Panthers reunite with an old friend ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft despite doing ample homework on the rookie class at the position
The Carolina Panthers did extensive work on the incoming quarterback class ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft to land a long-term backup behind Bryce Young, instead the team decided to reunite with a former third-round pick.
Carolina Panthers general manager Dan Morgan was committed to finding a long-term player to add to the quarterback room this offseason to develop behind starting quarterback Bryce Young.
In free agency, the Panthers went out and signed former first-round pick Kenny Pickett to a one-year deal. However, he was far from a long-term option given his contract and desire to one day land a starting position of his own.
The Panthers still wanted some long-term security in house at the position and started looking at options in the 2026 NFL Draft. With the draft just a few days away, it appears the front office decided to go in a different direction at the position, for the time being.
Panthers reunite with former third-round pick Will Grier ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Panthers have signed free agent quarterback Will Grier to give the team a third option behind Young and Pickett. Grier started his career in Carolina after being selected with the 100th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
After spending three years in Carolina, Grier bounced around the league between stints with the Dallas Cowboys, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, and Philadelphia Eagles. His only regular season starts came in 2019 with the Panthers, both of which were losses to end the regular season.
Grier was drafted by the previous regime so it’s interesting to see the new staff decide to bring him in, especially over a rookie option the team could have drafted later this week.
It seems like no QB prospects impressed the Panthers during the pre-draft process
It’s widely known that this is a subpar quarterback class, let’s start there. Only two quarterbacks (Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson) will likely be drafted in the first two days of the draft. After those two, the talent severely drops off.
Even still, the Panthers met with multiple QB prospects including Georgia Tech’s Haynes King and Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia. King seemed like the most intriguing short and long-term option to consider and logical fit for Carolina.
During his pre-draft press conference, Morgan explained some of the traits he was looking for out of the draft prospects the team met with.
“Those type of guys that you bring in are the type of guys that want to support Bryce and guy’s that also are competitors and they want to try and take Bryce’s job,” Morgan explained. “We want guys that are very supportive as teammates, but we also want guys that are going to come in and they want to compete and they want to be great.”
During those pre-draft visits, the Panthers got a personal feel for some of the incoming rookies. It’s pretty telling to see the Panthers decide to pivot and bring in a veteran backup this close to the draft instead.
That doesn’t mean someone like King or Pavia is fully off the board, but without a seventh-round pick, it’s either the Panthers take a QB3/4 in the sixth-round or just simply wait out the draft to see who goes undrafted.