NFL Insider Claims Everything is Trending Up for Panthers Except Bryce Young

The Carolina Panthers seem to finally be trending in the right direction. Bryce Young is improving, and the talent around him on offense seems to be slowly getting better, too. The defense, after major talent infusions in 2025 and 2026, is becoming a stronger unit.

This culminated in eight wins (more than the two previous years combined) and a playoff berth that resulted in the Panthers nearly upsetting the Los Angeles Rams. After a stellar free agency, they may be a team to watch out for.

SI's Albert Breer agrees that the Panthers should be better in 2026 because everything is pointing in the right direction. Everything, that is, except for the quarterback.

NFL expert believes Panthers are going up but Bryce Young isn't

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) rushes for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Albert Breer believes it's fair to expect more success from the Carolina Panthers in 2026. This time, they could very well win a playoff game instead of just taking it down to the wire.

"Obviously, at the center of their effort will be Bryce Young. My guess would be they’ll let Young play out the fourth year of his deal, with his fifth-year option picked up for the 2027 offseason," Breer wrote. "And we’ll see if he can find another level in his game that would justify working out a monster contract extension to keep him in Charlotte long-term."

This is highly likely to be what happens. The front office has internally discussed an extension, and Brandt Tilis seems like someone who expects to sign Young to a long-term deal and has worked that plan into the current long-term contracts.

Other than Young, there are good things on the roster, according to Breer. "Tetairoa McMillan looks like a star in the making at receiver, the offensive line ... got better last year, and the defense has a good young core and an infusion of top-end veteran talent coming, with Jaelan Phillips and Devin Lloyd’s arrival," he said.

Then Breer delivered the stinger. "Which is to say, outside of QB, the arrow’s pointing up," he said. "So, again, I’d say continued improvement, and maybe a playoff win, would be a fair target."

What's interesting is that Young's arrow is pointing up. Now, one could argue that the fact doesn't mean much since Young started his career as one of the worst rookies in recent memory, indicating that any improvement was unsurprising but that the bar was pretty low.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) reacts after scoring a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams in the first half | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

It's almost impossible to say Young hasn't gotten better. Maybe he regressed a bit from last season's run over the final few weeks, but he's still a significantly better quarterback than he was in 2023.

What Breer likely means is that there's a lot of good happening in Carolina, from Tetairoa McMillan to an ascending defense, but Young can't really be included in that conversation yet.

The good news is that Young seems to do best when his back is against the wall, so he could be in for an even better year in 2026 to continue proving people wrong.