AFC Team Shocks The NFL By Acquiring Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young In Blockbuster Trade Proposal That Could Save The Franchise

Bryce Young of Carolina Panthers looking on.

Carolina Panthers quarterback and 2023 first-overall pick Bryce Young is one of the top names to follow on the trade market leading up to the Nov. 5 deadline.

After losing his first two starts in 2024, Bryce Young was benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton by first-year head coach Dave Canales. The Panthers (1-4) will likely finish with a top-five draft pick, which would put them in a position to take an elite QB prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft like Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Georgia’s Carson Beck, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders or Miami’s Cam Ward.

The 23-year-old Young has lost 16 of his 18 NFL starts, completing only 59.3 percent of pass attempts for 3,180 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a quarterback rating of 71.0.

Carolina’s best bet is to ride out the final 12 games of 2024 with Dalton and give Bryce Young a fresh start. There are several QB-needy teams who should have interest in the Alabama product, but the Las Vegas Raiders especially make sense as a landing spot.

The Raiders announced this week that they were benching veteran Gardner Minshew II in favor of sophomore Aidan O’Connell. The Raiders are a true franchise QB away from being a legitimate playoff contender in a crowded AFC, so why not take a flier on Bryce Young?

This isn’t to say that Young would definitely emerge as a superstar in Sin City. But he’d play behind one of football’s best offensive lines, with an ultimate players coach like Antonio Pierce and a nice set of weapons led by Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers.

What Raiders Should Offer Panthers For Bryce Young

The Raiders should offer the Panthers 2025 fourth and 2026 fifth-round picks for Bryce Young. That price may seem low for a recent first-overall pick, but Young’s play up to this point means Carolina can’t realistically expect a whole lot in return.

For the Panthers, this is about tanking and putting themselves in a position to draft an elite QB prospect next year. For the Raiders, it’d be a low-risk move with the mindset that Young will finally hit his ceiling with a simple change of scenery.