Panthers HC Dave Canales delivers blunt assessment of Russell Wilson option
New Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales isn't going after Russell Wilson, his former quarterback. With Wilson expected to hit free agency soon after a release, the options are all on the table. That does not include the Panthers, who do not plan to seek out the veteran's service.
Canales plainly stated that the Panthers weren't looking into it as an option:
"This is not the situation for Russ. What I will say about him, taking that chance and that opportunity to go to Denver. I really admire him for that. I really admire the courage it took to say ‘I’m going to branch out from what I’m comfortable with.’ Certainly guys like me who were with him for all ten years."
He continued, saying that he does know Wilson well from their time together with the Seattle Seahawks. He believes he as a coach knows the QB well:
"I can anticipate those things. He really gambled on himself to go and try to do something a different way to see what that could become. What it’s become, hey the film’s out there. But I really credit him for that.”
The main reason the Panthers aren't interested in Wilson is because they have quarterback locked down for the next few years. Bryce Young's rookie season was rough, but Canales and new GM Dan Morgan know that putting the right players around Young will reverse that trend.
Bringing in Wilson won't, and it signals the admittance of defeat in their second-year signal-caller, which is never a good idea, especially when the Panthers invested two first-round picks (one of which is first overall) and DJ Moore for Young.
Current odds of Russell Wilson's next team
The Carolina Panthers are not going to sign Russell Wilson. Someone is, once he's released, though. The current odds are via Arizona Central:
- Steelers: −200
- Raiders: +275
- Falcons:+400
- Patriots: +750
- Vikings: +1000
- Commanders: +2000
- Buccaneers: +2000
- Titans: +3000
- Giants: +3000
- Bears: +4000
One of these teams will land the vet QB and give him another chance, perhaps as a veteran backup and locker room presence.
Dave Canales believes in Bryce Young
It might be tantalizing to go after an available veteran quarterback that you once won a Super Bowl with following a 2-15 season and without a first-round pick. Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales isn't interested, though.
That's largely because they're wholly invested in Bryce Young and Canales believes in him. In fact, he doesn't even view his new job as a chance to "fix" Young, since he's not broken in Canales' estimation.
He said via USA Today:
“No plan to fix Bryce Young. I think, for me, it’s about building an offense that we can be proud of. Something that is tough, something that is smart, that takes care of the football, No. 1, we gotta create more explosives and, of course, we have to minimize damage with exotic pressures and things like that.”
Many analysts and pundits believe Young is broken after a disastrous first year, but that's not the case for Canales.