The Panthers are entering 2026 with the kind of record that looks better on paper than it felt in real time. They’re NFC South champs, sure, but they got there at 8-9 and needed Atlanta to take down New Orleans on the final Sunday just to lock it up.
Then came a 34-31 wild-card loss to the Rams on Jan. 10.
That’s the backdrop for a season that opens Sunday at Bank of America Stadium against the Chicago Bears, three days after the league’s Wednesday kickoff in Seattle. Carolina has a playoff trip for the first time since 2017 and a division title for the first time since 2015, but the roster still has some rough edges.
Bryce Young is coming off the best season of his career. The defense still gave up 380 points.
And even after late-August additions at linebacker and on the interior, this still feels like a team trying to build something rather than one that has arrived.
The most likely outcome in Charlotte? Young keeps improving, and the Panthers still don’t rush into a long-term commitment.
Young started 16 games in 2025 and completed 304 of 478 passes for 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His 63.6% completion rate and 87.8 passer rating were both career bests, per the Panthers’ official career page.
He also went 8-8 as a starter. His best night came Nov. 16 in Atlanta, when he threw for 448 yards and three touchdowns in a 30-27 overtime win.
That broke Cam Newton’s franchise mark of 432 yards, as Darin Gantt reported for the team site.
Normally, that kind of leap would push extension talks to the front of the line. Instead, Carolina picked up Young’s fifth-year option on April 29, keeping him under team control through 2027 at a projected $25.9 million for that season, according to the team announcement on Panthers.com.
It was the expected move. The bigger contract never came with it.
Brandt Tilis, the executive in charge of Carolina’s contracts, later said Young “ascended” in 2025 and that his ceiling remains “unknown,” according to the Associated Press. In June, ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported the Panthers are open to an extension but “aren’t in a hurry,” and that a deal could wait until next offseason. Joe Person of The Athletic also passed along Tilis saying the club would “see how the year plays out,” as noted in SI’s Panthers coverage.
The numbers help explain why the front office is taking its time. Young’s 6.3 yards per attempt was below the 2025 league team average of 7.0, per StatMuse’s passing averages.
His 87.8 rating also trailed the league mark of 91.4. He did deliver in clutch spots - the team site credited him with six game-winning drives last season - and Dave Canales still puts him in fourth-down situations, where Young piled up 285 passing yards.
That’s a valuable trait. It’s just not the same thing as a quarterback the league is ready to pay as a finished product.
So the safer bet is another solid year from Young and another wait on the long-term deal. Carolina has the leverage, and Young still has to prove the Atlanta performance was his baseline, not his peak.
In Other News...
Bryce Young Trade Still Haunts The Panthers For One Reason
The 2023 deal that sent the No. 1 overall pick to Carolina is still one of the defining moves of the Bryce Young era, because it did not just land the Panthers their quarterback, it set Chicago up with the kind of draft capital that can reshape a roster for years. The Bears turned those picks into a wave of players, including Caleb Williams, Darnell Wright, Tory Taylor, Tyrique Stevenson and Luther Burden, giving the trade a footprint that keeps growing well beyond draft weekend.
For Carolina, the lingering sting is not only about Youngs early progress, but about how much the other side has already gotten from the transaction. Chicagos haul has produced more immediate depth and impact, while the Panthers are still waiting for the move to fully justify itself on their end. Even so, this is the kind of trade that can look different a year from now if Young keeps developing and Carolina starts cashing in on the quarterback it paid so dearly to land. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Secondary Could Get Even Scarier With This Early Projection
A new 2027 NFL mock draft from Bleacher Reports Scouting Department has already put the Panthers in a familiar place: eyeing the secondary. The projection has Carolina taking Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore with the No. 7 overall pick, a move that would add a technically polished defender with the size and football IQ to fit alongside what the Panthers are trying to build on that side of the ball.
It is only an early projection, of course, but it speaks to how the Panthers could keep leaning into defense if the roster trends hold. Moore is the kind of cornerback evaluators tend to pair with a strong existing group, and that is what makes this idea interesting for Carolina - not just whether he would be a fit, but how much scarier the secondary could look if the front office ever decides to spend premium draft capital there. [Read more 🡒]
Darren Waller Is Giving Panthers Fans A Reason To Dream Again
Darren Waller has spent this offseason taking a different approach to his conditioning, and it has given the Panthers something worth watching as camp unfolds. After a stretch in which his availability and effectiveness have been the real questions, the tight end has come into Carolina with a focus that has shown up both physically and mentally, according to coach Dave Canales.
Canales praised what he has seen from Waller during camp, and for a team looking for any reason to feel better about its passing game, that matters. The Panthers are still piecing together plenty of the offense around him, but Wallers work has at least added a layer of intrigue to a roster that has spent too long searching for steady playmakers. [Read more 🡒]