The Carolina Panthers have actually been a bit of a surprise this season, as they are 5-5 and in playoff contention in the NFC. However, it has been no thanks to Bryce Young, who has struggled mightily in his third year.
In nine games this season, Young has thrown for 1,514 yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 61.7 percent of his passes and posting a 79.7 passer rating. He has actually regressed since the second half of 2024, and with Young’s fifth-year option decision coming up, it’s looking more and more like the Panthers may decline it.
So could Carolina actually head out in search of a new quarterback during the offseason?
ESPN’s Dan Graziano thinks so, floating Arizona Cardinals signal-caller Kyler Murray as a potential replacement for Young.
“I guess we could throw Carolina in for similar reasons if Bryce Young doesn’t turn things around,” Graziano wrote. “Most people I talk to about the Murray situation doubt that the Cardinals will be able to trade that contract, which means he’d likely be released before that 2027 money triggers next March.”
Murray signed a five-year, $230.5 million contract extension with Arizona back in 2022 following back-to-back trips to the Pro Bowl for the former No. 1 overall pick. Murray then suffered a torn ACL the ensuing campaign, missed half of 2023 while recovering and is now on injured reserve due to a foot injury.
When the 28-year-old has been on the field recently, he hasn’t been very effective, which is why many feel the Cardinals look better with Jacoby Brissett under center.
Would this actually be a good move for the Panthers then? While Murray has definitely shown more than Young, Carolina would essentially just be swapping disappointing No. 1 picks rather than trying to find a new franchise quarterback the traditional way.
Of course, the problem for the Panthers is that they may end up with too strong of a record to land one of the top signal-callers in the 2026 NFL Draft, although there should be impressive quarterback talent toward the back half of the first round.
Murray has played in just five games this season, throwing for 962 yards, six touchdowns and three picks.
FLOWERY BRANCH, GA – The Atlanta Falcons are fighting desperately to get their season back on track after dropping their fourth-straight game in Week 10. One major reason for that is their inability to get wide receiver Darnell Mooney going, and Falcons head coach Raheem Morris had an eye-opening admission about why that may be the case.
After a breakout 2024 season where he caught 64 passes for 992 yards and five touchdowns, Mooney has struggled to recapture that form in 2025.
Through 10 weeks and six full games played, the veteran has struggled, notching just 13 receptions (35 targets) for 190 yards. Of the players who have run at least 200 routes, no one in the NFL has a lower catch rate than Mooney (37.1%).
Injuries, drops, and a general lack of cohesion with second-year quarterback Michael Penix Jr. have derailed his season. The Falcons’ deep threat has not been able to fill that role in 2025
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Morris has been asked several times about what has slowed the progression of their connection, dating back to the initial injury he picked up during training camp. No clear injury update was provided, aside from Mooney missing a “few weeks,” but the head coach gave some insight into why the injury has seemed to linger over this season.
During his weekly interview with Dukes & Bell on the Falcons’ flagship station, 92.9 The Game, Morris finally provided the answer to why Mooney missed the time he did over the summer.
“He’s been coming up to speed, which I love,” Morris said during this interview. To which Carl Dukes pressed the Falcons’ head coach on what can be expected of the wideout moving forward.
“You don’t make excuses, you never talk about these things, but we knew how this would work,” Morris said before making the shocking admission that had not been known before.
“Mooney broke his collarbone on the first play of training camp,” the Falcons head coach said. “He missed all that time and came back the second week of the season. That was the first time they [Mooney and Penix] actually practiced together. You start working those practices, you knew the four weeks of the season would almost be like training camp for him.
“So you’re working those things in, you’re getting him going, you’re getting his legs back, and running fast, all those things. Then he had the small setback with the hamstring, and he misses the two weeks.”
Injuries have piled up – first the collarbone in July, then the hamstring setback that cost him more time in the fall.
Despite the ailments that have slowed his season, the Falcons’ staff is still confident he can get going in the season’s second half.
“I anticipate Mooney kind of taking off from here,” offensive coordinator Zac Robinson said on October 29th. “He’s finally getting his legs back. Obviously, we know what he can do at a high level. Had a great season last year. Just the training camp, missing that, and then kind of getting back into the flow, getting his legs back, getting the hammy back, all those things. So, I anticipate Mooney taking a big jump from this point forward.”
The Falcons’ play-caller doubled down on that statement on Wednesday, saying he’s “so close to breaking out.”
Whether or not he can show some improvement down the stretch of the season remains to be seen. His next opportunity will be this Sunday in Week 11 against the Carolina Panthers.
However, what doesn’t make sense is why the Falcons didn’t push to acquire more players to prevent the situation the team now finds itself in. This injury takes several weeks to months to recover from. Morris then acknowledged there would be an additional ramp-up period.
Veteran D.J. Chark Jr. was the only significant addition after the injury, but he was cut just a few weeks later. The Falcons have since leaned on a now-released Ray-Ray McCloud, David Sills V, and Casey Washington to be the secondary option for Drake London in the wide receiver room.
And their production has not been nearly enough to support a young quarterback who is in the early phases of his development. London has 53 receptions for 691 yards and six touchdowns this season, while the other wideouts (including McCloud) on this roster have
The Falcons took a risk, and it burned them.
With eight games left, Mooney is finally healthy. Now, the Falcons need that long-awaited connection with Penix to materialize before the season is lost entirely.