NFL Analyst's Drake Maye, Sam Darnold Panthers Take Makes No Sense

There are plenty of connections between the Carolina Panthers and the two Super Bowl quarterbacks. For starters, they played and were thoroughly beaten by those two quarterbacks by an average of 23 points.

But going deeper, there are even more. Sam Darnold obviously played for the Panthers in 2021 and 2022. The reclamation project he has proven to be for the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks is what the Panthers tried to do.

Drake Maye went to UNC and grew up a massive fan of Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, though Newton criticized the Pats and got some return fire from Maye during the season.

THE CAROLINA #PANTHERS COULD HAVE HAD BOTH STARTING QUARTERBACKS IN THE SUPER BOWL THIS YEAR:

Carolina let Darnold go after just one season.

Carolina also traded away picks that would’ve been the first overall in the 2024 draft and could have selected hometown hero Drake Maye. pic.twitter.com/YCR131pyu5
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) January 26, 2026

There is an idea, shared by credentialed NFL media member MLFootball on X, that the Panthers could've had either one of the Super Bowl quarterbacks. On paper, it sounds right. It's not.

Panthers could not have had either Sam Darnold or Drake Maye at quarterback

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold (14) scrambles against the Carolina Panthers | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

On a straightforward level, any of the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, or Minnesota Vikings could have had Sam Darnold, but in the case of the Jets and Panthers, he wasn't very good for them.

Sure, they could've extended Darnold and continued trying to make it work, but even the signs weren't there, and this wasn't a good organization at the time.

After two seasons, 17 starts, a sub-60 completion percentage, and a 16:16 touchdown to interception ratio, it's easy to see why they moved on. Anyone would've, so it's foolish to say the Panthers could have still had Darnold today. Maybe they could've, but he's not the same QB he is today if he sticks around.

As for Drake Maye, the idea that the Panthers should've stood pat in 2023 and drafted a quarterback from the better and deeper 2024 class is wise. It's a take that makes total sense and would've given the Panthers an overall better outlook.

However, Maye would not have been that quarterback. He got drafted third overall. The Panthers would not have come close to that range in 2024 had they not gone after Bryce Young.

The team, with absolutely awful quarterback play all year long (including from Sam Darnold), finished with seven wins. The only option would've been to play with a bridge QB, and that would've kept them from the top of the draft.

They also wouldn't have depleted the roster. They would have had DJ Moore and other picks to use, including the ninth overall pick in 2023, which could've been used on Jalen Carter, Jahmyr Gibbs, Christian Gonzalez, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, or Zay Flowers.

All of those players would've made the Panthers better, so if we consider seven wins the floor for the 2024 Panthers in this alternate universe, then they wouldn't have come close to Maye. They'd have picked seventh at best, but with some other seven-win teams, they'd likely have fallen to around 10.

That would've left Michael Penix Jr. or Bo Nix, and while Nix has been to the playoffs twice, he is aided by a much better roster and an oustanding defense. He wouldn't be this good in Carolina.

Would they be better off with Nix, DJ Moore, and the picks they gave up than with Young? Probably, but not by a massive margin, and regardless, Maye was off the board by the time they got up in this hypothetical.

So no, they could not have had either Maye or Darnold this year. That take makes no sense.

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