Dan Morgan’s comments at the NFL Combine confirm the Panthers are taking the right approach with QB Andy Dalton
The Carolina Panthers don’t seem eager to move on from Andy Dalton despite previous comments.
Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan hasn’t been shy about expressing some of the needs his team intends to address this offseason and one of those needs involves adding a younger quarterback to develop behind Bryce Young.
“I think we have to explore every option, whether in free agency or in the draft,” Morgan said after the season ended. “And get some young, more developmental guys. Ideally, they’re athletic, so they can run around, escape, make plays with their legs, because that’s the way the league is trending nowadays. So, yeah, we’ll explore every avenue there.”
That quote made it sound like the Panthers intended to shake up the quarterback position behind Young and it put veteran quarterback Andy Dalton’s future on notice. At the NFL Scouting Combine on Tuesday, Morgan offered more insight about Dalton’s status with the team going into 2026.
Panthers intend to keep Andy Dalton to compete for the backup quarterback role
“I think in terms of Andy competing, Andy’s not afraid of competition,” Morgan said, via Joe Person. “We’ll see what happens in free agency, we’ll see what happens in the draft. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Based on those comments, it doesn’t seem like the Panthers intend to let Dalton go like many expected after his comments on adding to the position from earlier in the offseason. And not cutting Dalton out-right is the smart move for the Panthers to make.
Releasing Dalton, before June 1, only saves the Panthers $151,332 in cap space and creates $5,697,334 in dead cap. A post June 1 trade only saves the team $2,000,000 with $3,848,666 in dead cap. So, keeping him in the building for now is what’s best for business.
The only ideal option the Panthers could explore, if said addition beats Dalton out for the backup job, is finding a trade partner. Trading Dalton after June 1 would save the team $4,000,000 in cap space with a $1,848,666 dead cap charge. With a sparse quarterback market, the Panthers could leverage Dalton as a veteran option for another team closer to the start of the regular season.
As for the potential young, athletic quarterback to add to the room, the Panthers will explore all options in free agency (Trey Lance, Zach Wilson, Tyler Huntley, etc.) and in the draft (Drew Allar, Cade Klubnik, Taylen Green, etc.) to see how the room shapes out throughout the offseason.
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