Carolina Panthers add QB to active roster with Bryce Young, Andy Dalton in flux
The Carolina Panthers made another move at quarterback this week.
The team announced Thursday that it had promoted veteran QB Mike White to the active roster. White was signed to the Carolina practice squad last week.
The move comes as the availabilities for both starting quarterback Bryce Young and veteran backup Andy Dalton are up in the air. Young is still working back from an ankle injury he suffered against the New York Jets two weekends ago, and Dalton did not practice Wednesday due to an injury to his right thumb. Head coach Dave Canales confirmed Wednesday that Dalton suffered the injury early on in the team’s 40-9 loss to the Buffalo Bills this past Sunday.
White’s promotion gives the Panthers further insurance at the QB position should neither Young nor Dalton be ready to play this week against the Green Bay Packers. Hendon Hooker, the signal-caller the team brought in at the beginning of the year who has served as QB3 up until now, remains on the practice squad.
Signing White to the active 53-man roster was made possible after offensive lineman Brady Christensen was moved to the injured reserve Thursday after suffering an Achilles injury against the Bills. White’s promotion also left an open spot on the practice squad — one fulfilled by defensive tackle and 2024 Panthers draft pick Jaden Crumedy.
Now all 53 spots on the active roster and all 17 spots on the team’s practice squad are accounted for.
What’s the injury update on Bryce Young?
White is now the third quarterback on the Panthers’ active roster, which signals that he will start should Young and Dalton not be medically cleared for Sunday.
But how likely is that, exactly?
Young practiced for the first time in five days on Wednesday. Canales told reporters that while he “looked good” in practice taking all the starter’s reps, the team still was “smart about what we were asking him to do” and has labeled him “day to day.”
Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik explained Thursday morning what precautions the coaching staff has taken with Young so far this week — and how the third-year quarterback’s preparation has impressed everyone.
“He looked great,” Idzik said of Young. “He was spinning the ball. He was eager to get full-speed, tempo routes with all his guys. We had to remind him that this is a Wednesday — we’re trying to get some of our guys’ legs back. But you just love the competitive nature that he has. Once he sees the game plan, he starts writing down, ‘I need this concept versus this coverage.’ ‘I want to get (Tetairoa McMillan) on this route versus this kind of defensive look.’ ‘I want to get this footwork to make sure that I’m prepared and that I’ve gone through those physical reps to have myself ready for game day.’ Really excited in his approach.
“He didn’t lose that last week. He was going through those mental processes, and for him to get back onto the field, he’s chomping at the bit. Really excited to watch him today — full speed, closer to live action — so we can get those full-speed reps with the guys on the side in team periods.”
Young told reporters that he “felt good” after practice Thursday.
“Today was a good day,” Young said. “I felt good today. I continue to feel better and better. I listen to the doctors. I’m gonna do whatever it takes to play. I wanna play, of course. But I don’t have a medical degree, so I’m gonna default to them.”
How likely is it that Mike White will play?
If Young can’t go, the next option at quarterback would be Dalton. The 38-year-old quarterback “gutted out” an injury to his right thumb on Sunday — playing the whole game despite suffering the injury early, Canales said.
Dalton told reporters Thursday that he broke his thumb against the Bills, and that he has not been rendered “out” for the game Sunday against the Packers.
“I knew something had happened to it, didn’t know exactly what, but found out after the game,” Dalton said of his thumb. “I’m not going to use that as an excuse for anything. Obviously I’d love for my thumb to not be broken, but it is what it is.”
White’s promotion makes him the next man up if neither Young nor Dalton can play. It also means that he can serve as the backup if only one can play — and the “emergency third quarterback” if both are listed as active.
The emergency third quarterback rule, implemented in 2023, allows teams to dress a 49th player on Sundays as its “emergency third quarterback.” Typically, teams are only allowed to dress 48 players to their active game day rosters. The “third” quarterback must be on the active roster for this rule to be in effect.
Who is ex-Bills quarterback Mike White?
Last week, Canales told reporters that signing the 6-foot-4, 225-pound quarterback was advantageous for a multitude of reasons. That includes the fact that he’d spent 2024 with the Bills — who the Panthers were playing Week 8.
The Pembroke Pines, Florida, native was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the fifth round of the 2018 draft. He spent one year in Dallas before moving on to the New York Jets from 2019-2022. He played eight games in those four years with the Jets and has been bouncing around the league since then.
His starting debut with New York was his most memorable performance, when in 2021 against the Cincinnati Bengals, he completed 37 of 45 passes for 405 yards and three touchdowns. It was such a good performance that his jersey was sent to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, according to a story in The Athletic. After that day, his name in Jets fandom will forever be “Mike Effing White.”
When asked last week how picking up the Carolina playbook has gone, White said that the process has been “good” and that his quarterback room — Young, Dalton, Hooker and QBs coach Will Harriger — has been a massive help.
“Any time you get in a quarterback room, it’s always for the most part pretty tight-knit, and guys help each other,” White said. “They’ve been awesome with it. They’ve been helping me every step of the way.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2025 at 11:41 AM.
