Dave Canales was asked whether he has looked into trading for a premier wide receiver like Tyreek Hill to support Bryce Young as the Panthers quarterback. The former first-round pick has struggled in his first two years as the starter in Carolina but looked good towards the end of the season.
Appearing on Kay Adams’ show, Dave Canales said that there have been conversations when asked by the host if Tyreek Hill has featured in discussions about how the franchise goes forward. He said that there has been some talk about that and while that is tempting, the Panthers’ head coach feels that they need to address the defensive side first as the worst-ranked team on that front in 2024.
He added that Carolina wants to play complimentary football where they win on all sides of the ball, saying:
“We had the conversations. You know, there were some, there were some interesting conversations that came up over the last couple of weeks. You know, it’s really tempting, but at the same time, like, we have to address, you know, the needs on defense first. We’re 32nd in the NFL on defense, and that’s something where our focus has gone to make sure that we can play good balance, complimentary football.”
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Dave Canales excited by Bryce Young’s improvement without Tyreek Hill
While a deal to bring Tyreek Hill to Carolina might not be in the works now, Dave Canales is excited about working with Bryce Young going forward. He made that clear during his media availability at the NFL Combine, saying:
“Each week, there was improvement. You can imagine if you could just get a one week better for a long time, how good you could become… He can just stand in there and play good football and just watching the weekly progression of it, that’s kind of just talked about a little bit there.”
The Panthers’ head coach also appreciated his quarterback taking more of a leadership role in the locker room, adding:
“I got a lot of excitement, a lot of appreciation for the way that Bryce just took a leadership role in this too, and really made statements to his teammates in that locker room… I’m sure all of you around the team the guys started to feel that like this guy’s real, you know, and so I’m excited to go into this offseason knowing we have this quarterback.”
For now, Dave Canales seems to be focusing on making the defense better so that Bryce Young does not have a mountain to climb every time he steps on the turf.
