Panthers general manager Dan Morgan insisted that the team never intended to trade Bryce Young after his benching in a press conference on Wednesday, but remained noncommittal about his future as a franchise quarterback.
“We never got into any discussions. I never opened that door,” Morgan said. “Didn’t want to trade Bryce, still don’t and committed to working with him and helping him grow and helping him develop.”
Morgan hinted that the Panthers did receive calls inquiring about Young, but never entertained any offers.
“Teams call and they poke around and not just about any specific players, it’s just players on your roster and they’re real general conversations and I’ll kind of leave those conversations for another day,” Morgan said.
Trade speculation around Young stirred after his Week 3 benching, though he has started the Panthers’ last two games after Andy Dalton was injured in a car accident. However, every report out of Carolina indicated that the Panthers had no intention of dealing their former No. 1 overall pick, which Morgan confirmed on Wednesday.
Morgan did not commit to Young as the Panthers’ franchise quarterback when directly asked.
“We’re excited to work with him and keep working with him in the future,” Morgan said. “At the end of the day, we’ll have those conversations once the season ends and, we’ll see where we’re at.”
Young has two years remaining on his rookie contract, with an additional fifth-year option that the Panthers can pick up after the 2025 season. In the meantime, the Panthers are projected for the fourth overall pick in the 2025 draft, which they could use to find an alternate option to Young.