{"id":857125,"date":"2026-04-06T16:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857125\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T16:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T16:24:17","slug":"bryce-youngs-new-weapon-from-espns-panthers-chargers-trade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857125\/","title":{"rendered":"Bryce Young’s new weapon from ESPN’s Panthers-Chargers trade"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Carolina Panthers<\/a> have reasons for optimism heading into the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>. QB Bryce Young is finally playing well<\/a> after a 2025 season that almost included a surprising upset in the playoffs<\/a>. Perhaps one more offensive weapon could take Carolina’s offense over the top in 2026.<\/p>\n

ESPN’s Bill Barnwell released a new mock draft on Monday that includes hypothetical trades for every pick<\/a> in the first round. Barnwell has the Panthers making a daring trade with the Chargers to add more weapons around Young.<\/p>\n

In this scenario, Carolina sends the 19th overall pick and a fifth-round pick (159th overall) to LA in exchange for the 22nd overall pick and wide receiver Quentin Johnston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barnwell argued that Johnston’s size could make him a fit for the Panthers. He could make sense as a trade piece for the Chargers after his up-and-down start to his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Panthers have targeted supersized receivers for their diminutive quarterback, and the 6-foot-4 Johnston fits the bill here,\u201d Barnwell wrote. \u201cDrops have obviously been a concern, but Johnston can make contested catches and offers downfield explosiveness. He is coming off a 735-yard season in 2025, but Johnston was off to a hot start before the injuries at tackle and the ascension of tight end Oronde Gadsden limited his downfield opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnston is in the final year of his rookie contract, which explains the low asking price. His contract also includes a $16.47 million fifth-year option<\/a>. The Panthers would need to make a decision on that option by May 1st.<\/p>\n

Xavier Legette and Johnstone would likely compete for slot duties in 2026 if this trade actually happened.<\/p>\n

This trade could be a win-win situation for both teams. But there’s no telling if either team would be interested in this deal in real life.<\/p>\n

The Carolina Panthers have reasons for optimism heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. QB Bryce Young is finally playing well after a 2025 season that almost included a surprising upset in the playoffs. Perhaps one more offensive weapon could take Carolina’s offense over the top in 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Carolina Panthers have reasons for optimism heading into the 2026 NFL Draft. QB Bryce Young is finally…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[1476,235,260,2567,7,262,6,15,832,22213,236,9277],"class_list":{"0":"post-857125","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-bryce-young","9":"tag-carolina","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-carolinapanthers","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-nfl-draft","16":"tag-nfl-rumors","17":"tag-nfl-stories","18":"tag-panthers","19":"tag-quentin-johnston"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116358694273076614","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}