The Carolina Panthers have had a terrible beginning of the 2024 season. Carolina has been blown out in its first two games and their offense has barely functioned. To make matters worse, the team benched QB Bryce Young this week and caused plenty of distractions off the field. One statistic highlights just how bad the Panthers have been through two weeks.
The Panthers have not led at any point during their 101 offensive snaps so far this season, per ESPN's Mike Clay. What's worse is that Carolina has trailed by 15 or more points on 81 of these snaps, which is 80% of their total offensive snaps.
It is not that uncommon that a bad 0-2 team could not have a lead through two weeks. However, the rate at which the Panthers have been blown out by opponents is truly staggering.
The Panthers take on the Raiders in Week 3. Las Vegas beat Baltimore in Week 2, but is still not considered a very dangerous team in 2024. If the Raiders are able to demolish the Panthers like their last two opponents, it could guarantee that Carolina has a historically bad team.
Both Panthers and Raiders fans will learn a lot about their respective teams this weekend.
What could the Panthers get for Bryce Young in a trade?
Now the natural question becomes: does Bryce Young have a future in Carolina?
The Panthers traded the farm for the first overall pick that they used to draft Bryce Young. Carolina must understand the weight of the decision to bench Young after only two games this season. The relationship may already be too toxic to consider Young as the future in Carolina.
Young is still under contract for multiple seasons, which suggests that the Panthers may trade him to recoup some value. However, that value may not be much right now.
ESPN's Bill Barnwell recently speculated on what it would take to acquire Bryce Young via trade.
“My guess is Young would be worth a late Day 3 pick,” Barnwell wrote. “Perhaps the Panthers could land a conditional pick that rises in value if he takes regular snaps for his new team. The closest comparable in terms of recent trades is probably Rosen, who netted a Day 2 pick on draft day with three years of cost control left on his deal. Rosen's size and the timing of the trade, with a full offseason to practice after the deal, probably meant he had more of a market than Young will over the next few weeks.”
Barnwell has a well-reasoned argument for Bryce's possible cost. Only getting a Day 2 or Day 3 pick for Young would feel like a massive failure for the Panthers. However, it also seems unlikely that they hand the keys back to Young so quickly after benching him.
The longer the Panthers wait to resolve this situation, the worse their position will be.
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