The Sunday NFL Countdown crew discussing the Panthers and recently benched quarterback Bryce Young Photo Credit: ESPN
By Reice Shipley on

The Carolina Panthers have received a ton of scrutiny for both their handling of second-year quarterback Bryce Young and their disastrous start to the season through two weeks. And ahead of the Week 3 slate of games on Sunday, the Sunday NFL Countdown cast on ESPN seized the opportunity to blast the Panthers organization and head coach Dave Canales.

The Sunday NFL Countdown cast consisting of Mike Greenberg, Tedy Bruschi, Randy Moss, Alex Smith, and Rex Ryan all had plenty to say about the Panthers. As a consensus, they largely feel like the organization is a “laughing stock” that made a “horrible hire” in Dave Canales that no player would want to play for.

The segment started with ESPN insider Adam Schefter reporting that the Panthers do not plan to trade Young and that they still view him as the future of the Panthers at the quarterback position.

Mike Greenberg then chimed in, referencing how Dave Canales isn’t exactly someone whose word can be trusted after previously calling Young “their quarterback” after the team’s Week 2 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, only to bench him less than 24 hours later.

“Yeah Schefty, Dave Canales insisting they aren’t going to trade him. He’s the same one who insisted that Bryce Young was still the starter after the game last Sunday,” said Greenberg. “Which leaves one to wonder whether it is really his decision in the first place.”

Randy Moss then chimed in, calling the Panthers the “laughing stock of the NFL” at all levels, starting with owner David Tepper.

“I think the Carolina Panthers have failed this young man,” said Moss. “Because Alex (Smith), you just said he’s had three coaches in 18 games. Where is the development coming at, the franchise player, the first overall pick. One thing that I’ll say is, the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders. And then it came with the Cleveland Browns. Right now, the laughingstock of the National Football League is the Carolina Panthers.”

Rex Ryan inversely sees this as an incorrect hire from the Panthers to bring in Dave Canales, voicing his complaints about the first-year head coach.

“You know what, from Week 1 I really questioned the hiring of Dave Canales as head coach,” said Ryan. The reason I did… I’m sure part of it was he is the quarterback guru. Let me tell you about a young quarterback. You know how you fix him? With a running game and a defense. That’s how you do it.

“So I bring in Dave Canales. He was dead last in Tampa. Dead last in rushing the football and rushing per attempt and that’s who you put in to help this guy? I knew it was going to be a disaster. I thought it was the worst fang hire in there. I really did, for that kid’s development, I thought it was terrible. This has gone exactly how I thought it would go.”

Ryan did go on to say that he questioned the Panthers pick of Bryce Young in the first place, but that he was practically set up to fail with the personnel around him.

Both Tedy Bruschi and Alex Smith also shared their thoughts on the Panthers, with Bruschi claiming that Bryce Young should ask for a trade and Smith claiming that “you couldn’t pay him enough” to play for the organization.

“If I’m Bryce I want out,” said Bruschi. “Because you messed me up and I’m not (being) properly developed. I’m sure he’s got a team. I would advise him to get out.”

“Listen, I heard that this week when he (Dave Canales) said Andy Dalton gives us the best chance to win,” said Smith. “What about last year? Of course that was true. You decided to start him and go through this process and now two weeks into his second year you’re bailing on it. This organization is a disaster. The idea of an organization is to accumulate talent, not give it away. Oh, we trade away Christian McCaffery, we trade away DJ Moore, Brian Burns. Let’s just give away our best players.

“You have no idea how to identify talent and keep it. Oh, by the way, Baker Mayfield had a stop there. He wasn’t good enough. Now he’s just crushing you in the division. Sam Darnold, he wasn’t good enough. I pray that Bryce gets out of there. The word is out, nobody wants to go there. I mean, they couldn’t get a head coach. That’s why they ended up with Dave Canales. No free agents are going to sign there. You could not pay me enough money to play for the Carolina Panthers.”

It will sure be interesting to see the Panthers have any more success in Week 3 with Dalton under center. But clearly, the Panthers’ reputation around the NFL has taken a massive hit early on for their handling of their former No. 1 overall pick.

[Awful Announcing on X]

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley