In the mailbag article we said no. Sticking with Hooker would be the way to go at this time. But that does not mean that having a third quarterback would be a bad thing. The Panthers are about to make a mistake by trading this guy and having a 23-year-old quarterback that can grow on the bench is not at all a bad thing. Someone has to take advantage of how bad the Panthers are, why not the Lions?
With that said, the Lions are taking all the risk in the trade here as any team that trades for Young would be. If the Panthers think they’re getting anything of high value for Young after benching him, they’re crazy. It would likely be something similar to what the 49ers got for Trey Lance, which was a fourth-round pick.
I’m going to sweeten the pot a little bit because there is something the Lions want out of the Panthers. So here’s the only proposal the Lions should ever offer the Carolina Panthers to get Bryce Young in Detroit:
Lions get: Bryce Young, Xavier Legette and a 2025 fourth-round pick
Panthers get: 2025 second-round pick and 2026 fifth-round pick
There it is. The Lions give away a high draft pick, but in return they get a young quarterback that could potentially be the guy of the future in a few years when Jared Goff either retires or regresses.
Then they get their X-receiver of the future too. Tim Patrick might be good for the Lions, but he turns 31 in November. He is not likely to be a long term thing. This way the Lions get a receiver they actually showed a lot of interest in during the draft process.
Leggette was one of the just a handful of guys that the Lions had a formal meeting with at the combine, attended his pro day and had out for a top-30 visit. If Terion Arnold doesn’t fall and cause the Lions to trade up to 24, Leggette could have easily been the pick at 29.
Because the Lions take some risk here, they get an extra draft pick thrown into the mix. That’s likely to be the first pick of the fourth round too. Maybe they can package that to move up for something.
The Panthers are in full rebuild mode, so a second-round pick gives them an extra day two pick that they can use on whatever they want to help aide them in their rebuild. That’s the very best deal that the Panthers could get if you ask me. They’re just in no shape to get anything more.
If the Lions couldn’t get this, then walk away and move on with your life. If they could, they should be all in on it.