The Carolina Panthers were in the news on Wednesday.
The NFL announced major Carolina Panthers news on Wednesday.
Carolina and the Arizona Cardinals will face off in the annual Hall of Fame exhibition game on August 6 as part of enshrinement week. The Panthers and Cardinals have former players entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year.
Panthers legend Luke Kuechly and Cardinals icon Larry Fitzgerald are going into the Hall of Fame in August.
This is the second Hall of Fame game the Panthers will play in. Their first was back in 1995 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Panthers made the playoffs last season, losing to the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card round. Carolina head coach Dave Canales announced at the NFL Combine that OC Brad Idzik will call offensive plays in 2026. It will be fascinating to see how Idzik meshes with QB Bryce Young, whose fifth-year option has already been picked up.
Young finished the 2025 season with 3,011 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, 11 interceptions, 216 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns. He was the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and has 8,291 passing yards, 49 passing touchdowns, 30 interceptions, 718 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns in a Carolina uniform.
Tetairoa McMillan won the 2025 Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. He caught 70 balls last season for 1,014 yards and seven touchdowns. The Panthers have a bright future for the first time in a long, long time.
Canales and Young have come a long way from 2024, when Young was benched for Andy Dalton. The two are now connected at the hip and in charge of leading the Panthers to the promised land one day.
"There was an emotional strain. I could feel that," Canales said of his relationship with Young. "I know because it was a hard decision. I know Bryce could feel that because of how this impacted him directly, and everybody else can feel it. It's like, ‘Oh, this seems like a big deal.’ But it's like, ‘OK, this is the decision that was made. But how do we get better today?’ And so there's, like, a daily focus on improvement. Bryce is wired that way.
"He never wavered on that part, so that when his opportunity came back, he was that much better."
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