CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers wasted no time announcing they would pick up Bryce Young’s fifth-year option.

Deciding whether they want to offer a contract extension to Young — and if so, how much they want to pay their quarterback — is the $50 million question and one that will take considerably longer to answer.

Three days after the Panthers’ season ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round on Jan. 10, general manager Dan Morgan told reporters the team would exercise Young’s fifth-year option for 2027 (worth an estimated $26.5 million).

That piece was a no-brainer. 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.”

Bryce Young nearly led the Panthers to an upset of the Rams in the wild-card round, but fell short 34-31. Young threw for 264 yards, threw a touchdown pass and ran for a TD. (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images)

Those types of discussions are taking place in Houston involving C.J. Stroud, Young’s friend and Southern California peer who was drafted one spot behind him. Stroud was the Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, but likely cost himself some money with seven turnovers in two playoff games, including four first-half interceptions Sunday in a divisional-round loss at New England.

Panthers vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis last summer called Young an “ascending player.” That’s still the feeling around Bank of America Stadium after Young showed growth in several areas and helped end the team’s seven-year playoff drought.

But the Panthers’ decision-makers want to continue evaluating Young after an inconsistent season with strong games interspersed with so-so showings.

“I think Bryce has shown flashes of greatness this year against high-level competition. As a team, we weren’t as consistent as we wanted to be on a game-to-game basis, but I think that’s part of what happens when you have a young team,” Morgan said last week.

While the Panthers mull Young’s future, The Athletic talked to NFL personnel executives, a Hall of Fame quarterback, and Young’s teammates and coaches — including the head coach when he was drafted — about what’s next for the 24-year-old QB.

There was a lot to like about Young’s 2025 season. He won eight games — two more than his first two seasons combined — and improved statistically across the board. Young set career highs in completion percentage (63.6 percent), passing yards (3,011), yards per attempt (6.29), passing touchdowns (23), touchdowns/interceptions ratio (2.1) and passer rating (87.8).

Young ranked in the bottom half of the league in all those categories except TD passes, tying for 14th with Jacoby Brissett and Jordan Love. Young broke Cam Newton’s single-game, franchise-record with 448 passing yards in a Week 10 win at Atlanta, and led six game-winning drives, tied for the second most in the NFL behind Bo Nix (7).

Nearly any time he’s asked about Young, Panthers coach Dave Canales points to his pre-snap processing and knack for getting the offense into the right play. Young also continues to be adept at escaping trouble and making off-platform plays. Despite several injuries at the guard position, Young took a career-low 27 sacks in 2025.

“There’s just a natural ability to get the ball out of (his) hand quickly with accuracy from all kinds of different arm angles and positions,” said Frank Reich, the ex-Panthers coach whose tenure lasted just 11 games after Young was drafted.

“I still marvel. I’m watching these games and he’s scrambling and it looks like the play’s over, and somehow he finds a completion to keep the drive going,” Reich added. “I just think that’s a trait that is hard to find, and he definitely has that trait.”

Another Young trait that teammates respect is his accountability. At post-game news conferences, Young is quick to take the blame for a bad play, interception or sluggish offensive outing after a loss, while deflecting praise following a win.

Panthers guard Damien Lewis celebrates a touchdown with Young, who threw 23 regular-season TD passes this season and ran for two more. (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images)

Derrick Brown said Young does the same in the locker room.

“Bryce has had a damn good year. So many people rag on him, and if it was easy, everybody would play quarterback in the league. But that ain’t quite the case,” said Brown, a 2025 captain along with Young and long snapper J.J. Jansen.

“I’m just proud of him and his growth throughout the year,” Brown continued. “Standing tall in front of the team no matter if it was (when) we got beat by New England, he’d come into the locker room and have something to say. It’s every single week with that guy becoming the constant leader of this locker room.”

Young doesn’t wilt in big moments, a testament to both his makeup and his experience playing for national prep power Mater Dei in California and for Nick Saban during his dominant run at Alabama. Young has a 14-30 record as a starter, but 12 of those victories came on game-winning drives, the most in the NFL since the start of the 2023 season.

In his first playoff game, Young settled in after a first-quarter interception to throw for 264 yards and a touchdown on 21-of-40 passing, and ran for a TD. Young’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker, which Coker called a “dot,” gave the Panthers a 4-point lead with 2:39 left before Matthew Stafford took the Rams down the field for a 34-31 win.

Canales, who famously benched Young for five games in 2024, called his quarterback’s performance against the Rams “gritty” and “tough.”

“They’re a good pass-rushing group and he made plays. He extended the plays, found guys down the field consistently, ran the touchdown in from a little bit further out,” Canales said. “To give us a chance to take the ball all the way down … and then punch it in with the beautiful throw to Coker at the end to take the lead was unbelievable. I just can’t say enough about the way Bryce stepped up and played in this game.”

In a September story on Young and Atlanta Falcons QB Michael Penix, a veteran personnel executive with another team said of Young: “I think you can win with Bryce, I just don’t think you’re gonna win because of Bryce.”

His opinion didn’t change after watching several Panthers’ games this past season. He said the Panthers need to be smart with a second contract for Young, pointing to the Miami Dolphins and QB Tua Tagovailoa. Miami fired coach Mike McDaniel and had back-to-back losing seasons since signing Tagovailoa to a four-year, $212.4 million contract extension in 2024.

“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).”

QB salaries: By average annual value

RKQUARTERBACKTEAMAAV

1

Cowboys

$60 million

2

Bills

$55 million

2

Bengals

$55 million

2

Jaguars

$55 million

2

Packers

$55 million

6

Dolphins

$53.1 million

7

Lions

$53 million

7

49ers

$53 million

9

Chargers

$52.5 million

10

Ravens

$52 million

11

Eagles

$51 million

12

Cardinals

$46.1 million

13

Browns

$46 million

14

Falcons

$45 million

14

Chiefs

$45 million

16

Rams

$42 million

17

Raiders

$37.5 million

18

Seahawks

$33.5 million

19

Buccaneers

$33.333 million

20

Jets

$20 million

Source: Spotrac

Panthers guard Robert Hunt was part of the Dolphins’ 2020 draft class, highlighted by Tagovailoa, the fifth overall pick from Alabama. Hunt played four seasons in Miami before signing a five-year, $100 million contract with Carolina in 2024, four months before the Dolphins extended Tagovailoa.

“Obviously, the quarterback had to get paid so that probably played a factor in it,” Hunt said. “They paid other guys. I feel like they could have (spread) the money around somehow, but they paid different guys.”

Hunt, who missed all but three games this season with a torn biceps, thought Young took another step in Year 3.

“I think he’s a guy that gets better. The more you put around him, the better he gets,” Hunt said. “We all know how clutch he is. He does some really good things. And obviously he would tell you the same, there’s probably some things he wants to work on. I don’t know what that would be. … I think every year, though, with reps and reps you get better.”

Kurt Warner, the Hall of Famer and two-time MVP, said Young can make a lot of “big-time throws,” but believes the 5-10, 190-pound QB would benefit from better footwork at the top of his dropbacks.

“When you watch Bryce, his feet are together. Sometimes they’re sideways. He’s kind of bouncing up in the air and trying to feel it. I don’t know if some of that has to do with his height and size. The point being is so now when he decides to throw, he’s gotta either get into position or he’s gotta try to create power from out of position,” Warner, the NFL Network analyst, said in a phone interview.

“And when you’re already limited somewhat physically, you have some balls that hang on you, that don’t get there. Or you’re a little bit late on the throw because you weren’t quite ready to throw it and you’re not ripping it 100 miles an hour.”

Warner said it’s clear Young has the “big moment gene,” but wants to see more consistency throughout games. Said Warner: “If I can play at that level down the stretch, why am I not playing at that level all the time, or closer to that level, and allowing us to separate ourselves a little bit more from other teams?”

But Reich said while you “want to blow everybody away,” close games are commonplace in the NFL. As for Young’s future, Reich said Young has earned the right to get paid.

“I have no idea what that looks like. I think he’s a winner and he continues to prove that,” said Reich, Stanford’s interim coach this season. “I think the head coach has done a really good job. I think Dan’s done a good job. The roster’s gotten better. You’ve just gotta keep building that.”

The Panthers rebuilt the offensive line in Morgan’s first season as GM, and have taken a receiver in the first round the last two years. Morgan has said he’d like to add a receiver with yards-after-catch ability and knows he needs to address the pass rush.

If and how much they allocate to Young will have a huge impact on future salary caps and personnel decisions. Two NFL talent evaluators, including the one who referenced Tagovailoa’s contract, think the Panthers should offer Young an extension averaging about $33 million annually, matching those signed by ex-Panthers QBs Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

That would put Young among the top 20 highest-paid QBs, at least at the moment. But an AAV in the $33 million range would be considerably less than what Murray ($46.1 million), Burrow and Lawrence (both $55 million) are making.

By waiting until after Young’s fourth season before deciding on an extension, the Panthers can see what the Texans do with Stroud. But they also risk having Young’s price go up if he elevates his game to a Pro Bowl-type level and/or leads the Panthers on a deep playoff run.

Hunt, who’s signed through 2028, hopes Young is the team’s long-term answer at QB.

“Hopefully it’ll be him. Hopefully I’ll be a part of helping him change this thing around, which this is a step forward this year,” Hunt said. “I hope I can still be a part of his journey, that he’ll be a part of my journey. We’ll just see what the future holds, man. I’m rooting for him, always rooting for him. Always let him know that, too.”