Why the Carolina Panthers should be in on the Brendan Sorsby sweepstakes

Why the Carolina Panthers should be in on the Brendan Sorsby sweepstakes originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . All things considered, things went pretty well for the Carolina Panthers in 2025.

The playoff drought, after seven seasons, came to a close. They won the NFC South, revived Bryce Young's career, and -- for the first time since Ron Rivera left office -- can feel confident in the coaching staff's competence. Those are all wins, and in a division that projects to be middling again in 2026, it might be enough to earn a home playoff game in back-to-back seasons.

Carolina's recent success, though, is tempered by the limitations that made 2025 a nail-biter. The Panthers' biggest question mark is still quarterback, and as he enters Year 4, the former first-overall pick has lots to prove before he is cemented into Carolina's future plans. Carolina can make a splash this summer Young will be starting for the Panthers in 2026.

But there's one lever left for the Panthers to pull this offseason to upgrade the quarterback room and potentially pave a path out of purgatory: the supplemental draft. Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback Brendan Sorsby seems unlikely to play a down in Lubbock after the NCAA opened an investigation into a gambling scandal. If Sorsby is found to have gambled on Indiana football games as a member of the team, he will almost certainly be banned from college football.