Bryce Young: Everything you need to know

General manager Dan Morgan announced Tuesday that Carolina plans to exercise the 2027 team option on Young's contract this offseason, Darin Gantt of the Panthers' official site reports. Young's fifth-year option is projected to come in at around $26.5 million and will be fully guaranteed. While the Panthers' willingness to pick up the option represents some level of commitment to the 24-year-old signal-caller heading into his fourth NFL season, Young may need to make more dramatic strides in 2026 in order to land a long-term extension with Carolina. Young showed some modest improvement in Year 3, leading an 8-9 Panthers squad to its first NFC South title in a decade while directing six game-winning drives and completing 304 of 478 pass attempts for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions to go with 216 yards and two scores on 54 games over 16 starts during the regular season. Though his 63.6 percent completion rate was a career-best mark, his 6.3 yards per attempt matched his average from his 2024 season. Young might have instilled some additional confidence in his prospects heading into 2026 with a respectable showing against the heavily favored Rams in the wild-card round this past weekend, when he led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives and accounted for 288 yards (264 passing, 24 rushing) in a 34-31 loss.

Young completed 21 of 40 passes for 264 yards, one touchdown and one interception in Saturday's 34-31 wild-card round loss to the Rams. He added three rushes for 24 yards and an additional score. The Panthers have tried to hide Young for significant stretches of the season, relying on a particularly run-heavy offense. However, the game plan was more aggressive Saturday, as he reached 40 pass attempts for only the third time in 17 total games this season. Young showed particular rapport down the field with Jalen Coker, connecting for gains of 52 and 37 yards. He also scrambled for a 16-yard touchdown just before halftime while delivering a seven-yard passing score to Coker to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. While Young's performance has been volatile throughout the early portions of his career, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported Saturday morning that the Panthers are expected to pick up Young's fifth-year option this offseason. That makes it very likely that he will enter the 2026 season as Carolina's starting quarterback.

Young completed 24 of 35 passes for 266 yards with two touchdowns and one interception and rushed twice for minus-1 yard in the Panthers' 16-14 loss to the Buccaneers on Saturday. He also committed a fumble recovered by Carolina. Young finished with an exponentially more aesthetic stat line than in his forgettable 54-yard performance against the Seahawks in a Week 17 loss, but the end result was still the same for his team. The third-year signal-caller spread the ball around plenty, connecting with nine different targets. Young hit Tommy Tremble and Jalen Coker for his pair of eight-yard scoring tosses, while his one interception came on the first play after the two-minute warning in the first half at Tampa Bay's 42-yard line and led to a Bucs field goal. Young's passing yardage total was his second highest since Week 3, and he wraps up the 2025 regular season with career highs in completion percentage (63.6), passing yardage (3,011), touchdown passes (23) and interceptions (11) across 16 games. Young and his teammates will pull for the Falcons to defeat the Saints on Sunday and make the Panthers the NFC South champions in the process, thereby allowing them to continue their season in next weekend's wild-card round.