The Carolina Panthers are keeping their safety blanket under center.
15-year veteran signal caller Andy Dalton is returning to the Panthers on a two-year contract, the team announced on Tuesday. Terms were not made public, but a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN’s senior NFL insider Adam Schefter the contract is worth $8 million, includes $6 million guaranteed and could be elevated to $10 million.
Dalton spent the last two years in the ‘Queen City’, Carolina, taking the field in nine games (six starts) as both a backup inserted into action and a starter in place of former first-overall pick Bryce Young, out of the University of Alabama. After two less than stellar performances by Young to kick off the 2024 campaign, head coach Dave Canales did not have any other option and benched the second-year passer in favor of Dalton, who made a handful of starts in 2024.
Dolton began on a strong note, but before long, it became obvious that he could not be Superman and save the day for the Panthers, and when Dalton suffered a thumb injury in a car crash with his family, Young returned to the lineup. The younger passer who also has more upside, took advantage of his second chance, reclaiming his place as Carolina’s franchise quarterback with a strong finish to his second season. Dalton has been a key figure and instrumental in the development of Young, and Tuesday the Carolina Panthers made sure that relationship will continue.
“Me and Andy are super close,” Young said late this past season. “From when I first got here, just being able to talk with him through things, him having perspective on a situation that I had never been a part of. I was always leaning on him, always having conversations.
Embed from Getty Images“You can’t add up the hours we spent here. … And just being able to have someone that you can bounce stuff off of, ask how you see things, whether it’s X’s and O’s or it’s a philosophical thing or stuff outside of football somewhere nuanced in between. He is always there just trying to help me out.”
A second-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2011 draft out of TCU, Dalton has had a solid career, throwing for 39,500 yards with 253 touchdowns and 150 interceptions in 14 seasons. He has been selected to three Pro Bowls.
Dalton has been a journeyman backup and starter since the Cincinnati Bengals moved on from him after the 2019 season. He played for ‘America’s Team’, the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, the Chicago Bears in 2021 and the New Orleans Saints in 2022 prior to joining Carolina.
Dalton’s return to the Panthers provides them with an experienced backup that has seen it all, who can handle the job in the event Young is unable to play and continue to offer mentorship and a shoulder to lean on to the young starter. At 37 years old, it made all the sense in the world for the former Horned Frog to stay in a place he has come to know quite well.
