ESPN Believes Carolina Panthers Will Address This Key Position In 2027 NFL Draft

The Carolina Panthers are pushing through training camp as preparation for the 2026 season continues. 

As Carolina is coming off a 2025 campaign in which they won the NFC South for the first time in 10 years, they are hoping to take a big step forward. But as Carolina looks to get even better, they have some big questions that need to be answered. 

The biggest one is at the quarterback position. 

Bryce Young enters his fourth season and it's an important one for the former No. 1 overall pick. Carolina has picked up the fifth-year option but they have not made a decision on his future so far. Young has the chance here to go out and earn that contract by playing good football consistently and taking that next step in his development.

If he has a big season, it would help the Panthers' offense as well as his case for getting a long-term deal. But if he plays bad, the Panthers are likely going to be in the market for a quarterback in 2027. 

In ESPN's future franchise rankings, the bold prediction for the Panthers was that they would draft a quarterback in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft. Here is what Seth Waldron writes on the bold prediction: 

The Panthers will draft a quarterback in the first round in 2027. This might not even qualify as that bold, really. Carolina has -- rightfully, in my opinion -- not extended Young's contract beyond his fifth-year option. Faced with a strong rookie quarterback class next year, there's a chance the Panthers think they'll have a better future with a fresh start at QB.

The good news for Carolina in this situation is that this is considered to be a really good class for quarterbacks. If Carolina is looking for a new quarterback, it likely means Young had a poor season and the Panthers are probably picking inside the top 10. 

It's early but quarterbacks like Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Julian Sayin, CJ Carr, Darian Mensah and even Drew Mestemaker are being projected as first-round picks. The first three on that list could even go in the top five.

Ideally, you don't want to reset at the quarterback position just five years after taking a player at No. 1 overall but the Panthers cant wait around either if Young isn't the guy.