The Carolina Panthers have a decision to make on Xavier Legette, and two Super Bowl contenders have surfaced as possible landing spots.
Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report identified the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles as ideal trade destinations for the Panthers wideout, arguing that Legette could use a fresh start. Through the early part of this season, Legette has caught just two passes for 64 yards.
That slow start comes after a rookie year that never fully took off. Legette finished last season with 35 receptions, 363 receiving yards and three receiving touchdowns after Carolina made him the final pick of the first round in 2024. Since then, the Panthers have kept adding to the receiver room, which has made his path even murkier.
Carolina drafted Tetairoa McMillan in 2025 and then selected Chris Brazzell in this year’s draft. Jalen Coker has also stepped forward as a weapon, leaving Legette looking more and more like the odd man out.
Knox suggested Legette may not be built to carry a No. 1 role, but still has a chance to become a valuable secondary piece. He pointed to the traits that could still make him appealing in the right offense: his 4.39 speed, 6-foot-1, 220-pound build and physical style. Legette entered this season with 84 catches, 860 receiving yards and seven receiving touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Bryce Young’s uneven Week 3 performance against the Cleveland Browns added another layer to Carolina’s early-season picture. After opening with 361 passing yards and three touchdowns against the Chicago Bears in Week 1, then following that with 287 yards and three more scores against the Falcons in Atlanta, Young ran into a much tougher night in Cleveland.
Against the Browns, Young completed 26 of 48 passes for 291 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Entering the game, he had led the NFL in passing touchdowns, ranked second in passing yards, completed 63% of his throws and posted an EPA per dropback of .24, which ranked seventh in the league. The Browns’ defense handled him well.
Young now heads into the Panthers’ Week 4 matchup with the Detroit Lions having thrown for 939 yards and seven touchdowns this season. He has also tossed two interceptions and is completing 59.5% of his passes.
There was also some concern after he appeared to be moving gingerly following a first-half sack against Cleveland. Young is dealing with knee pain, but head coach Dave Canales said Wednesday that he expects the quarterback to play in Week 4.
Carolina will also be shorthanded on defense for the next stretch. The Panthers placed starting cornerbacks Jaycee Horn, who is dealing with a quad injury, and Mike Jackson, who has a groin injury, on injured reserve Wednesday. Both were hurt in the Week 3 loss to the Browns, and both will miss at least the next four games.
Young’s rise has been one of the better stories in Carolina this season. He was benched for Andy Dalton in 2024, a move that had plenty of people wondering whether his time with the Panthers was running out. Instead, he reset, kept working and turned in a strong start to this season after leading Carolina to the playoffs last year.
The Panthers lost to the Los Angeles Rams at home in the wild-card round, and Young is now playing under a rookie contract that pays him $12.1 million this season. Carolina already picked up his fifth-year option, which is worth a guaranteed $25.9 million. The team did not sign him to an extension, so another strong season would matter a great deal when it comes time for his next deal.
In Other News...
Panthers Get A Painful Reality Check Before Lions Showdown
The Panthers are about to find out how much room there really is for optimism when they line up against Detroit on Sunday Night Football. Carolina comes in at 1-2 and will be playing at home as the underdog, a spot that says plenty about where this team stands right now after an uneven start and a growing injury list.
Jaycee Horn and Damien Lewis are among the key names dealing with issues, and that has only added to the concern around a defense that now faces one of the leagues more capable offenses. The Lions are favored by 3.5 points, and for Carolina, the bigger question is whether it can keep this from becoming a long night against a unit built to punish soft spots. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Are Already Facing An Uncomfortable NFC South Reality
The Panthers are sitting at 1-2 and somehow still leading the NFC South, a reminder of how quickly division races can feel shaky this early in the season. Even with injuries hitting key pieces like Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson, Carolina remains in a spot where the path to the top of the division is still right in front of it, even if the broader picture around the team feels a lot less stable.
CBS Sports analyst John Breech sees that reality playing out all year, projecting Carolina to repeat as NFC South champion with a 7-10 finish and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The catch is what comes with that kind of forecast: it would likely say as much about the weakness of the division as it does about the Panthers' ceiling, and it leaves open the bigger question of whether winning the South would mean much once the postseason begins. [Read more 🡒]
Panthers Secondary Just Became A Much Bigger Problem
The Panthers secondary took a major hit this week with cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson landing on injured reserve, a development that leaves Carolina juggling depth at a spot already thin on proven options. The roster moves around them reflected the strain, with linebacker Claudin Cherelus waived with an injury settlement and guard Torricelli Simpkins signed to the active roster as the team continued to patch together a lineup under mounting injury pressure.
Carolina also added several bodies to the practice squad, bringing in guards Saahdiq Charles and Isaia Glass, cornerback Robert Rochell and outside linebacker Cam Gill as the injuries keep piling up across the roster. Wide receivers Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette, offensive guard Damien Lewis, offensive tackle Monroe Freeling and defensive tackle Lee Hunter are among the players dealing with ailments, leaving the Panthers with more questions than answers as they try to stabilize both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]