Panthers make a rushed decision with Andy Dalton but at least rip the Band-Aid off while putting him in a solid situation for 2026
The Carolina Panthers have traded veteran quarterback Andy Dalton to the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Carolina Panthers have officially ripped off the Band-Aid with veteran quarterback Andy Dalton, trading him to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for a 2027 seventh-round pick, the bare minimum the team could have received in return for the 38-year-old quarterback.
It’s an entirely rushed decision that the Panthers didn’t have to make this soon, outside of doing right by the player. The writing was on the wall for this move to eventually take place after the Panthers signed former first-round pick Kenny Pickett to be the backup to Bryce Young.
While it was expected, general manager Dan Morgan’s comments at the NFL Combine made it sound like the team would wait out a trade despite putting the option on the table for other teams.
“I think in terms of Andy competing, Andy’s not afraid of competition,” Morgan said of Dalton. “We’ll see what happens in free agency, we’ll see what happens in the draft. We’ll see how it plays out.”
Those comments made it sound like the Panthers would consider just rolling into the rest of the offseason schedule with Dalton in the fold to compete with whatever addition was made. It would have been a smart strategy considering trading Dalton before June 1 would only save $2,151,332 in cap space with a $3,697,334 dead cap hit. Trading Dalton after June 1 would have saved the team $4,000,000 in cap space with a $1,848,666 dead cap charge.
This in no way helps the Panthers out in 2026 and getting a future seventh-round pick is a bad return. Had the Panthers waited until closer to the season, another team with a need at quarterback could have provided a better return for Dalton. What this does, though, is put Dalton in a solid situation.
Dalton can now join a strong Eagles’ roster and a quarterback room featuring Jalen Hurts and Tanner McKee. He will get the opportunity to compete in that room but it’s going to be tough to stand out there considering the staff is really high on McKee being the QB2. Unless, of course, the Eagles decide to hang McKee out as trade bait with Dalton now joining the team.
For Carolina’s sake, it’s clear the Panthers were just ready to move on at this point.
Kenny Pickett is now solidified into the QB2 role with the Panthers
While expected when he signed, Pickett is now officially the backup quarterback for the Panthers. Morgan wanted a more athletic and younger option to develop and Pickett provides that while having starting experience in this league if there ever came a point in which he needed to step in.
“Things happen in this league, and you just keep working because you never know when that opportunity is going to come,” Pickett told reporters on Wednesday. “I just want to be as prepared as I can be; you never know when that’s going to happen. I just really want to get into a great system with great people. I think that’s where I’m at now.”
With the move now all but official, the Panthers will head into the 2026 NFL Draft next month with Young and Pickett as the only quarterbacks on the roster.
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