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Panthers Endorse Bryce Young As 2025 Starting QB

January 6th, 2025 at 1:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

When the Panthers benched Bryce Young after Week 2, rumors about a 2025 separation swirled. The team had bailed on a No. 1 overall pick after 17 starts, leading to trade offers coming in before the deadline. Plenty has changed over the past two months.

Andy Dalton sustaining minor injuries in a car accident led Young back into Carolina’s lineup, and the team did not sit him down. Young played much better during this season’s second half and is poised to have a chance to build on that momentum heading into next season. Both David Tepper and Dave Canales offered endorsements of the former Heisman winner as Carolina’s 2025 starter.

Tepper said (via NFL.com’s Cameron Wolfe) he thinks the Panthers have “got our QB here,” while Canales said postgame (via The Athletic’s Joe Person) the team indeed has its guy at the position. Young closed the season with a 251-yard passing outing in a game that featured him account for four touchdowns, powering the Panthers to knock the Falcons out of the playoff race.

“Bryce is our quarterback. I’m so proud of the way that he took the challenge and he just grew,” Canales said. “Every week he took new lessons, new things, applied it to his game. Was engaged, challenging the guys, the whole thing.”

After checking in with a QBR south of 10 upon being benched, Young made significant strides under Canales after his second 2024 stint as the team’s starter. Young, who struggled throughout his rookie season while leading an undermanned offense, ranked 20th in QBR (54.5). Young piloted the Panthers to a 4-6 record once he reclaimed the reins, finishing the season with 15 TD passes (to nine INTs) and a 6.3 yards-per-attempt number. These are obviously not franchise QB-caliber numbers, but they represent an improvement that has changed Carolina’s QB outlook.

A source close to Young said (via ESPN.com’s David Newton) Canales gave up on Young upon benching him, and Young wondered at points if he had a future in Charlotte. With Canales not classifying the benching as a reset — instead shifting to Dalton on a full-time basis — Young was certainly within his rights to express concern about his long-term NFL future. Th0ugh, the team had planned to give Young more starts before season’s end; Dalton’s car accident accelerated that timetable. The Panthers, though, rebuffed midseason trade interest — as the Colts did with Anthony Richardson — even if they still were noncommittal about Young’s post-2024 status at that point. That stance has since changed.

After the Panthers made several signings and draft investments to beef up their offense to better equip Young, they are now again committed to bettering his situation. The Panthers will have some work to do at wide receiver, having traded Diontae Johnson and Jonathan Mingo and with Adam Thielen wrapping an age-34 season, but the team added high-priced guards Robert Hunt and Damien Lewis — before extending Chuba Hubbard. More work can certainly be done around Young’s rookie contract, which runs through 2026. The Panthers do not need to make their fifth-year option call on the 5-foot-10 QB until May of that year.

Panthers To Retain DC Ejiro Evero

January 6th, 2025 at 11:03am CST by Sam Robinson

Ejiro Evero has managed to become a regular HC candidate despite coaching on struggling teams. He received tremendous interest after a 5-12 Broncos season, and teams also pursued him after he was part of a 2-15 Panthers team. Carolina’s defensive regression this season may change that, but Evero will not be fired from his current gig.

The Panthers intend to bring back Evero for a third season, Dave Canales said Monday (via The Athletic’s Joe Person). While the door appears open to other staff changes, Canales clarified Evero will not be fired.

This is somewhat interesting due to Canales inheriting Evero, whom Frank Reich hired in 2023. Evero had interviewed for the job Reich landed, only to be eventually let out of his Broncos DC contract. This led to an agreement to be one of Reich’s right-hand men. The Panthers finished fourth in total defense (but 29th in scoring) during their woeful 2023 season. Evero’s unit cratered this season, however, falling to last in total defense. The Panthers also dropped from 29th to 32nd in points allowed.

Despite this, Evero is coming back. As of early December, he was also on track to receive more HC interest. Even in a shallow pool of candidates, Evero landing a job after the Panthers ranked last defensively across the board would be borderline shocking. The Panthers, however, blocked him from leaving for another DC post last year. The Dolphins, Giants and Jaguars requested meetings. It appeared Evero would have been fine with another move, but the Panthers had him under contract and could block a move. It appears that will happen again in 2025.

Carolina went 5-12 in Canales’ first season, showing improvement down the stretch. Changes should certainly be expected to boost the Panthers’ defense, particularly in the pass-rushing department. Evero, however, also coached most of the year without top defensive lineman Derrick Brown, whom the team extended this past offseason. Brown is due back, and while a new OLB contingent should be considered likely, Evero will be the one leading the charge.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

January 5th, 2025 at 10:58pm CST by Adam La Rose

Once again, we saw plenty of change occur in the projected draft order after Sunday’s games. Most notably, the Patriots took themselves out of the top overall draft slot with a win over the resting Bills. While this change likely won’t hurt their ability to select one of the players that interested them most, as they likely weren’t looking to select a quarterback with rookie Drake Maye in place, New England likely could’ve benefitted from collecting some serious draft capital trading out of the top spot to any of the teams seeking quarterback help next season.

One of those quarterback-needy teams, the Titans have officially secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, tying for the worst overall record in the league with the Browns and Giants but holding tiebreakers over both franchises. The Browns and Giants, who both secured the second and third overall picks, respectively, today, are also considered top candidates to draft a passer.

With all three teams at the top of the draft interested in adding help at quarterback, the draft’s top two prospects at the position, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, saw their chances at getting selected No. 1 overall rise dramatically. Plenty could still occur to change this situation; trades could alter the draft order, and further pre-draft evaluations could change opinions on top prospects.

Still, for the first time since the league expanded to 32 teams in 2002, there is a chance that every team drafts in the first round, as no first-round picks have yet been traded. It’s extremely unlikely that this will remain the case, as draft-day trades are a very common occurrence, but it’s still an interesting concept to note this close to the draft.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is how the draft order looks at the regular season’s conclusion:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
  3. New York Giants (3-14)
  4. New England Patriots (4-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
  6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
  7. New York Jets (5-12)
  8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
  9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
  10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
  11. San Francisco (6-11)
  12. Dallas Cowboys (7-10)
  13. Miami Dolphins (8-9)
  14. Indianapolis Colts (8-9)
  15. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
  16. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
  17. Cincinnati Bengals (9-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (10-7)
  19. Houston Texans (10-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (10-7)
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)
  22. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
  24. Green Bay Packers (11-6)
  25. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)
  26. Washington Commanders (12-5)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (12-5)
  28. Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (13-4)
  30. Philadelphia Eagles (14-3)
  31. Kansas City Chiefs (15-2)
  32. Detroit Lions (15-2)

Ely Allen contributed to this post.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/25

January 4th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Ely Allen

The last minor moves and standard gameday elevations of the 2024 NFL regular season:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

Ross’ new deal to the Texans’ 53-man roster is good through the 2025 season, as well. Ditto for Jones, signed to the active roster in New England today.

Sanders returned to practice this week, and his activation will allow him to close out his second Panthers season on the field rather than on the mend. His Carolina tenure has fallen well short of expectations and a release in the near future could be in the cards. Given the team’s backfield injuries, though, Sanders could handle a notable workload tomorrow while potentially auditioning for free agent suitors.

Gilman’s return will be welcomed by the Chargers’ defense. The 27-year-old has remained a full-time starter this season, his second straight handling first-team duties. Los Angeles is assured of a wild-card spot, but moving up to the No. 5 seed in the AFC playoff picture could be possible on Sunday. In any case, Gilman’s presence will be key for a Bolts defense which leads the league in points allowed per game (17.6).

Gardner’s campaign will come to an end after 15 games played. He fell short of a Pro Bowl nod for this first time in his young career, but the fourth pick of the 2022 draft remained a critical member of the team’s secondary when healthy. Gardner is eligible for an extension this offseason, and his financial future (which will include a fifth-year option decision in the spring) will be a key point of focus once New York’s head coach/general manager tandem is in place.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/3/25

January 3rd, 2025 at 10:23pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

Here are today’s minor moves from around the NFL:

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

New York Giants

Johnson sustained a concussion in a car accident earlier this week, per ESPN’s David Newton. The 2023 third-round pick will miss the Panthers’ final regular season after 14 appearances (including two starts) this year.

The Browns added three more players to injured reserve before Saturday’s matchup with the Ravens, including their leading rusher in Ford and second-leading pass-catcher in Njoku. Those absences have extended Baltimore to 19.5-point favorites as they look to lock up the AFC North. Cleveland will finish the year with 23 players on IR, including key players like Deshaun Watson and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah.

Panthers Designate RB Miles Sanders For Return

January 1st, 2025 at 11:18am CST by Adam La Rose

Miles Sanders‘ Panthers tenure is likely to come to an end after the year, but he could suit up one last time for the team this Sunday. The veteran running back has been designated for return from injured reserve.

As a result, Sanders will be able to practice in advance of Carolina’s season finale. Such a move would likely not have been made if his high ankle sprain had not healed to the point where playing in Week 18 would be feasible. The 27-year-old has been on IR since late November.

During his Eagles tenure, Sanders demonstrated considerable efficiency and set a new career high with 1,269 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in the final year of his rookie contract. As expected, he managed to parlay that success into a notable deal; his four-year, $25.4MM Panthers contract was the most lucrative handed out to a running back in 2023. Things have not gone according to plan since his arrival, however.

Sanders played 16 games last year, but his 31% snap share and 129 carries both represented career lows. Chuba Hubbard surpassed him on the depth chart, something which has remained the case through to the current campaign. In spite of Hubbard’s strong play and the decision to draft Jonathon Brooks last April, Carolina initially intended to keep Sanders in place. The team’s stance about moving on changed in advance of the trade deadline, but no deal was ultimately worked out.

Given the time missed due to injury and his spot in the RB pecking order, Sanders has only recorded 237 scrimmage yards and one touchdown to date in 2024. With Brooks on the shelf with another ACL tear and Hubbard unavailable for the season finale, though, he could receive a notable workload against the Falcons. A strong showing could help rebuild his value to an extent, but with no guaranteed salary on his deal beyond this season a release would not come as a surprise. Sanders is due a $1MM roster bonus shortly after the start of the new league year, so being let go before that point would be a feasible move on Carolina’s part.

Brooks’ second ACL tear clouds his availability for the 2025 season, but with Hubbard inking a long-term extension recently his status as the Panthers’ lead back moving forward is assured. Sanders could be auditioning to potential suitors on Sunday provided he is brought onto the active roster in time to play. Carolina has one IR activation remaining.

Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order

December 30th, 2024 at 10:39am CST by Adam La Rose

Plenty of changes took place regarding the projected draft order on Sunday. Most notably, the Giants’ first home win of the year took them out of the top spot and greatly lowered their chances of securing the No. 1 pick.

Instead, the Patriots are now in pole position to select first in April. New England already has Drake Maye in place, so adding another Day 1 passer would be out of the picture. With Travis Hunter being seen as the top overall prospect in the class, the Heisman winner could be a suitable target as a key figure in New England’s rebuilding process.

Meanwhile, a number of teams which could be in the market for a first-round passer are near the top of the order. That includes the Browns and Raiders, teams which each face uncertainty under center for 2025 despite already having a number of quarterbacks under contract beyond this season. Bringing in Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders would provide another short-term option for next year along with a potential long-term answer at the position. Plenty could still change in the order over Week 18, though, and the evaluation process of both of the top signal-callers in the class obviously has a long way to go.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2024 standings — plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule — with playoff squads being slotted by their postseason outcome and regular-season record. Here is an updated look at the current draft order:

  1. New England Patriots (3-13)
  2. Tennessee Titans (3-13)
  3. Cleveland Browns (3-13)
  4. New York Giants (3-13)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-12)
  6. Carolina Panthers (4-12)
  7. New York Jets (4-12)
  8. Las Vegas Raiders (4-12)
  9. Chicago Bears (4-12)
  10. New Orleans Saints (5-11)
  11. San Francisco 49ers (6-9)
  12. Indianapolis Colts (7-9)
  13. Dallas Cowboys (7-9)
  14. Arizona Cardinals (7-9)
  15. Miami Dolphins (8-8)
  16. Cincinnati Bengals (8-8)
  17. Atlanta Falcons (8-8)
  18. Seattle Seahawks (9-7)
  19. Houston Texans (9-7)
  20. Denver Broncos (9-7)
  21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (10-6)
  23. Los Angeles Rams (10-6)
  24. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6)
  25. Green Bay Packers (11-5)
  26. Washington Commanders (11-5)
  27. Baltimore Ravens (11-5)
  28. Philadelphia Eagles (13-3)
  29. Buffalo Bills (13-3)
  30. Detroit Lions (13-2)
  31. Minnesota Vikings (14-2)
  32. Kansas City Chiefs (15-1)

Patriots Move Into Top 2025 Draft Slot

December 29th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Ely Allen

With surprising wins today by the Giants and Raiders, the top of the draft order was shaken up once more. The Raiders, now on a two-game winning streak, have plummeted from a top-two pick to No. 8 overall, and a win by the Giants knocked the Colts out of playoff contention and knocked New York down three draft slots to No. 4 overall. Here’s a quick look at some other consequences of today’s games.

Today’s wins and losses have now placed New England in the driver’s seat for the No. 1 overall spot. If the Patriots lose in their season finale to the Bills, they will secure the rights to the top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. This opens up a number of possibilities for New England. The Patriots have holes on the offensive line, receiving corps, pass rush, and cornerbacks group.

For some time, the top picks have been projected to be Miami quarterback Cam Ward or Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, but with no need to draft a quarterback with a top pick for the second year in a row, the Patriots are poised to shake things up. With no elite options at offensive line in this year’s draft class, they could go for Heisman-winning athlete Travis Hunter from Colorado, who could fill holes at both cornerback and receiver. Arizona receiver Tetairoa McMillan is another top receiver option who projects as a stronger receiving prospect than Hunter. They could also go for Penn State edge rusher Abdul Carter, though that would seem like a bit of a reach in the top spot.

The other option available to New England opens the door for any of the quarterback-needy teams to trade up into the No. 1 overall pick. The Titans (No. 2), Browns (No. 3), and Giants all have interest in adding a top quarterback to the roster. One of these teams may pursue that quarterback through free agency with Sam Darnold, Russell Wilson, and Kirk Cousins all currently on their way to free agency. If not, they can take a chance and hope to land Ward or Sanders in their current slots.

They may also want to keep an eye on teams like the Panthers (No. 6), Jets (No. 7), and Raiders, though, as all of those teams may have interest in trading into the top draft slot. All three of those teams have quarterback situations that could greatly benefit from the addition of Ward or Sanders, and the Patriots could likely still fill a major need — even offensive line — after moving back later in the top-10 picks. It would also make selections like Carter or Michigan cornerback Will Johnson seem like less of a reach.

There are way too many possibilities to speculate on from this situation at this point in time, but New England’s prospective hold on the No. 1 overall pick introduces a litany of fun potential outcomes. They will need to close it out with a home defeat at the hands of the Bills next week, but the chaos from today’s games has provided plenty for draft nerds to drool over in the days to come.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/28/24

December 28th, 2024 at 8:03pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday’s minor moves, including gameday elevations for Week 17:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tennessee Titans

It was already known Lamb would be out for the remainder of the year, but the same will now be true of Oruwariye. The latter made seven appearances in 2024, his debut Cowboys season. That included four starts and a defensive snap share of 62%, making him a notable contributor on a Dallas defense which has dealt with a number of injuries. Oruwariye, 28, is a pending free agent.

McCoy and Patrick suffered injuries during the Saints’ Week 16 loss, and today’s move confirms they will both miss the remainder of the season. New Orleans’ offensive line has been dealt a number of blows in 2024, and that will continue through the final two games of the season. McCoy appeared in just seven games this year, but plenty of term remains on his pact. Patrick, by contrast, is set to hit the open market this spring.

Whitehead returned to practice earlier this week, so it comes as no surprise he will be available to the Buccaneers tomorrow. He will be expected to reprise his role as a defensive starter as Tampa Bay looks to seal the NFC South over the final two games of the campaign. Bringing back Whitehead and Johnson will leave the team with two IR activations.

Panthers Place RB Chuba Hubbard On IR

December 28th, 2024 at 9:20am CST by Ben Levine

Chuba Hubbard‘s standout season has come to a premature end. The Panthers are placing the running back on injured reserve, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Hubbard is coming off a Week 16 performance where he rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns en route to NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. The RB popped up on the injury report this week with a knee injury, and there was some optimism that he’d play tomorrow. However, the RB underwent an MRI after experiencing more pain during Friday’s practice, and he was ultimately diagnosed with a Grade 2 calf strain (per the team).

The former fourth-round pick started his career as a backup to Christian McCaffrey, but it didn’t take long for the fill-in to work his way into the starting lineup. Hubbard ended up starting 10 of his 17 appearances as a rookie, but he finished with only 786 yards from scrimmage. When McCaffrey was traded during the 2022 season, Hubbard found himself behind D’Onta Foreman on the depth chart, and the team brought in Miles Sanders in 2023 to help split the positional reps.

Hubbard ended up emerging as the preferred RB in 2023, but he still only finished with 1,135 yards from scrimmage while averaging 4.1 yards per touch. When the Panthers drafted Jonathon Brooks in the second round of this year’s draft, it seemed likely that Hubbard would keep the seat warm until the rookie was ready to return from a torn ACL.

Instead, Hubbard ended up running with the starting gig. The fourth-year RB has started all 15 games for Carolina this season, and he’s already set career-highs in yards from scrimmage (1,366) and touchdowns (11). Thanks to this production, the Panthers handed him a four-year, $33.2MM extension ($15MM guaranteed) in November.

Brooks tore the same ACL earlier this month, leaving his status for 2025 in doubt. Hubbard should be back to lead the depth chart next season, but the Panthers could use the next few weeks to evaluate their backup options. Raheem Blackshear could temporarily slide to the top of the depth chart, with Velus Jones Jr. and practice squad RB Mike Boone also around as depth.

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