Carolina Panthers named among best team fits for top NFL free agent QB in 2025

The Carolina Panthers should be in the market for a backup quarterback. The easiest plan is just to re-sign Andy Dalton, but he will likely be in high demand. Teams that are looking for or have very young QBs will see how Dalton stepped in and helped resurrect Bryce Young, and he will probably have a lot of suitors.

That leaves the Panthers with a need that one NFL insider believes can be answered by a certain former Panther. Sam Darnold is a free agent once again, and Anthony Palacios of Last Word on Sports believes Carolina is one of the five best fits for him.

Sam Darnold to Carolina, again?

The five best fits for Sam Darnold are apparently the Saints, Ravens, Steelers, Titans, and the Panthers. Only a few of these make sense (Steelers, Saints, and Titans). For the Panthers, Palacios argues, "The Carolina Panthers have their faith in Bryce Young despite benching him for some games last season. However, since Andy Dalton will likely leave, the Panthers should be in the market for a backup. Darnold might be the ideal signal-caller to help grow Young and who knows, Head Coach Dave Canales could switch quarterbacks again and the veteran might have a different outing than he did last time he was in Carolina."

There's really no reason to consider this. The Panthers-Darnold pairing was tried once, and it didn't really work out. Darnold, despite his last two games being mostly disasters that ended the Vikings' season, has played his way into at least a $40 million salary.

To Palacios' point, there's also no reason Dave Canales should switch QBs again. If by some terrible fate Young reverts to his poor form, then the Panthers need to lose and get Arch Manning or someone in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Panthers cannot afford that, nor should they. Bryce Young has fully established himself as the future of the franchise, so if anyone in the QB room should be paid $40 million or more, it's him. Darnold would be a solid backup, but that's because he's really a starter.

The Panthers do need a backup QB, but not Darnold. They should be looking at the cheapest options, like Andy Dalton, Joe Flacco, or Case Keenum. Darnold shouldn't be on GM Dan Morgan's radar.

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