Chris That is my name. The number is one. The numbers one, the future of this franchise falls on one person. We’ll acknowledge who that is. Let’s get this sucker started. Good stuff. Get dialed in Panthers fans. Here comes an in-depth look at your team. Exclusive interviews, locker room insight. Let’s huddle up for Panthers Playbook. Here are your hosts, Dennis Cox and Chris Lee. Welcome back to another episode of Panthers Playbook. That’s Chris Lee, Dennis Cox here with you. By the way, make sure you subscribe here on Panthers Playbook because we’re gonna bring you a lot of off-season content, getting you ready for free agency in the NFL draft. Chris, we just talked to Jordan Reed of ESPN last week, give us a lot of insight on who the Panthers might be taking at pick 8, who they might get in some of the middle rounds. All potential prospects for the Carolina Panthers, but we want you folks to leave your thoughts in the comment section on this. This 2025 season, Chris. For Bryce Young is absolutely massive, and I said in the open, the trajectory of this franchise is going to rest on his season this coming year. It’s massive. This is a massive year for Bryce Young. Yeah, um, he’s not gonna have the luxury of starting off the season in 2025 the way he started off 2024, right? Um, you know, you can’t come out there and get blown out, turn the ball over on the very first play of the season. Yeah, can’t do that. You can’t be on a sideline looking and what makes me feel. You know, excited about this is that the fact that he looks so good at the end of the season in the last 11 games of the year, he went 4 and 11, and honestly, if he had a little bit more help from his friends, probably a few more wins there because some of those losses weren’t on him, um, and or actually said most of those losses weren’t on him, um. So I, I think he’s gonna be able to do that. Uh, I think he’s gonna come out and look good, but ultimately like Bryce has to pick up where he left off this year. The good thing is, right, here’s the difference, before he was coming in with a new head coach, a new system, some new guys around him, all that good stuff he had to get used to. At least he knows that he’s gonna have the same head coach, same system, same play caller in his ear, right? If the Panthers do what they’re supposed to do, he, he should have the same three receivers in Theen, Coker, and Ligette that’ll come back, maybe more, and then a couple of other folks who are gonna be added. Yeah. Sanders coming back, JT Sanders coming back. We’ll see if Tommy Trimble will come back. I hope he does, and he’s gonna have a 1000 yard back in uh Cuba Hubbard, who’s gonna be back right there with him in the backfield, um, helping him out there, and that same offensive line with the new center. So, I, you know, there’s there’s not gonna be a lot of moving parts. He can essentially pick up where he left off from last year. And the reason why we say that so much of this future of this franchise is dependent on Bryce Young’s performance is because this coming year is year number 3. After the 2025 season, he’s eligible for a contract extension. The franchise, whether it’s Dan Morgan, David Tepper, and David Canalas, and Brad Idzik, everyone, uh, that’s in, I’m sorry, Brand Tillis, everyone that’s involved with that decision is gonna have to decide, OK, not only are you gonna pick up his fifth year option. Which I think they should go ahead and do that anyway. But are you gonna pick up the 5th year option? But also, are you gonna offer him an extension? Because the, the, the decisions that Dan Morgan is making this offseason has to be made with the anticipation that you’re gonna have to pay this guy market value and market value we’re seeing for a number one pick quarterback. $55 million. That’s the market. Now, whether you think Bryce is worthy of it or not, doesn’t matter. It’s what the market says. Doesn’t matter what you and I think of Bryce Young, what he might be long term. This season. is going to go a long way determining the trajectory of this franchise because if Dan Morgan and folks say that’s our guy, guess what? You gotta pay him and you got to jump on it early. You gotta jump on these contracts and pay these guys sooner than later because the price tag will only go up if he continues to play well. You don’t want to pull a New York Giants and go, ah, let’s not pick up the 5th year option on Daniel Jones, and all of a sudden they get to a playoff game and they go, ah. Now we gotta pay this guy and then I’ll look at the situation that franchise is in. Those are all big decisions. That’s the reason why this, this future of this franchise is dependent on what Bryce Young does this year because there’s the opposite of it too. If, if he comes out and doesn’t play well. Guess what? You’re searching for another QB. You’re searching for another QB, and all the decisions they make this year have to be with the anticipation. Hey, we might have to pay this guy $55 million. So here’s the thing that I think is good if you, if you look at it this way, don’t look at it as like, oh man, we may have to pay Bryce Young $55 million. If you are going headed in the right direction as a franchise, you are already either paying. Somebody that or something comparable to that, or you have somebody that you’re gonna have to pay that to very soon. So if you are heading in the right direction, it’s one of those two things. So that means that that money has to already be in the back of your mind and accounted for. So with that in mind, with what Bryce Young showed us over those last 11 games of the season, it shows that if he can have a good year 3 and basically keep ascending. Then he’s headed in that direction. That is a good thing for the Carolina Panthers. I’m with you that let’s just go ahead and pick up that 5th year option that he’s eligible to do that uh after next season. Go ahead and do that, and while you’re doing that, go ahead and work out the extension. Go ahead, do it at the same time. Because if Bryce Young continues to get better, and he has a pretty good, you know, year 3, let’s say the Carolina Panthers finish at let’s say 8 and 9 and uh maybe like 4 of those 9 losses, 5 of those 9 losses, something like. Like that are within a possession, right? And there’s a few things here and there that you could have done and maybe those games would have flipped around. I think that’s very much so doable for the Carolina Panthers, especially if the defense is is fixed. If, right? If that if that ends up happening, then you might see a year 4 jump. All of a sudden, it’s gonna cost you a little bit more. Then if you don’t get it done, then you get the year 5 and he really balls out. Accidentally unplugged my headphones here. I got too excited, yeah, got too excited, uh, and he really balls out year 5 and let’s say the Carolina Panthers end up being Hypothetically speaking, Hypothetically speaking, 13 and 4, right, wins the NFC South, wins a game or two in the playoffs, and he throws for 3,000+ yards in a in a season. And we are a few years removed from 2026, right? You’re gonna owe that guy a lot more money and that price is going to continue to get higher. The price that you said right there, that’s today’s price, today’s price, tomorrow’s price will not be today’s price. The day after tomorrow’s price will not even be tomorrow’s price. So like for the Carolina Panthers and for their future, don’t be the Dallas Cowboys. Lock it in. Yeah, Earls, especially if he has a good year 3. I mean, look at what the top quarterbacks are making right now. You mentioned Dallas Cowboys, Dak Prescott, average angle value, $60 million. That’s tops in the league. Joe Burrow, Jordan Love, Trevor Lawrence, all making $55 million. Tua down in Miami, 53.1 million. Jared Goff, $53 million. Justin Herbert. 52.5. Mark Jackson 52. Jalen Hurts 51. Tyler Murray’s making 46.1 million a year. I’m telling you folks, this is just what the market is, whether you think he is quote unquote worthy of it or not, it’s the market. The market dictates the price just like housing, it’s right here, just like the housing market. It’s well that. What do you think that house is worth this or not? Guess what? 10 years ago wasn’t worth the same thing. I didn’t want to pay that much for my house, OK, that’s what the market is. But if I wanted a house, I had to pay that much, and I hate it. I hate it. I absolutely hate it. But I had to pay that much the cost of doing business. So again, that’s why I said at the very beginning, the, the future of this franchise is dependent on his season this upcoming year. It, it really is because it’s after the 2025 season, either the decision is already made in terms of we’re full go or we’re looking somewhere else. He’s as that. Here’s the thing, and I, I’ll say this, and this is more so hypothetical, my personal feelings. are, I believe he will take a step up and and be that franchise quarterback based off of what we saw over the last 11 games. But let’s say that in 2025, he doesn’t have the best year and the Panthers underperform. And I would say underperforming is probably gonna be 6 wins or less just to keep it real in 2025. If it’s 6 wins or less, you won 5 with this year’s defense. Mhm And, and you could have won a few more just a few, few people didn’t drop passes or do a few other things here or there with that defense. So if you fix that defense, you also get maybe a number one receiver somehow or another, and uh just overall you have better depth and you only win 6 games next year, and it’s obvious that Bryce is the problem, right? Only if it’s not my personal thoughts, I think he’ll be great. I don’t think he will be the problem. At least the Carolina Panthers will be in a situation where They will have everything else in place with the quarterback. So then the next person is simply just plug and play. So I think either way, if Bryce does work, if he doesn’t work, this franchise is heading to a position to where they should be, have a decent chance to be pretty good in 2026 and beyond. You know, because of what they’re building towards, especially if they hit in this draft and they hit in free agency. That’s a lot of it hinges on that, but this is a franchise that is ascending. But it’s gonna be up to Dan Morgan, Brandt Tillis, uh, Dave Canales to make sure it continues to go in that direction. Chris, you said something last week after we talked to Jordan Reed about this franchise having someone to rally around, which they haven’t had in a while. Cam was someone. Those fans rallied around. Luke Kuechly was someone that this fan base rallied around. The last person was Christian McCaffrey, honestly. We, we kind of rallied around DJ more, but it was really Christian McCaffrey was CMC was the dude, right? Hopefully, it feels like you mentioned this fan base is ready to embrace someone to rally around, like, hey, let’s hitch our wagon to this guy or these two guys, and let’s ride. You know, that’s, I think that’s fan base is ready for that and ready to take off, and that might be with that #8 pick coming in. It might also be Bryce Young, it might be a couple guys that this team began can hitch their wagon to and go, hey, you know what? That’s our dude, that’s our guy. I’m ready for it. I’m ready for it. I think there’s already a few guys on this roster that could, if they do what they’re supposed to do this offseason. And have a great offseason comeback a little bit better and stronger that in 2025, you could probably already see that. Like, think about this, like people hated on Xavier Liget because of some drops, but we also know that he didn’t use it as an excuse, but he had some issues from an old injury and a wrist wrist injury. So let’s say that what his rookie year is out of the way, uh, he goes, he gets that fixed and he really focuses on on catching the ball. And Jalen Coker takes another step up, and Adam Thielen does what Adam Thielen does. Those guys, all three of those guys, 1718, 19, you’re gonna see those jerseys in in Bank of America stadium, straight up. You’re gonna see more Bryce Young jerseys in Bank of America stadium straight up. You’re probably gonna see more uh uh uh Jatay Sanders jerseys. Right? You’re probably gonna see more JC Horn jerseys, somebody who has every reason to want to leave this place, but he said, I want to work it out. If I’m gonna be a part of uh the bad times here, I want to be a part of the good times here. I’m for it, right? Especially if they get him signed, you might see more of those jerseys there as well. And also, you mentioned the number 8 pick, whoever that may be. There’s already those oh, sorry, how could I forget? 3030 jerseys. Shuba Hubbard, you know, you’re gonna see more of those jerseys. So there we have the, the, the baseline makings of maybe that next crop of guys, right? Because we, we said that we liked when back in the day, we had Jonathan Stewart, Cam Newton, we had a Greg Olsen, we had Thomas Davis, we had Luke Keeley, and you just had this group of guys and it hurt when all of those guys kind of went away and you didn’t have that core group of guys. We might have this next core group of guys right now if they all do their job and come back and have healthy seasons too, but also, you know, play to the level that they could possibly play next year. And hey, I might even put number 50 in that too, Robert Hunt. Hey, shout out Pro Bowl, Robert Hunt. Let’s go. Let’s go. All right, I, I’m gonna wrap up on this thought here, Chris, because you mentioned JC Horn. He’s going into his 5th year. 5th year option that was picked up. If you’re gonna keep him, it’s gonna cost money. They don’t have a ton of cap space, and they have a ton of holes to fill. The reason why I bring this up. Are you gonna go all out and try to go in on a wide receiver this offseason? Or you can try and fill other needs, keep JC Horn, try and fill other needs defensively. I know a lot of people are all in like, let’s go get T Higgins. I don’t think you can afford T. Higgins. I just don’t think simply just based off the cap. I understand that you can restructure, you know, Taylor Mode and you can let Miles Sanders go and stuff, but like, last time I checked that defense stunk. They gave up the most points in a season in NFL history and OK, points per game, it’s still like 5th worst. There’s so many holes that are over there. I don’t know if you get T Higgins and all of a sudden your problems are all fixed. I don’t see that. I just trust me. T Higgins, the player, love it. Oh, the thought of it. I love the thought of it. I just don’t think they can just fiscally can’t do it. You know what, and, and what the the cap price or cap space that they have right now is not gonna be the caps. They’re probably gonna make some moves. They’re already plotting what these moves are and will open up some or whatever. I still think you try to do whatever you can to keep JC Horn, and I hope that JC Horn, maybe. I don’t wanna say take a discount, but doesn’t hit us over the head too much, right? You know, and yeah, with this injury injury, he shouldn’t, and I was gonna say that’s one thing that could help out as well is that we could say, you know, hey, we don’t want to lowball you, but let’s look at your injury history. You really only had one healthy year, not even counting the last two games where you didn’t play. So, you know, that’s one thing you can kind of think about, but I’m with you. We might want to just settle for Hollywood Brown. That might be it. You might like, you might want to just settle for Hollywood Brown. Maybe he’s gonna be a better version of Deontay Johnson with less diva attitude and can fit in better with everybody else. Other than that, It’s gonna be very expensive for T Higgins, and I just would rather have a defense at this point. Like, if we would if we would be able to catch T Higgins coming out of the draft, OK, but we didn’t. So now we got to figure out who’s the T Higgins of this draft, who’s the Jamar Chase of this draft that we can possibly get in the 2nd or 3rd round, because, you know, that 1st round pick has to be a defensive we, we gotta do defensive line. Yeah, on the, it’s it’s gotta be, it’s gotta be that. So, um, you know, I’m I’m with you on that, we’re We’re in alignment, man, we’re here, right here. We’re right here, we’re right here. And you can be right here in alignment with us by subscribing right here on our YouTube page or if you’re listening on your favorite podcast platform, make sure you subscribe there as well. Again, leave your thoughts in the comment section. We’re gonna have a lot of conversations this offseason because we got mock draft seasons coming up. Chris, we’re about 2 months. from free agency. How about this, uh, shout out shoutouts to everybody doing their thing at the Senior Bowl. I hope the Carolina Panthers are paying attention to that. Also shout outs to Steve Wilks. People say, oh you talking about Steve Wilks too much, because I love Steve Wilks, thank you very much. OK, new defensive coordinator for the New York Jets. Shout outs to him. Oh, also this week? Wednesday, Xavier Lee’s birthday. Let’s go. Happy birthday, XL. Let’s go. We’re all in on X and Coke, we’re all in on it. Hey, listen, I hope all those coons and possums watch out because you’re about to get skint. They’re gonna take the clothes off today. For his birthday. We’re gonna pop it out, baby. Pause. We’ll see you guys next week. You will.

Source: wralsportsfan.com