Quarterback Andy Dalton signed a two-year contract to return to the Carolina Panthers as Bryce Young’s backup, the NFL team announced on Tuesday.
The 14-year veteran and three-time Pro Bowler said the Panthers are turning the corner after seven consecutive losing seasons, and he wants to be part of it.
Dalton isn’t the only veteran who feels that way.
Adam Thielen has a season remaining on a three-year, $25 million contract, and although a hamstring injury caused the wide receiver to miss seven games during the 2024 season, the two-time Pro Bowler plans to return for his 12th NFL campaign.
“I feel good,” Thielen said while making the media rounds during Super Bowl Week. “I took two weeks off and got my energy back. Started training already. Spent a ton of time with my family. And just kind of thought about how the end of the season went, the progression, the things, the moves that the leadership in this organization are doing. I’m really excited about Bryce and what the future holds for this organization, and I want to be a part of it.”
After catching 103 passes for 1,014 yards and four touchdowns in Young’s rookie season, Thielen had 48 receptions for 615 yards and five touchdowns in 2024. In the final six games of the season, Thielen caught 37 passes for 449 yards and four touchdowns and recorded two 100-yard performances.
During those six games, Young completed 121-of-196 passes for 1,320 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions.
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Young joined the Panthers from Alabama as the first selection of the 2023 NFL Draft. He started 16 games as a rookie, and Carolina completed the season with only two victories. When the Panthers lost their first two games in 2024, they replaced Young in the lineup with Dalton.
After five starts, Dalton sustained a thumb injury in a traffic accident. Young returned to the starting spot and stayed there for the remaining 10 games. Carolina won four of the final nine to finish the season at 5-12.
“When he was truly able to be himself and to have that kind of energy,” Thielen said at the end of the season about Young, “and not necessarily from a verbal standpoint, but from body language, confidence — when he really started to buy in to that ‘You know what? I’m just going to be myself and I’m going to play free and just let it rip and have fun doing it,’ it really started to go through the team like a virus in a good way. And so you felt that as an individual and you felt that as an offense and as a team, and I think that’s why he had a lot of success towards the end of the year.”