The Carolina Panthers added another weapon for quarterback Bryce Young, and it’s someone he’s familiar with.
On Wednesday, the team reached an agreement on wide receiver John Metchie III on a one-year deal, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Metchie wasn’t tendered by the New York Jets as a restricted free agent, making him available at the start of the new league year.
Young and Metchie both played together at the University of Alabama, where Metchie was Young’s number one receiver in his Heisman Trophy-winning 2021 season. During that campaign, Metchie put together 96 catches for 1,142 yards and eight touchdowns.
Overcoming Adversity
John Metchie III, along with Bryce Young, had breakout seasons in 2021. However, Metchie tore his ACL in the SEC Championship game that season. Despite knowing that he would not be available to start the season, the Houston Texans still drafted Metchie in the second round of the 2022 draft.
Unfortunately, for Metchie, while rehabbing his knee injury, he was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia in July 2022, which caused him to miss the entirety of the 2022 season. Finally, after over a year battling health issues, Metchie returned to the football field in the 2023 season. Metchie proved he was healthy once again, playing in all 16 regular season and Houston’s two playoff games that year.
In 2025, Metchie was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he reflected on everything he had overcome over the previous three years. Dave Spadaro, writing for the Eagles’ website in August of 2025, wrote about the lessons Metchie had learned.
“Just kind of being present with everything,” Metchie said when asked about the perspective he has on the last three years of his life. “Living the dream. Not worrying about a bunch of things you can’t control. I think that’s probably the biggest one. And understanding the things that you can control, the things you’re grateful for. Things like that.”
Metchie is now focused on the present and helping the Panthers’ depth at receiver.
More Depth
John Metchie’s signing gives Bryce Young one more weapon for the wide receiver unit that lacked depth at times last season. First-round pick Tetairoa McMillan lived up to the hype, and Jalen Coker emerged late in the season, but the Panthers’ other receivers’ abilities are still to be determined. Metchie will give Young another receiver with whom he has chemistry.
Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer, in his March 11 article, wrote about the need for Metchie with the unproven wide receivers on the team.
“While Coker has proven to be a quality starting receiver when healthy, the former undrafted free agent has dealt with injuries in each of his first two seasons,” Kaye wrote. “The Panthers need insurance behind McMillan and Coker, and the jury is still out on Legette, a former first-round pick who has struggled to find consistency.”
With the Panthers, Methcie will get the chance to compete for a prominent role in the offense. In nine games with the Eagles and the Jets last season, Metchie put up a career high 29 catches for 256 yards and two touchdowns. In Carolina this year, he will attempt to show he’s just scratching the surface of his potential in the NFL.
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