Why the Carolina Panthers absolutely should extend Bryce Young right now

The Carolina Panthers are planning on picking up Bryce Young's fifth-year option. For the time being, it's the most sensible thing to do. Young's more than earned that extra year, and it won't be as costly as an extension.

Speaking of an extension, GM Dan Morgan revealed earlier this month that he is having discussions on whether or not to try to extend Young this offseason. It would be a surprise, but it's something that is absolutely on the table.

Here's why, despite all the risk, the Panthers should absolutely extend him now.

Panthers should not wait on Bryce Young extension

The Carolina Panthers have Bryce Young for two more years at minimum. If nothing else happens, his contract, once they do officially pick up the fifth-year option, will run through the 2027 season and be done.

Given Young's trajectory and the Panthers' belief in him, it would be a huge shock if the contract did end after that season. If there were never an extension, it would be pretty surprising.

So with that in mind, why wait? There's certainly a lot of risk and unknown with Young. He's firmly on the rise, but he still hasn't really become an upper echelon QB yet, and paying someone like that is risky.

But given Young's upward growth every year, it is highly likely that he will continue getting better, and he's shown already that he can both perform at a high level and win games. He also showed the bright lights of the playoffs don't really faze him.

If the Panthers extend him now, it will be much, much cheaper than extending him after a 2026 season in which he takes another step forward. After that season, the Panthers could be looking at a price tag between $40 and $50 million a year.

That's steep. It is what QBs get with ease nowadays, but it's costly. What is less costly and far more team-friendly is a deal signed early. Extending Young now would cost more than the $26.5 million option in 2027, but it wouldn't break the bank.

Given the overall body of work, somewhere between $30 and $40 million a year seems perfectly likely, so the Panthers could easily get Young on a four-year, $140 million deal.

That seems lofty, but it's a far cry from the albatrosses that Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, Brock Purdy, Deshaun Watson, and Kirk Cousins have.

When Young continues to get better, he will quickly outplay that value, making him a strong investment. Is Young ever going to be the best QB in the NFL? Probably not, but that ultimately saves the Panthers money.

They can continue to surround him with weapons with that money, which will make the team better despite not having a Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen making boatloads of money at QB.

Plus, the alternatives don't make a lot of sense. Barring a huge regression in 2026, the Panthers won't have a good chance at drafting a successor in 2027 or 2028, and the free-agent option isn't ideal, either.

They've made all this growth with the combination of Dave Canales and Young, so when Young gets to the end of his deal, the Panthers are supposed to just start over? That's not a good idea, which makes the extension look all the more tantalizing.

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