The Carolina Panthers are going through it right now. They traded the farm in 2023 to get their quarterback of the future and ended up selecting Bryce Young out of Alabama. He was viewed to be their franchise quarterback and the majority of NFL Draft analysts believed he was the best quarterback in the class.
Unfortunately, things haven't worked o
ut well for Young and the Panthers as he was benched on Monday afternoon in favor of Andy Dalton. It raises the question of whether or not Young has a future in Carolina. Could a trade be on the horizon for Young and the Panthers?
Should the Vikings trade for Bryce Young?
This is an idea that will circulate across multiple fanbases, especially after the recent string of resurgent quarterbacks. The Vikings have the (likely) next one in Sam Darnold and selected J.J. McCarthy at 10th overall. Our own Wendell Ferreira identified the Vikings as a potential landing spot.
Young would be a long-term backup option for Kevin O'Connell, most likely. This year, he would be behind Sam Darnold, who had a strong start of season. Next year, he would probably be the backup for JJ McCarthy.
O'Connell is an underrated offensive mind, and the Vikings have a strong offensive infrastructure with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, and a solid line.
So, the idea of trading for Young would be to have him as a reclamation project and potentially as a long-term backup. My argument was to keep Jaren Hall strictly for that reason. Would trading for Young be a good idea? Honestly, no.
The Vikings don't have the draft capital to strike a trade for Young, who's current stock is unknown. Just 17 months after being the first overall pick, what would the Panthers trade him for? Is it even worth trading him at this point?
On top of that, Young doesn't have the right size or skillset to thrive in the offense that O'Connell runs. Young will need to be in an offense that is RPO heavy and allows him to get the ball out quickly. Young doesn't have the size or arm talent to make the throws necessary down the field that O'Connell wants from his quarterback.
Now, they should try and identify a long-term backup quarterback to help out McCarthy. Someone like Nick Mullens would be an interesting player to fill that role on a long-term basis. It's an interesting idea to bring in a reclamation project quarterback, but Young specifically doesn't make a lot of sense for the Vikings.
