Panthers Predicted to Replace Bryce Young, But Backups Are Terrible

The Carolina Panthers are all-in on Bryce Young. The fourth-year QB has earned his spot as the starter, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon, for multiple reasons.

One, Young is having an excellent camp, capped off by a truly tremendous practice on Wednesday. Two, the backup options aren't all that inspiring. Haynes King hasn't stood out much, and Kenny Pickett is not a starting-level quarterback.

Still, Bleacher Report's Alex Kay listed Bryce Young (and C.J. Stroud, for what it's worth) as honorable mentions on the list of NFL QBs who are most likely to be replaced this year. That's just not going to happen.

Panthers won't bench Bryce Young for Kenny Pickett or Haynes King

Carolina Panthers quarterback Kenny Pickett (12) throws watched by head coach Dave Canales | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is probably closer to being benched than he is to winning an MVP. However, he's not particularly close to being benched, especially not for Kenny Pickett or Haynes King.

Still, B/R's Alex Kay wrote, "A bounce-back performance in 2025—which included taking the Panthers to the playoffs for the first time since 2017—gave him new life, but there's still no guarantee he will remain Carolina's long-term signal-caller."

This is true. It's all about this year, in which Young has to show improvement to earn that long-term contract and cement his status beyond 2027, when he'll be under contract on the fifth-year option.

"If he significantly regresses and Carolina plummets from NFC South contention, the team could consider plugging in free-agent pickup Kenny Pickett and exploring their options for the 2027 campaign," Kay concluded.

The former part is just not going to happen. The backup QBs the Panthers have are not borderline starters. There's no Joe Flacco in town. Pickett is a former starter, but he's technically been with five teams in five seasons. He's not pushing anyone for their job.

Haynes King is an exciting UDFA we hope makes the roster and gets onto the field for some fun trick/gadget plays, but that's the extent of it. He's barely pushing Pickett for the QB2 role, let alone starting over Young.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young (9) looks downfield during the first day of mini camp | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Now, the Panthers could, as Kay mentioned, look at 2027 options, but they'd have to do that in the offseason. Trading for Mac Jones this year is maybe the only possible option in which they land a good QB. The other available QBs (JJ McCarthy or Anthony Richardson) are just not good.

This is all ignoring the fact that a major regression worth benching Young over is extremely unlikely. Kay may not have been dialed into Panthers camp, where Young is arguably as good as he's ever been. Him being benched, especially for Pickett or King, would be a shock and probably the wrong move.

Add us as a preferred source on Google