Panthers Announce Bryce Young Contract Decision

The Carolina Panthers officially picked up the fifth-year option on Bryce Young’s rookie contract, securing him through the 2027 NFL season.

The decision was “easy and made months ago,” according to the team’s website. The move was made official with a signed contract on Wednesday.

Young’s fifth-year option is worth $25.9 million. However, general manager Dan Morgan has repeatedly stated his satisfaction with the quarterback’s improvement, and the two sides could very well come to a longterm contract extension before that option goes into effect in 2027.

Young, 24, is fresh off his best NFL season since entering the league as the Panthers’ No. 1 overall draft pick in 2023. The former Alabama signal caller led Carolina to an 8-8 record through 16 starts, completing 63.6% of his pass attempts for a career-high 3,011 yards, 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

Through the 2025 NFL season, Young mounted six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter and overtime. He has 12 such drives for his career, the most of any quarterback since he entered the league in 2023.

The Panthers suffered a closely-contested wild card loss to the Los Angeles Rams in January. Young finished the 34-31 postseason contest with 264 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Carolina has made several recent moves with the intention of building the team around Young.

“He’ll have offensive rookie of the year Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker out there along with Xavier Legette third-round pick Chris Brazzell II, and a cast of young options including John Metchie III, Jimmy Horn Jr., Brycen Tremayne and others under the watchful eye of David Moore,” Darin Gantt of the team website writes.

“They also added a pair of left tackles to cover for the injury absence of Ikem Ekwonu, signing former Packers starter Rasheed Walker in free agency and using their first-round pick on Monroe Freeling.”

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 12:09 PM.