‘A mutual respect.’ How the relationship between Dave Canales, Bryce Young has evolved
Dave Canales admitted it was a bit scary.
The Carolina Panthers coach, to be clear, wasn’t referring to the most difficult decision he made in 2024, the one where he benched quarterback Bryce Young after back-to-back drubbings to begin his first season as the head guy. He wasn’t referring to the demoralizing loss to the Commanders or the four-turnover regression to the Cowboys.
On the contrary, in a ballroom in the Indiana Convention Center on the Tuesday before the NFL Scouting Combine, he was in fact referring to the season finale against the Atlanta Falcons — a game that saw two young quarterbacks in the NFC South put on a show.
“That was exciting but also pretty scary, ya know?” Canales said, referring to the 44-38 overtime win in Atlanta about three months ago.
The scary part for him was largely supplied by rookie Michael Penix Jr., an NFC South quarterback of the future who went drive-for-drive with a red-hot Young, who finished throwing for 251 yards and three touchdowns and ran for two more.
The other part?
“It was an exciting feeling to come off of that field, for sure because we won,” Canales continued, “but also because you could just feel the sense of, ‘OK, here’s what we have to look forward to. Here’s the challenges we have to meet.’”
A year ago at this time, Canales could only tell reporters of the preliminary discussions he’d had with Young, who was then only a year removed from being a No. 1 overall first-round pick. He sold a vision for an offense that is “tough” and “smart” and built wholly “around him” — “something that’s tangible and that’s specific” and that does not involve “a plan to fix Bryce Young.”
Tuesday, therefore, marked an interesting comparison point in how the Carolina Panthers’ most public on-field relationship has evolved. The two no longer can dwell on theory.
They can now thrive on — in Canales’ terms — something else.
Something borne out of the lowest times of 2024.
“I think there is just a mutual respect,” Canales said of his relationship with Young ahead of the 2025 season. “About going through something really challenging. And coming out on the other end together. And growing something together. Again, like we talked about even a year ago: This offense will look like Bryce Young — however we gotta do that. We’re going to find what that is.”
This mutual respect extends beyond the troubles of 2024, too, of course. Beyond the first two games where the Panthers were outscored 73-13. Beyond veteran Andy Dalton coming in Week 3 and lighting up the Raiders for the Panthers’ first win of the season. It extends beyond the flashes of possibility last season posed, too — which included a two-game stretch where the Panthers were a field goal and a catch away from sending this year’s Super Bowl participants into trouble.
The respect on Canales’ side is visible in the construction and direction of the roster, which to this point has made progress in supporting its quarterback of the future. Some immediate examples since the dawn of 2024: Dalton, the 37-year-old QB, signed a two-year deal to stay in Carolina, a plan that was finalized last week. Chuba Hubbard, the stellar starting running back, has been locked in for four more years, running behind a drastically improved interior offensive line from the Before Canales Times.
The next logical jumping point to further that investment around Young involves the players receiving Young’s passes in 2025. It’s been a topic for most of the offseason — fueled in part by some big names on the free agent market. One of those big names — pipe-dream-big names — is New York Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson, who in January made quite the stir after an exchange on X.
An account suggested that Young “might be better than we thought” with a video accompanying some of Young’s heroics in Atlanta to wrap up the season. Wilson replied: “He is.”
Still, when asked about the possibility of going after a “No. 1 receiver” — similar to what the Panthers did in 2024 in trading for Diontae Johnson as a right-now option and, later, trading into the first round of the NFL Draft for Xavier Legette and the compelling future he presents — both Canales and general Dan Morgan played it by the book.
“I love our wide receiver room,” Morgan said. “I think with (Adam) Thielen, with (Jalen) Coker, with Xavier (Legette), we have a lot of guys in that room that we’re really excited about. We have a young core of guys who are still developing from a fundamental standpoint, from a route-running standpoint. And Thielen, he’s old-reliable, in terms of he’s savvy, he knows where he needs to be, the quarterbacks can depend on him.”
He continued: “It would be nice to just find as many playmakers as possible. If we pinpoint a guy in free agency or in the draft, then we wouldn’t hesitate to draft or sign.”
Morgan said in a follow-up that the team is interested specifically in adding speed to its receiving corps. That could belong to any slew of prospects that’ll dawn at this week’s combine. Arizona wideout Tet McMillan, for one. Elic Ayomanor out of Stanford for another. Maybe a Tutu Atwell or a Tyler Boyd or Marquez Valdes-Scantling in free agency. Canales said he was compelled by some tight end draft prospects, too, including Penn State’s Tyler Warren, who has the blocking-and-receiving versatility Canales looks for in his “stubborn-about-running-the-ball” offense.
But one guy who they’re sure about is Young.
Canales said something similar last year.
This year — with 2024 gone, with a mutual respect blossomed, with investment ahead — it’s hard not to believe them.
This story was originally published February 26, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
