who would be okay with taking a reasonable contract. Especially knowing that it would end up benefiting the rest of the team and by result him as well.
If he doesn’t improve even more next season, no one is giving him a big contract and we shouldn’t either.
This is just the NFL, not a Panthers issue. QB is overvalued and there’s maybe 5 QBs that are actually worth the huge percentage of cap space that they take up.
When you have a rookie contract QB, you can pay more for better talent on the rest of the team. When you have a veteran that’s paid market rates, you have to find undervalued players for the rest of the team or you stop being successful.
Bryce is a great point guard and mediocre shooter. He can’t single handedly win the game. He needs a good team around him. That’s why he struggled the first couple years. Bad team = bad QB. Cam was the Superman that made average players look great and didn’t need a good team.
Drew Brees was the best version of Bryce and could elevate the average players of the saints to give them a great offense despite being unable to afford to keep good WRs. Maybe Bryce can get to that level, but odds are against it.
I love Bryce. I think he’s a solid quarterback who, on a good day, can look elite but on a bad day can be downright awful because his floor and ceiling are so far apart.
I just can’t see a scenario where you pay him $50 million. My comfort zone would be something closer to what Sam Darnold is making with the Seahawks.
I don’t think paying any QB 2,3,4x your next highest cap hit is ever a good idea honestly. I don’t think it’s working out as a way to be successful. It CAN work, and HAS worked, but I think it’s mostly not working. Your QB can be the highest paid player on the team and still not be a cap black hole. Compare the Seahawks (and the other 2 of four remaining teams with QBs on rookie deals) to the Bengals, bills, ravens….
People are so smooth brained when it comes to contracts. We should not sign Bryce so we can blow cap space in FA on players to build around who?
If you consistently fill positions in the draft you have affordable talent you can supplement in FA. Look how few of the QBs are sticking in the NFL. Not signing Stroud or Young isn’t even an option for these teams.
So sick of people who don’t watch panther games commenting on Bryce young. He outplayed Caleb against the same defense but somehow Caleb is the truth and Bryce is average at best. Bryce has a bright future with a young team he’s been pulling out of purgatory.
I feel like with players like Tagovailova they are past the grey line where they are paying QBs too much and it hurts the team overall. Spend 5 million on hiring another 10 scouts/coaches for the office just to find an underrated QB like so many great QBs started out as, backups, terrible draft prospects that turned out great, extra staff/coaching. Go out and find people with a good brain and solid arm before everything is sacrificed.
I just looked at a list of top paid QBs and most are taking 1/6 of the salary cap, there is like 46 game day active roster positions per the rules.
A lot of teams end up paying their rookie quarterback, and they still find a way to win. The thing is at some point you have to be consistently good at drafting players. Because you need to have a lot of your talent on cheap contracts, even if you’re gonna pay your quarterback. That’s what separates the teams that take their quarterback the big box and they still can win the Super Bowl. It doesn’t mean that it’s impossible but your scouting department and general manager it’s really gonna have to get good and you’re gonna need to see quick results and not a bunch of two or three year projects waiting to see these drafted players, figuring the game out.
I think both fans only obsessed over the first round of the draft. And obviously some of the players taken later are not gonna be as recognizable but drafting well in the later rounds is what separates the mediocre teams from the great ones.