NFL insider expects Panthers to make this decision on QB Bryce Young's 5th-year option

Has Bryce Young done enough to earn a fifth year with the Carolina Panthers? At least one NFL insider believes so.

ESPN's Dan Graziano, as part of he and Jeremy Fowler's Week 14 batch of intel from Wednesday, wrote about the outlook on Young's standing in the organization. Here's what he had to offer about the future of the third-year quarterback:

I covered the Panthers this past weekend and asked a bunch of their people about Young. And from what I can tell, they still believe in him. They've used 10 different offensive line combinations this season and have a young receiver group, so the team seems to think the ups and downs can be blamed on more than just the quarterback. Young was excellent Sunday in beating the Rams, but he was far less than that against the 49ers the Monday night before. The week before that, he set a single-game franchise record for passing yards in a victory over the Falcons.

It's hard to really know what the long-term outlook is when the swings are this wild week to week. The Panthers will have to decide by the first week of May whether to pick up his fifth-year option for 2027. I expect them to do that because the cost will be reasonable (around $26.5 million), but then the question becomes what to do after that.

Young hasn't consistently lived up to the billing of the No. 1 overall pick the Panthers used on him back in 2023. But he has certainly shown signs over the past year—as he, in his 21 games since being benched last season, has amassed 37 total touchdowns, 13 interceptions and a league-leading nine game-winning drives.

One of those game-winners came this past Sunday, in what may have been the biggest victory for Carolina in Young's pro tenure. His three touchdown passes helped push the Panthers to a shocking 31-28 upset over the Los Angeles Rams and a pretty impressive 7-6 mark on the campaign.

Perhaps the team's decision on Young will become easier if he's able to lead them to their first playoff berth since 2017. Entering this week's bye, the Panthers sit just half a game behind the NFC South-leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers—with the pair of matchups against their division foes (Weeks 16 and 18) still ahead.

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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: NFL insider expects Panthers to pick up Bryce Young's 5th-year option