Concerning Chase Young revelations reveal Carolina Panthers' lucky escape

Concerning revelations surrounding Chase Young's health indicates the Carolina Panthers had a lucky escape with the defensive end.

It's no secret that the Carolina Panthers need edge-rushing help. Brian Burns was traded to the New York Giants. Yetur Gross-Matos left for the San Francisco 49ers. Frankie Luvu turned down a contract offer to sign for the Washington Commanders. Only K'Lavon Chaisson and D.J. Wonnum have been brought in to help fill the void so far.

The Panthers - to their credit - have been turning over every stone in pursuit of finding help. Jadeveon Clowney remains in play despite leaving his recent visit without a deal. Chase Young also spent time with those in power, but some concerning recent revelations indicate Carolina had a lucky escape with the former No. 2 overall selection.

Carolina Panthers had a lucky escape with Chase Young

Albert Breer from Sports Illustrated shed some light on Young's predicament. The senior insider stated that the pass-rusher will be having neck surgery to clear up a long-standing issue. No team cleared his physical assessments - including the Panthers. He's got a long road back to full health and the Saints took the necessary precautions to protect themselves financially.

"Scans on his neck made it tough to find a suitor. No one would clear him on his physical. The condition was initially found after he had a stinger last year vs. the Browns in preseason. He'll have neck surgery. The idea in doing the 1-year deal with the Saints, with $5.01 million guaranteed, and $7.99 million in per-game rosters, was to allow for Young to get locked in with a team, go through the 3-5 month rehab from surgery, and have a chance to make the money back. And with the per-game rosters, really, this protects the team and the player—it's 100% based on his ability to get cleared to play. The neck condition was a factor, too, in his trade market back in October. The Bears weren't comfortable with the scans. The Niners were. He was part of that 2020 draft class that had its process messed up because of COVID. There's a decent chance, given a full process, someone would've found the neck condition. Either way, he's betting on himself with the Saints."

- Albert Breer via X

The Panthers are not in a position to gamble big sums of cash on a player who might not be available all that much. Young hasn't met expectations after being tabbed as a generational prospect coming out of Ohio State. Whether this neck surgery will cure what's been ailing the player remains to be seen, but this is a high-risk acquisition in every sense of the term.

Simply put, it's a luxury the Panthers cannot afford in their current predicament. They need to find players with proven credentials when it comes to creating havoc in opposing backfields and from a durability standpoint. The options available aren't going to cut it. Carolina's defense has already been gutted. They also lost whatever edge-rushing talent that was available to defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Young could thrive once his medical issue gets cleared up positively. However, there's no telling for sure. The Panthers were right to go in a different direction. Just what that direction will be is another matter.

For Dan Morgan and Dave Canales, it's back to the drawing board. But they got lucky with this one.