He has made steady progress every year since being drafted first overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Carolina Panthers’ starting quarterback Bryce Young had a forgettable rookie season in which the team finished 2-15. Enter new head coach Dave Canales, who sat down the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner after a miserable two-game start in 2024. Young would wind up starting the final 10 games that year and there was certainly some improvement.

The Carolina Panthers were a playoff team in 2025

The Panthers got off to a 1-3 start this past season, but once again Young made strides. He started all but one game in 2025 and he finished the year with career highs in completion percentage (65.6), passing yards (3,011) and touchdown tosses (23).

Although he struggled in the first half of games and consistency was an issue from week to week, the Panthers wound up winning the NFC South for the first time since 2015 and the franchise reached the playoffs for the first time since 2017. In the playoff loss to the Rams, he threw a first-quarter interception then settled down and played well albeit in a 34-31 setback.

However, 2026 has been a much different story for the four-year pro. Joseph Person of The Athletic had this to say following Carolina’s 32-26 Sunday night win over the visiting Detroit Lions.

Panthers’ QB Bryce Young is off to an impressive start this season

“Young secured the first primetime win of his career and took another step toward securing the bag in the process. Young entered his fourth season without an extension because the Panthers wanted to see more consistency from the No. 1 pick from 2023. He has delivered, with Sunday just the latest stellar performance in a breakthrough season.”

After four weeks of play, Young leads the NFL with 1,268 passing yards. In his first three seasons, a total of 47 games (including playoffs), he threw for at least 300 yards only three times. He’s reached that mark twice in four outings this season.

“Young carved up the NFL’s worst passing defense,” added Person, regarding the win over the Lions, “completing his first 11 passes on his way to a 329-yard passing night with two touchdowns. He became the first QB in team history with 250 passing yards and at least one touchdown pass in each of the first four games of a season.”

Will the Panthers finally show Bryce Young the money?

Unless there’s a major falloff the remainder of 2026, a new deal appears inevitable for the 25-year-old signal-caller. The team picked up the fifth-year option in April, which means he's under contract until 2027. It’s hard to speculate what those numbers could actually look like at this time, but one NFL analyst appears convinced that Young is going to get paid after his fast start this season.

Could president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan and executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis get a deal done sooner than later? It’s been a very encouraging start by Young, who has made consistent improvement since that forgettable rookie year in 2023.