Bryce Young's Play Improving Big Pay Day Chances

The Carolina Panthers enter their bye week with a 2-2 record and fresh off a huge win over the Detroit Lions in Week 4. The Panthers protected home field and gave the crowd something to cheer for in their first Sunday Night Football game at home in 11 years. 

Carolina showcased their offense, which has been one of the best in the league so far, over four weeks.

That offense is led by quarterback Bryce Young, who leads the league in passing yards with 1,268, and is third with nine touchdowns. He's been fantastic in what is a very important year for the quarterback. 

Young is coming off an impressive performance against Detroit, completing 29 of his 41 attempts for 329 passing yards and two touchdowns.

Being in year four, Young had his fifth-year option picked up in April but no long term deal has been reached — yet. If Young continues this stellar play, he could be in line for a big payday and the decision for Carolina to sign him to a long term deal should be a no-brainer. 

But just how much has this four-game stretch impacted that?

Following Sunday's win over the Lions, former NFL player Bryant McFadden talked about Young on the CBS postgame show. He believes that Young has already earned himself a lot of money with his start to the season. McFadden told his co-hosts in the segment that Young has earned a "MASSIVE" deal and that he's going to "break the bank" with a new contract.

Woah. 

Whether McFadden is right or not, his words are strong. This is by far Young's best season of his career, coming off a really good 2025 campaign as well. This is what the Panthers wanted to see, consistency. Now, in terms of a new deal, it will be interesting to see what happens next. 

It's hard seeing Dan MorganRE and the front office try to negotiate during the season as they prefer to wait until the offseason. Young is already locked in for next season with the fifth-year option, so that gives them a year to spare. But right now, it feels like Young could land a four-year deal that would put him in the top five in terms of money for the quarterback position.

The better Young plays the rest of the season, the more money he could make. And the more clear the quarterback picture for Carolina becomes.