Bryce Young is the Carolina Panthers' starting quarterback in 2025. Those in power moved swiftly to maintain his newfound sense of stability this offseason by extending veteran backup Andy Dalton.
Dalton penned a new two-year deal with the Panthers rather than examine potential starting opportunities elsewhere in free agency. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, this is an $8 million agreement with $6 million guaranteed that could even increase to $10 million with incentives.
That's decent backup money for Dalton at this late stage of his playing career. Everyone associated with the Panthers will be hoping he doesn't see the field too much. However, his role behind the scenes will be critical.
Young credits Dalton heavily for his renaissance. Even when the former second-round pick out of TCU was given the chance to start, he was always on hand to lend advice to his teammate. He thrived as a mentor and support system for the Heisman Trophy winner. This allowed him to hit the ground running when finally reintroduced into the lineup.
Who knows what would have happened had Dalton not been involved in a minor automobile accident? Young seized the chance when it eventually arrived again. The Alabama product took off and looked like the franchise-caliber presence Carolina envisaged when they gave up a king's ransom to take him No. 1 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Carolina Panthers extending Andy Dalton will benefit Bryce Young greatly
Young will be the first to tell you how integral Dalton's been throughout his journey. Putting in the time, acquiring knowledge from the veteran, and building a close relationship served him well. The Panthers were eager for this to continue.
"Me and Andy are super close. From when I first got here, just being able to talk with him through things, him having perspective on a situation that I had never been a part of, I was always leaning on him, always having conversations and just from a day-to-day basis. You can't add up the hours we spend here; we're here every single day, and just being able to have someone that you can bounce stuff off of, ask how you see things. He is always there, just trying to help me out. And again, having a guy like that who really does it for the right reasons and wants to help, that's super rare. So I'm super grateful for that."Bryce Young via Panthers.com
Dalton decided to accept his fate as a backup and help Young through a critical Year 3 of his professional career. This also maintains much-needed continuity around the signal-caller as he looks to propel himself further in the coming months and when competitive action begins again.
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Young has the same head coach. He has the same offensive scheme, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach. He also has the same dependable, savvy veteran working with him daily to achieve his objectives.
That's not a bad foundation from which to build. Young showed signs of life last season. His confidence grew exponentially and there was a swagger to his play that represented a breath of fresh air. While Dalton's contribution went largely unrecognized by those on the outside looking in, that wasn't the case within the franchise.
The Panthers believe in Young. They also believe keeping Dalton around to lend a helping hand will be worth its weight in gold.
This was the right call. Make no mistake about it.