We probably didn’t need the head coach of the Carolina Panthers to tell us this, but the Queen City will not be the next landing spot for free-agent quarterback Russell Wilson. Nonetheless, Dave Canales was kind enough to make that clear on Wednesday.
Canales was a guest on today’s episode of Up & Adams, which was filmed from Bank of America Stadium in celebration of the team’s new partnership with FanDuel. Host Kay Adams brought up Canales’ history with Wilson as well as the online chatter about the nine-time Pro Bowler potentially finding a match with the Panthers.
“Well, this is not the situation for Russ,” Canales responded. “But what I will say about him is taking that chance and that opportunity to go to Denver, I really admire him for that. I really admire the courage it took to say, ‘I’m gonna branch out away from what I’m comfortable with.'”
Wilson cracked into the NFL with the Seattle Seahawks in 2012, when Canales was entering his third season as the team’s wide receivers coach. It wouldn’t be until 2018, when Canales was promoted to quarterbacks coach, that the two worked directly together.
The pairing was quite beneficial for Wilson, who threw for a then-career-high 35 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. Over their four years beside one another—which also saw Canales serve as the passing game coordinator in 2020 and 2021—Wilson averaged 3,720.8 passing yards, 32.8 touchdowns and 7.8 interceptions per season.
But with Bryce Young firmly entrenched as the team’s starter, Mr. Unlimited would be extremely limited in Carolina.
