Report: Carolina Panthers ‘willing to scour the earth’ for new long-term QB in 2021

The Carolina Panthers missed out on the Matthew Stafford sweepstakes, but their efforts to upgrade over Teddy Bridgewater at the quarterback position are reportedly far from finished.

According to the latest word out of Carolina, the organization is absolutely determined to land a new face of the franchise to lead its offense in 2021 and well after.

In a lengthy ESPN insider article posted on Thursday, reporter Jeremy Fowler outlined the mentality of new Panthers owner David Tepper, new general manager Scott Fitterer and head coach Matt Rhule:

They have an aggressive owner, an aggressive GM, an aggressive coach, and they are all willing to scour the earth for one thing — a long-term solution at quarterback. They don’t seem sold on Teddy Bridgewater.

What’s the full context of Fowler’s remarks? Well, he and two other ESPN reporters among the nine surveyed for the piece project that Carolina will ultimately be the landing spot for Houston Texans superstar Deshaun Watson.

Wow. There are a lot of teams linked to Watson, but the Panthers aren’t often leading the conversation. Usually, it’s the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins who headline the list of Watson suitors, because they own the second and third overall picks in the 2021 NFL Draft. Therefore, they’d provide Houston much more flexibility and power over who would succeed Watson under center.

On the other hand, Carolina does have the No. 8 pick in the first round of this year’s draft, and with all the other assets that may come the Texans’ way in a prospective trade, they could use some of those to maneuver up from that slot.

Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Bridgewater was part of a trade package the Panthers offered to Stafford that nearly went through until the Rams outbid them. Bridgewater ranked 29th out of 38 qualifying quarterbacks in Pro Football Focus’ 2020 grades, so it’s clear he’s on the outs in Charlotte.