1 offseason move each NFL team must make

Carolina Panthers’ offseason move – Trade up to No. 1 for Bryce Young

Owner David Tepper has been relentless in his pursuit of a franchise quarterback for the Panthers. Since Cam Newton left after the 2019 season, Carolina has traded for both Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield, drafted Matt Corral, and made a failed push to land Watson in a trade.

The Panthers do have some extra draft picks at their disposal thanks to the Christian McCaffrey trade and should package a bunch of them to move up from No. 9 to go get Bryce Young, the top passer in this year’s draft. The Chicago Bears are sitting at No. 1 and already have their franchise quarterback in Justin Fields, leaving them open to moving the pick if they get an offer that blows them away.

It won’t be cheap to go from the ninth pick to the first, especially when other QB-needy teams like the Indianapolis Colts and Las Vegas Raiders could make offers, but new head coach Frank Reich was hired to develop a young quarterback. The talent base on Carolina’s roster is solid as well, providing a good support system for a guy like Young to develop into the franchise guy.

The Panthers would also be wise to re-sign Darnold to serve as a bridge quarterback to not force Young to start from Day 1. Young could obviously win the job in camp but the time is now for Carolina to stop their quarterback merry-go-round and find a long-term answer.