CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When his son was drafted by his hometown team seven years ago, Chad Grier bought a Carolina Panthers hat and stuck it on top of the bookcase in his office at Providence Day School.After the Dallas Cowboys claimed Will Grier off waivers when the Panthers cut him in 2021, Chad Grier put a Dallas hat on the bookcase, next to the Panthers lid — a tradition he has kept up with every stop in the quarterback’s football odyssey.“It just became a thing,” Chad Grier said. “I just had to add a second Panthers hat. They’re in order across the top. Running out of room. He needs to stay with the Panthers for a while. It’d be great.”The collection now includes eight hats and six teams, with two apiece for Carolina and Dallas. Grier’s first stint with the Panthers was rough, bridging the end of the era led by coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton (though Cam returned later in a cameo role) and the start of Matt Rhule’s coaching tenure during the 2020 COVID-19 season.Grier, who starred at West Virginia after transferring from Florida, was a third-round pick in a 2019 Panthers’ draft class highlighted by linebacker Brian Burns. Grier and Burns are the only players still active from that group, though Grier hasn’t appeared in a regular-season game since his rookie season.Grier started the final two games at quarterback in 2019 under interim coach Perry Fewell, throwing four interceptions in two lopsided losses and leaving the finale with a foot injury after being sacked by the New Orleans Saints’ Cam Jordan.It’s the last time he saw the field after August. If Grier starts a regular-season game for the Panthers, who signed him to a one-year deal in April, it will mean starter Bryce Young and backup Kenny Pickett were hurt or ineffective. That hasn’t happened on Grier’s other teams, where he’s been relegated to the backup or No. 3 QB role.“Everybody’s been healthy, which I guess I bring good health to the quarterback room as well,” he said. “I’ve gotta put that on the resume: If you want your starter to be healthy, sign me.”There are other reasons why teams have continued to sign Grier, who was named Parade magazine’s high school player of the year in 2014 after racking up ridiculous numbers (his 14,565 passing yards rank second in North Carolina history to Chris Leak) while playing for his dad at Davidson Day School. Grier has enough talent to give coaches confidence he could win a game if called upon, while accepting his role on the scout team and serving in a support role.“I like my job. I’ve played for a lot of different people now. And everybody sees me in practice, sees me in the preseason, they know that I can play. They feel good about having me in the quarterback room,” Grier said in a phone interview last week.“Because as a 3, if a couple guys get hurt, they have somebody in the building that can go play good snaps for them and win football games. That’s been the feeling everywhere I’ve been, and that’s valuable. And I also bring a lot of experience into the room, which is valuable. So that’s carried me the past couple years. It carried me here to Carolina to help Bryce and be ready to play if I need to play.”It has carried the 31-year-old Grier to NFL cities on both coasts and across both the NFC and AFC. It has meant a lot of moves. Grier called his wife, Jeanne, a “trooper” for handling Airbnb rentals and other logistics while he has bounced around the league.The craziest year was 2023, which began with Grier being waived by Dallas at roster cutdowns and joining the Cincinnati Bengals’ practice squad the next day. About the time Jeanne arrived in Cincy three weeks later with their daughters, Eloise (9) and Adeline (6), the New England Patriots signed Grier to their active roster.Jeanne’s parents helped move her and the girls from the Griers’ house in Folly Beach, S.C., to Boston. They never had to experience a Boston winter. In November, after a finger injury to Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert, Grier was headed to L.A. to back up Easton Stick for the final four games of the season.Jeanne sat that one out. “They just went back to the beach and they’re like, ‘We’ll see you later,’” Grier said.The ’24 season was calmer, but only slightly. Grier followed Kellen Moore, his offensive coordinator with the Cowboys and Chargers, to Philadelphia when Moore took the same position with the Eagles. Behind a 2,000-yard rushing season from Saquon Barkley, the Eagles won 12 of their first 14 games and rolled to the Super Bowl.“They definitely had the best roster in football, and I knew that pretty early on,” Grier said. “It was Kellen’s first year. I knew the offense. So, when I got there, it was all about how can I help Jalen (Hurts) get ready to play?”Grier also helped Pickett, Hurts’ backup that year.“It was huge,” Pickett said. “He knows the intricacies of that system. So to have a guy like that, where you’re at practice and you’re standing and you’re not in and you’re watching, having really helpful conversations about each play that’s going on. Things that they’ve done when they were together in Dallas.”The Eagles cut Grier halfway through the season, but invited him to their ring ceremony the following summer and presented him with a Super Bowl ring.Grier introduced Pickett to golf in Philly. The two would leave OTA practices and head to the course, a routine they’ve resumed this spring in Charlotte. “He’s an athlete. He figured it out quick,” Grier said. “You get the bug when you get decent at it, and he got the bug.”Neither is a big bomber, which Grier said is by design. “But I’m a very smooth-swinging (player). I don’t try to hit it far. I try to hit it straight,” he said. “Kenny’s learning my ways as well.”On the topic of learning, Grier appreciated his exposure to Bill Belichick and “the Patriot way” during his two months in New England, though it came during a disappointing 4-13 season in what turned out to be Belichick’s final year with the Pats.“I love the way that he ran the program and thought he was a great guy. I learned a lot of football with him,” Grier said. “Special teams, defense, everything — he’s just a football coach.”Grier also admires Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who sought him out after Grier’s big game (305 passing yards and a touchdown, plus two rushing TDs) in a win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Dallas’ preseason finale in 2023.“He sat in my locker with me and just talked to me about how much he respected me and how great of a game that was,” Grier said. “Just talked for about five or so minutes. But he really cares and is a big part of every part of the organization from top down, and you feel that being a player there.”Carolina’s Will Grier scores a touchdown in a 2021 preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Charlotte native is back with the Panthers as one of the team’s four quarterbacks. (Bob Donnan / Imagn Images)After Grier spent last season on Dallas’ practice squad, the Cowboys offered him a position on Brian Schottenheimer’s coaching staff this year, according to Chad Grier, who said Will was leaning toward taking it before the Panthers called.“Man, there’s not a huge chance you’re gonna play (in Carolina) this year. But there’s zero chance you get to play if you’re coaching,” Chad recalled telling his son. “So I would say you stay in that league as a player as long as you possibly can. You have the rest of your life to coach.”Panthers coach Dave Canales believes all the moves Grier has made can benefit Young, as the Carolina starter enters his fourth season.“It’s always good, as you’re building that quarterback room, to bring guys in with experience who’ve been exposed to different systems, have seen defenses around the league,” Canales said. “We’re all in there to help Bryce. And the more information, the more people we can bring in to enrich the conversation, the better. So, I’m really happy that Will came in and chose to get back here to the Carolinas.”Chad Grier is also glad Will came home.Chad, a former East Carolina QB, has won eight state championships over a 15-year high school coaching career and coached more than 100 players who’ve gone on to play in college. Grier has been living with his dad this spring until Jeanne and his daughters move from Dallas, where they plan to live in the offseason. Chad said having Will around reminds him of the evenings they spent together when Chad coached him at Davidson Day.“When I get home, it’s the same deal. We sit on the couch and eat dinner. He’s looking at his iPad, looking at (Panthers’ practice) installs, and I’m working on scripts for the next day’s practice,” Chad said. “I mean, it’s surreal that I’m having this kind of time with him.”Despite his NFL status, Grier isn’t the most famous member of his family. Two younger brothers, Nash and Hayes, are social media influencers who boast millions of followers. But Grier has found peace on his own path, though he hasn’t played as much as he’d hoped.“Look, I’ll do it as long as I can. I’m waiting for that opportunity to play during the season and hopefully sign like a backup deal. Because I know if I get those minutes, I’ll play well enough to sign as a premium backup,” he said.“Until that point, I’m perfectly happy being a 3 and just being a high-caliber third quarterback. That’s valuable in this league. Some teams want a developmental guy in that third spot. But there’s a handful of teams that want more of a seasoned vet.”The Panthers have four quarterbacks on the roster after signing former Georgia Tech standout Haynes King as an undrafted free agent. Grier is getting most of the third-team reps during OTAs, though those are understandably limited behind the snaps for Young and Pickett.Grier and King figure to get the bulk of the playing time in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6. It’s unclear what happens from there, or whether the Panthers will keep three quarterbacks.“There’s (QB) rooms out there for me. I’d love for it to be here,” Grier said. “I think we can make a good run. We have a talented team. I think our defense is really good, so we have a shot. And I’d love to be here again next year.”So would a lot of friends and family members — including his dad, who’d have one less hat to buy.