Andy Dalton is tanking Bryce Young’s trade value even harder for Panthers

Not only did the Carolina Panthers take Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft (over C.J. Stroud), but they traded an enormous haul just to get the opportunity to have the No. 1 overall pick.

Ever since that decision was made, everything has gone wrong in Raleigh. The Panthers went 2-14 in games Young played last season, earning the No. 1 overall pick thanks largely to his sloppy play. The only issue with that, of course, is that they traded that pick as part of the deal to acquire Young.

Those who hoped for improvement in 2024 were gravely disappointed, as the 23-year-old completed just 55.4 percent of his throws with three interceptions and no touchdowns in the first two games of the season before he was benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton.

Early returns under Dalton couldn't be better. He completed 26 of his 37 attempts for 319 yards and three touchdowns in a win against the Las Vegas Raiders. Sure, it's only the Raiders, but Dalton looked incredible. He has followed that up by completing 22 of his 33 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

The Panthers are trailing 34-24 as of this writing, but Dalton once again is playing well, or, at the very least, competently. The fact that he's able to do that after how brutal Young looks is a direct indictment of how unprepared Young is to be starting NFL games right now.

Not only is Dalton proving that the Panthers shouldn't start Young anytime soon, but he's also proving that no other team should want anything to do with Young. That is a problem.

Andy Dalton's competence makes trading Bryce Young virtually impossible

Dalton isn't exactly lighting the world on fire and might lose against the Bengals, but even with that, he's thrown for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Young doesn't have a single touchdown pass in his two games this season and had just two games of more than one touchdown pass in all of last season. Dalton has accomplished this twice in two games. Dalton has scored 24 or more points in each of his two starts this season. Young has done that three times in his career.

The Panthers didn't surround Young with the best possible pieces, but Dalton is proving that what he has isn't terrible. The offensive line is solid, if not good. Chubba Hubbard has run the ball efficiently. Diontae Johnson and Xavier Leggette have both looked good in the last two weeks. There's enough here for Young to have done what Dalton is doing, but Young is far from ready to compete at this level.

Another team taking a chance on Young, a player taken with the No. 1 overall pick just last year, isn't a bad idea, but how much would they realistically be willing to give up? Before seeing Dalton, it was reasonable to expect a team to be willing to give up a Day 2 pick of some sort for Young, if not a little more. Now, after what Dalton has done, why would a team be willing to give anything of value up?

Dalton is a solid backup to have, but can safely be considered one of the worst starting quarterbacks in this league. His competence after how bad Young looked shows just how far away Young is from being impactful, and how little other teams should value him.