Carolina Panthers quarterback Will Grier has suddenly decided to retire from the NFL.
With the 2026 NFL season coming up quickly, the Carolina Panthers are going to be one of the more intriguing teams to watch. After squeaking out a win in the NFC South division last year, they are entering this season with much higher expectations.
Most of those expectations will depend on the play of quarterback Bryce Young.
Young has shown flashes of being a franchise caliber quarterback. After being selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Young has not developed quite as quickly as the Panthers would have liked. However, he did show improvement last season.
Behind Young, Carolina has been expecting to have Kenny Pickett as its primary backup. If a third-string quarterback needed to see the field, it was expected to be Will Grier.
On Wednesday, July 15, Grier made the surprising decision to retire from the NFL.
The Panthers announced Grier's retirement with a statement on their official website.
"Will Grier came back to his hometown team three months ago, but his comeback won't continue into training camp," the statement read. "The veteran quarterback has chosen to retire. The Panthers placed him on the reserve/retired list on Wednesday."
Grier was originally drafted by Carolina in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft at No. 100 overall. He was never quite able to live up to the potential that he showed during his college career at West Virginia.
Throughout his NFL career, Grier played in just two games. Both of those appearances came with the Panthers back in 2019. He completed 28 of his 52 attempts for 228 yards, no touchdowns, and four interceptions.
During his college days with the Mountaineers, Grier was a major standout. He threw for 8,558 yards, 81 touchdowns, and just 23 interceptions, while completing 65.8 percent of his career passes. He also chipped in with 148 yards and seven more touchdowns on the ground across his three college seasons.
What this means for Carolina is fairly small. The Panthers already have undrafted rookie Haynes King behind Young and Pickett on the depth chart. He will likely receive a longer look during training camp and preseason action in Grier's absence.
