CBS names Bryce Young the Carolina Panthers' best contract extension candidate

The Carolina Panthers still have OTAs to get through, but we are rapidly approaching the part of the offseason when you get treated to some truly interesting takes. Here's one from CBS Sports that qualifies as one you don't normally see until the offseason dog days in the middle of July.

Tyler Sullivan at CBS has put together a list of the top extension candidates for all 32 teams around the league - and he's made some real choices. For the Panthers he picked third-year quarterback Bryce Young, which needless to say comes as a real surprise. Here's what he said.

"The No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft will be eligible for an extension after this season. He'll likely receive some sort of extension, but if he carries his momentum from the end of last season into the entirety of 2025, he could get a larger number than some may think. For instance, fellow No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence lost 22 games over his first two seasons, just like Young has. Now, Lawrence is one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL, making $55 million per season. While Young may not reach that total, high enough to raise eyebrows."

We don't get this one. As a first-round draft pick, the Panthers have a fifth-year option on Young - and they don't have to make a decision on that until 2026. If they do pick it up, that means Carolina will have contol of Young at a relatively low price through the 2027 season.

Young may very well be worth a lucrative extension before that time, but right now is simply too early to make that kind of a call. He made some real strides in the second half of last season and appears to be living up to his potential finally. Still, half a season is a small sample size and the Panthers should wait to see what he does in 2025 before they make any calls about his future - especially regarding a contract that will average over $50 million a year.

If we had to pick a different extension candidate for the Panthers, we'd take one of their two starting offensive tackles. Right tackle Taylor Moton is entering the final year of his deal and an extension would save Carolina almost $13 million in salary cap space.

If the Panthers are too leery about Moton's knee to make another big investment in him, they could instead choose to extend left tackle Ickey Ekwonu. Doing so would only save around $2.7 million this year, but it would save over $13 million in cap space for 2026. Ekwonu isn't a slam dunk long-term starter quite yet - and it might be a risk, but it's one the Panthers should probably take.