The Chicago Bears engineered the biggest trade in franchise history last year when they sent the #1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers for wide receiver D.J. Moore, the #9 pick, a 2nd round pick, a future 1st round pick, and a future 2nd round pick. The Bears have since turned that package into Darnell Wright, Tyrique Stevenson, and Caleb Williams. They still have another 2nd rounder in the upcoming 2025 draft. Carolina used the #1 pick on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young.
Barely over a year later, many believe that trade could be the single biggest heist in modern NFL history. Young only started 18 games for the Panthers before new head coach Dave Canales benched him in favor of Andy Dalton. The fact Dalton immediately threw for 300 yards and three touchdowns in his first start wasn’t a great look for the former Crimson Tide star. If that weren’t bad enough, ESPN just released its rankings of the best backup quarterbacks in the NFL. Bears fans will love this one.
“24. Tyson Bagent, Chicago Bears
25. Jarrett Stidham, Denver Broncos
26. Bryce Young, Carolina Panthers
Young is just 17 months removed from being the No. 1 overall pick in the draft and therefore still has upside. But he’s a weakness right now considering his poor rookie season, disastrous first two starts of 2024 (QBR of 9.1) and the way Andy Dalton made that same offense hum immediately in a Week 3 win over the Raiders.”
Bryce Young can’t even overtake the Bears’ backup QB.
Don’t forget they signed Tyson Bagent as an undrafted free agent last year, the same time Young went #1 overall. For Bagent to already be ranked as a superior quarterback after less than two seasons should tell you how bad things have gotten. Already, Carolina has received calls about trading Young. They have dismissed the idea, maintaining hope they might still be able to salvage him. Taking time to learn behind a proven veteran like Dalton might be helpful.
The problem is his confidence is badly shaken. History shows it is almost impossible to recover it when that happens. Quarterbacks never look the same as when they came out of college. The NFL has a way of humbling you really fast if your support system isn’t up to the task. Chicago knows this reality well. Now it seems Carolina is getting a taste with Bryce Young.
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Chicago should be the last organization laughing at anybodys QB situation. Its 2024 and we finally might have found one.
I don’t think it is hilarious, but is mostly sad, so far. The owner is getting what he deserves and perhaps he will learn from it. But Young’s problems do not erase or ease the Bears’ problems, if that was the motivation here. It might be nice to win, but just getting over on people you trade/barter/sell/buy with is similar to the traditional false connection between higher profit with higher virtue. Even capitalist Adam Smith recognized this base falsehood before Karl Marx.
For the trade to be the biggest modern day heist the Bears need to start winning. Nobody will see it as a heist if the Bears are finishing 7 -10 every year with “all these players they were able to draft” from “benefiting” from the trade.
I think this article is an overreach. Bryce Young, like many QBs not named Justin Herbert, needs some time to adjust to the NFL game. Sitting a year might be just the thing for him, maybe two years. Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love sat for 3 years, and they seemed to turn out all right (aside from Rodgers being a flake, but that’s not a football issue). Tom Brady sat for quite a while behind Drew Bledsoe. Peyton Manning didn’t sit, and went 3-13 his first season. So I suspect Young will sit for the rest of the season, barring… Read more »
That is what the Panthers get for letting an ego-driven billionaire owner with little knowledge of NFL football making a critical decision overriding others in his org. Why does the NFL approve the sale of a team to these types of billionaires that are ignorant about the game? In my mind, QB Stroud was the obvious first choice based on at least 10-12 factors.