There have been a lot of bad, lopsided, franchise-destroying, what-were-you-thinking trades in NFL history.

You’d be hard-pressed to find one that fell apart more quickly and decisively than, first, the Carolina Panthers landing the No. 1 draft pick in 2023 and, second, completely botching the evaluation process to determine who should go with that selection.

On Monday, following another loss to Carolina, head coach Dave Canales announced the benching of that draft pick, quarterback Bryce Young. Just two games into Young’s second season, he will be replaced by veteran Andy Dalton.

Even though Canales has indicated that he will continue to support Young in the long term, the consequences of this action have been seen by everyone.

If Young isn’t worth playing on a bad team this early in the season for a first-year head coach, when would he be? If the Panthers have so little faith in Young’s ability to win games (or just not lose them) that it’s unfair to the rest of the locker room to draft him, how does that change?

Young has completed just 55.4 percent of his passes this season and has thrown three interceptions and no touchdowns. Carolina is 0-2. It follows a disappointing rookie season in which he was no better and ranked 29th among NFL starters in Total QBR.

Carolina won just two games last season as Young showed little of the skills of a viable NFL quarterback, let alone a franchise winner, that you would expect from the first player drafted. At some point, reality is reality. This time, it came fast.

Young is young and Carolina is a dysfunctional mess, so maybe better days are ahead for the former Heisman Trophy winner out of Alabama. Right now, though, this has a chance to go down as one of the worst No. 1 overall picks in memory.

But that, as Panthers fans know all too well, is just the beginning of this nightmare.

Just over a year ago, then-Carolina general manager Scott Fitterer and former head coach Frank Reich were so confident in the potential of the rookie quarterbacks that they traded wide receiver DJ Moore, 2023 and 2024 first-round picks, and 2023 and 2025 second-round picks to Chicago, moving up from No. 9 to No. 1.

They then did a talent survey and concluded that Young was the right man.

“There is consensus,” Reich said. “And we are excited.”

Soon no one was enthusiastic about it anymore.

Fitterer was fired in January after the Panthers’ 2-15 season. Reich didn’t last that long, being fired in November after going 1-10.

Meanwhile, Chicago used its draft picks to grab quarterback Caleb Williams, offensive tackle Darnell Wright and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson (the 2025 second-round pick has yet to be selected), all of whom started in Sunday’s loss to Houston. Moore, meanwhile, has 11 receptions this season.

That’s four or maybe five key players, including a potential franchise QB, for one player now replacing the Red Rifle.

That’s bad, but not that bad.

With the No. 1 overall pick, the Panthers had their pick of the entire 2023 QB class. That included CJ Stroud, who starred at Ohio State.

Stroud had long been the favorite to go with the first pick. Instead, Carolina went the other way, believing in a 5-foot-10 quarterback who was the smallest in the league at his position when he was selected. The Texans immediately took Stroud with the second overall pick.

While Young struggled, Stroud was named the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year after throwing for 23 touchdowns against just five interceptions to lead the Texans to the playoffs. This season, the Texans are off to a 2-0 start with Stroud completing 69.1 percent of his passes with three more TDs and zero interceptions.

Stroud isn’t just a franchise quarterback; he has the aura of a future All-Pro who can seriously lead Houston to the Super Bowl.

And he was there for the taking, it was worth giving up all those possessions to get him.

Only Carolina opted not to sign him, and now fans — and team owner David Tepper — will be able to watch Stroud — and those draft picks — excel elsewhere for years to come.

Less than 17 months later, it appears that this is all over. After just 18 starts, Bryce Young heads to the bench, setting perhaps the all-time speed record with a terrible trade and draft decision.