Panthers Urged to Trade for Former First-Round QB at Deadline if Bryce Young Struggles

An analyst believes the Carolina Panthers could pull the plug on Bryce Young at the trade deadline in favor of a former first-round pick.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is facing another hugely important year for his career in 2026.

The Panthers decided to pick up Young's fifth-year option during the offseason, but he still has to prove he's "the guy" in Carolina. If he fails to do that in 2026, the Panthers are almost certainly going to, at the very least, explore their options to replace him in 2027.

But could Carolina pull the plug on the Young experiment as early as this season? Bleacher Report's Moe Moton thinks it's possible if the Panthers are in contention but Young is holding them back.

To take it a step further, Moton believes Carolina should trade for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones at the deadline in that scenario.

"Instead of pushing through the campaign with a signal-caller who's clearly not the franchise guy, it wouldn't hurt to swap a second-round pick for Jones," Moton said.

"Carolina could have the best of both worlds, acquiring a potential upgrade at quarterback while keeping its first-round pick for a chance at a top prospect in next year's draft," he added.

Mac Jones' 2025 revival

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Mac Jones. | Kevin Ng-Imagn Images

Jones served as the 49ers' backup last season and managed to revive his career in eight starts in place of an injured Brock Purdy.

Jones completed 69.6% of his passes for 2,151 yards, 13 scores, six interceptions, a QBR of 62.3, a passer rating of 97.4 and he compiled a 5-3 record.

Young had a worse completion rate, QBR and passer rating than Jones, and if you extrapolate Jones' numbers over a full 17 games, he easily clears Young's 3,011 and 23 touchdowns.

Would a Mac Jones trade make sense?

Panthers owner David Tepper. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

On paper, Jones would be an upgrade over Young, so from that standpoint a trade for the former first-round pick would make sense for Carolina.

The one thing we would balk at here is the price of a second-round pick that Moton suggests. If we were talking about a Day 3 selection for Jones, it would be a different story.

Despite the hype surrounding Jones, that still feels like it's too much to give up for him, especially when the 2027 NFL Draft is expected to be loaded at quarterback.

But David Tepper has shown he isn't exactly the most patient guy, nor does he have the best judgement, so we wouldn't rule out the Panthers owner jumping at a trade for Jones if his team is being held back by Young.

If we're using a totally clear head here, the only way we can get on board with such a trade is if the Panthers truly look like they are on the cusp of being an elite team and Young's play is stopping them from getting there.

But if the Panthers look like an inconsistent group that is only hanging around the playoff hunt because of a bad division, Carolina should just wait until 2027 to replace Young.