Bryce Young Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

The Carolina Panthers may have decided to bench former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, but in a surprising twist, it doesn’t sound like they’re willing to completely part ways with him.

According to reports from NFL insiders Ian Rapoport and Jay Glazer, the Carolina Pathers have no plans to trade Bryce Young even despite his benching.

“Here is my understanding – we have not seen the last of Bryce Young as a starter for Carolina. They still believe that he can be that franchise guy. What he needed – they believe – was a refresh. He was overwhelmed, he was overloaded,” Rapoport said during an appearance on NFL Live on Sunday.

“Now, obviously, teams have called about a potential trade. It always happens in this situation. They have no plans to trade him. They still believe in him.”

Glazer shared a similar report as he revealed that four teams have reached out to Carolina about a possible trade, but the Panthers are not interested.

“There’s four teams who actually called the Panthers this week, trying to inquire to see if they could trade for Bryce Young. All for teams were told emphatically by Carolina, ‘We are not trading him. We do still think there is a future here.’

“When he plays again this year or if he starts again this year is kind of up to Bryce Young. They want him to learn from Andy Dalton now and see him make strides.”

This is obviously a rather shocking decision given his struggles and the fact that the team decided to bench him in the middle of the season.

We’ll have to see how this works out for them.