The Carolina Panthers are keeping their quarterback room together. The Panthers announced on Tuesday that they re-signed backup quarterback Andy Dalton on a two-year deal. According to ESPN, the contract will have a base value of $6 million and can be worth as much as $10 million.
Dalton filled in as the Panthers’ starter both when No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young was injured in 2023, and then when Young was benched early in the 2024 season. Upon his return to the lineup, though, Young performed at a much higher level and seemingly earned himself the chance to continue in the starting role with Dalton operating as his backup.
It’s been a while since he was a regular starter, but Dalton has proven himself an adequate fill-in starter, and that’s really what you want in a backup. He also apparently built a good relationship with Young, which is always a plus when you have a young starter being backed up by a veteran.
“Me and Andy are super close,” Young said, via the team’s official website. “From when I first got here, just being able to talk with him through things, him having perspective on a situation that I had never been a part of, I was always leaning on him, always having conversations and just from a day-to-day basis.
“You can’t add up the hours we spend here; we’re here every single day, and just being able to have someone that you can bounce stuff off of, ask how you see things. Whether it’s X’s and O’s or it’s philosophical things or stuff outside of football or somewhere nuanced in between. He is always there, just trying to help me out. And again, having a guy like that who really does it for the right reasons and wants to help, that’s super rare. So I’m super grateful for that.”
Young will now have a chance to lean on Dalton for at least another couple of years now that the pair are each under contract through the 2026 season. The Panthers surely hope that Young is able to take the reins on his own by then, but in the meantime, he can continue learning from Dalton and the team can have a quality option in case Young misses any time.
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