MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 15: Bryce Young #9 of the Carolina Panthers looks on during the first half against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

Bryce Young trade proposal by ESPN sends embattled Panthers QB to ideal destination

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated 10/17/24

If the Carolina Panthers are going to deal Bryce Young at the NFL trade deadline, there are a few teams who clearly have more to offer than the field. After Young was benched in Week 3 in favor of Andy Dalton, ESPN reported four teams reached out to discuss a possible Bryce Young trade.

While they supposedly told them all that they weren't interested, Young isn't going to get any better on the sidelines and they don't seem to be in any hurry to give him another start. That means the Panthers could be playing hard-to-get, and would be more than happy to trade Young for the right offer.

As far as offers go right now a fourth-round draft pick may be as good as it gets, but the team that's always made the most sense for a trade partner is the Miami Dolphins. In a new column by Bill Barnwell at ESPN, he proposes the Panthers send Young to Miami in exchange for a conditional 2026 fourth-round pick.

ESPN on Bryce Young to Dolphins

"The Dolphins feel like the best fit here. On the field, Young is best in an offense that's built around RPOs and designed to get the ball out quickly. The ability to create out of structure we saw from him at Alabama might still be there, but it has been eroded by what happened to him in Carolina... Here, the Panthers would get a fourth-round pick with the potential for that pick to rise based on Young's performance. That pick would upgrade to a third-rounder if he throws for 1,500 yards in 2025 or a second-rounder if he makes it to 3,000 yards."

The Panthers could possibly get a better deal from a team that's more QB-desperate and likely to finish lower in the standings than the Dolphins (one of them rhymes with the Raiders). However, Bryce Young couldn't possibly pick a better team to go to if he's ever going to unlock the potential he displayed in college, making those incentives Barnwell listed above quite reachable if he winds up getting significant playing time.

The Dolphins run a very modern, very quarterback-friendly offense and head coach Mike McDaniel seems uniquely suited to turn a struggling young QB around - especially one who has so many of the same traits that Tua Tagovailoa has.