Haynes King looked like the kind of preseason find teams spend August chasing. In the Hall of Fame Game, the Carolina Panthers had a new backup quarterback who flashed enough juice to look like a lock for the roster as a third QB.
Now, that momentum has stalled.
King has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury against the Arizona Cardinals. He hasn’t practiced, he missed the preseason game against the Buffalo Bills last weekend, and he’s not expected to play Friday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
That matters more than it usually would for a backup quarterback. In most cases, a preseason injury at that spot is just a temporary inconvenience. For Carolina, it’s a roster problem.
Making the team in the NFL comes down to two basic paths: show it in games, or show it every day on the practice field. King was doing the first one in the Hall of Fame Game, where he was electric. But right now, he can’t do either.
That leaves the Panthers in a tough spot. If he doesn’t get healthy soon, he may run out of chances to practice or play before roster cuts begin. And if that’s the case, Carolina has to ask a blunt question: how do you keep a quarterback who hasn’t been available?
The Panthers were already weighing whether to carry three quarterbacks into the season. King’s performance in the Hall of Fame Game seemed to push that conversation in his favor. But if that’s all they get from him this summer, the argument gets a lot thinner.
A third quarterback has to be worth more than the alternatives. That could mean another offensive lineman, Darren Waller, defensive line depth, another edge rusher, or a key special teamer.
For King, the issue is simple. He has to get back on the field and keep building the case he started. If he can’t, the Panthers may be forced to move him to the practice squad - and another team could step in and take him, leaving Carolina with a painful preseason what-if.
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Panthers Face A Risky Haynes King Decision They Could Regret
As the Panthers move through their roster cuts, Haynes King has become one of those preseason names that can linger because of what he might eventually offer rather than what he has already shown. He has only appeared in the Hall of Fame Game so far, and his injury recovery has kept him from building much of a rsum in camp, but the appeal is obvious enough: a quarterback with enough versatility to be used in different offensive looks and enough short-yardage value to matter in a tight game.
That makes his spot a tricky one to judge, because the Panthers are weighing immediate roster math against the risk of letting a useful player get away before he has a chance to prove it. If they move on now, it would be easy to see how the decision could be revisited later if his development continues and another team is willing to bet on the same upside Carolina is trying to measure. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Face A Risky QB Debate Behind Bryce Young
The Panthers continue to operate as if Bryce Young is the quarterback to build around, and that certainty shapes everything else in the room behind him. With the team still sorting out how to support Young, the temptation to chase another name has surfaced in the usual offseason way, with Carolina linked to possible quarterback trade chatter involving Mac Jones and J.J. McCarthy.
But the case against making a move is pretty straightforward: the Panthers already have bodies behind Young, including Haynes King and Kenny Pickett, and there is enough uncertainty around the starters long-term setup without adding another layer to it. For now, the smarter play looks like patience, keeping the current quarterback group intact until Carolina has a clearer reason to change course. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Suddenly Have One More Pass Rush Situation To Watch
The Panthers spent the offseason trying to give their pass rush a clearer shape, signing Jaelan Phillips to a four-year contract with the idea of pairing him with Nic Scourton. Instead, Scourtons torn ACL changed the picture before the regular season even arrived, leaving Carolina with another question mark in a spot that already needed reinforcement.
Josh Sweats name has entered the conversation as the kind of player who could fit what Carolina is looking for, especially with the Cardinals sitting on a veteran edge option. But Arizona general manager Monti Ossenfort has already said there is no interest in moving him, which leaves the Panthers monitoring a situation that could matter to their defense without offering any easy answers yet. [Read more 🡒]