The Carolina Panthers went into 2026 needing to upgrade their backup quarterback situation.
They began by signing free agent Kenny Pickett to a one-year deal, then traded 38-year-old veteran Andy Dalton to the Philadelphia Eagles. After that, Carolina added two more arms behind starter Bryce Young—inking their former third-round pick Will Grier and undrafted free agent Haynes King.
But this may be an example of why you can never mistake action for achievement, because Carolina’s quarterback room looks no better than it was at this time last year—despite a step forward from Young.
According to Garrett Podell at CBS Sports, the Panthers currently have the ninth-worst quarterback unit in the league:
Even though the Panthers backdoored their way into the postseason in 2025 as NFC South champions with an 8-9 record, Young’s performance was up-and-down. He threw for the third-fewest passing yards by a quarterback to make the playoffs in the last 20 seasons, per CBS Sports Research…
Young’s numbers may still be underwhelming, but he was flashing elite potential in the second half of the season, and at least can claim to be a top-15 passer on his good days. He’ll need more of those to raise the Panthers out of these kinds of conversations.
That puts Pickett in the No. 2 spot. While Pickett is not the worst primary backup in the league, it’s not clear that he’s an upgrade from Dalton.
Then there’s Grier, who hasn’t recorded a regular-season snap since his two starts as a rookie with Carolina in 2019. Those pair of outings saw him complete 53.8 percent of his passes for 228 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.
King could be a wildcard at the bottom of the depth chart. Although he has legitimate rushing talent, the 2025 ACC Player of the Year went undrafted for a reason—and there’s no telling how his game will translate to the pros just yet.
Add it all up and you have a very unsettled bunch—one that the Panthers need to keep refining throughout the season and beyond until they have something more solid on paper.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers’ QB room ranked among NFL’s worst