Panthers make Bryce Young decision after playoff trip

It wasn't all that long ago when it felt as if quarterback Bryce Young had no long-term future with the Carolina Panthers.

Young is now on track to receive some additional financial guarantees from the Panthers for beyond the 2026 season. 

Panthers seem to commit to Bryce Young for at least one more season

As Darin Gantt noted for the Panthers' website, Carolina general manager Dan Morgan confirmed during a Tuesday morning news conference that the club intends to pick up the fifth-year option for 2027 attached to Young's rookie contract. Morgan's update serves as the latest development of a career turnaround for the first overall pick of the 2023 NFL Draft who was benched after a pair of poor outings to start the 2024 campaign. 

Young later played well enough over the final 10 starts of his second pro season to remain an option for the club through last summer. While he only went 8-8 as Carolina's QB1 this season (he missed one game due to injury), that was good enough for the Panthers to claim the NFC South division title. 

Pro Football Reference stats show that Young finished the 2025 regular season ranked 27th in the NFL among qualified players with a 47.8 adjusted QBR, tied for 29th with an 87.8 passer rating, 28th with an average of 188.2 passing yards per game and tied for 14th with 23 passing touchdowns. 

According to Joseph Person of The Athletic, Young’s 12 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime are the most among all active signal-callers since the start of the 2023 campaign.

Dan Morgan explains Bryce Young decision

"Bryce has shown flashes of greatness this year against high-level competition," Morgan added, per Anthony Rizzuti of Panthers Wire/USA Today. "...I think Bryce did a great job this year, and just really excited about moving forward and him still developing chemistry with our receivers and just the pieces around him that we have."

Morgan and Co. will likely want to see more from Young before the Panthers consider handing the 24-year-old a second pro contract. That said, picking up Young's option gives Carolina an opportunity to punt a more significant decision about his future down the road.