THE Carolina Panthers and Bryce Young don’t seem to go together. They selected him with the first pick in the NFL draft a year ago, but he looked nothing like he was expected.

In 21 games, Young totaled 3,400 yards, 13 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. That includes the 523 yards, two touchdowns and five interceptions he threw in 2024, both before and after being benched.

When Carolina benched him, it seemed like they were the ones waving the white flag that they made a mistake with their first pick. The likely problem here is a combination of Young not being as good as advertised and just needing a fresh start in a new organization with new coaches. The Panthers set him up to fail and he failed big time.

Many teams would like to sign a former number 1 pick on the cheap. But among those teams, what are the top three spots for the former first-round NFL draft pick?

For the Cleveland Browns, There was speculation during the first half of the season that the offense was a problem. The offense was horrible. They were the only team to not score 20 points in a game in Week 7 and much of the blame was placed on $200 million-plus quarterback Deshaun Watson. But there has been speculation as to whether the problem was with Watson, the talented players, the offensive line or the play-calling. Clearly, the real answer lies in a combination of all factors.

But when Watson tore his Achilles, Jameis Winston stepped in and quickly showed that the offense’s big problem was Watson the entire time. Winston led an Air Raid attack to the best offensive performance of the season in a Week 8 victory over the AFC North rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.

Now that everyone knows the problem was Watson, the Browns should look to move on from him. If they can acquire a young quarterback with Bryce Young’s cheap, potential contract, they should. The draft capital needed to acquire Young is also relatively cheap.

Young is available and the Browns may look to acquire him. Acquiring Young would mean Cleveland could use all of its top draft picks to select players around him rather than using a first-round pick on a quarterback. Instead of selecting, say, Shedeur Sanders, the Browns could use this pick on Michigan cornerback Will Johnson to make their defense even scarier.

THE Tennessee Titans believed they had their quarterback of the future when they selected Will Levis last year, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Levis has done nothing but struggle during his NFL career.

In 14 games, Levis totaled 2,507 yards, 13 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, but his production slowly deteriorated compared to last year. He has thrown an interception in every game this year with two interceptions in two different games.

The Titans could use Bryce Young as a complement to their quarterback room. Adding Young to a QB room that currently has Mason Rudolph and Levis would be one of the best decisions Tennessee could make this season.

I understand that Bryce Young and Levis were selected in the same draft class and have had similar struggles. This idea wouldn’t be handing the job to Young on a silver platter. This would involve setting up a quarterback competition between two young men who could both develop into useful signal callers in the right situation.

Wherever Young goes, he gets the fresh start he needs. This doesn’t guarantee that he will ultimately succeed, but it would certainly help him immensely.

THE New York Jets did everything in their power to create the perfect situation around a quarterback. New York has a pair of star receivers along with a solid tight end and one of the best young running backs in the game. They also have a star-studded defense that has the ability to dominate them and keep them in games. In their situation, the quarterback is Aaron Rodgers, 41, who is trying to recover from a ruptured Achilles last year. Rodgers has shown signs of life, but for the most part he looks sluggish and exhausted.

Moving forward, the Jets don’t have a franchise quarterback whenever Rodgers decides to retire. Whether it’s the end of this season, next season, or a few years from now, New York doesn’t have a young signal-caller behind it.

The Jets could use one of their Day 2 or 3 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft to acquire Bryce Young from the Carolina Panthers. Young could stay behind Rodgers the rest of the year, potentially behind him again next year. But he would learn. Young still has incredible potential and if he were placed in the Jets offense, there’s a much better chance he would play closer to the first pick than everyone expected him to be.