Panthers’ Baker Mayfield reportedly starting Week 1 vs. Browns

Baker Mayfield will reportedly start in the Carolina Panthers‘ highly anticipated Week 1 matchup against his former team, the Cleveland Browns.

Mayfield and Sam Darnold have been in an open competition for the starting job since the Panthers acquired Mayfield from the Browns in July.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule previously told reporters that he wasn’t “putting a timetable on the quarterback position” until after the team’s Week 2 preseason game against New England on Aug. 19, but it seems things have leaned in favor of the 27-year-old former Heisman Trophy winner.

On Thursday’s “Undisputed,” Skip Bayless broke down why he believes that this was a no-brainer for Rhule, saying that the decision to start Mayfield “will save his job this year.”

“Baker is way better than Sam Darnold,” Bayless said. “[Baker] chose them. He took far less money to make the deal happen so that he could go to Carolina because he loves what he is seeing in Carolina. He does see the makings of a playoff team in Carolina, and he is now return to being ‘walk-on Baker’ with a big chip back on his shoulder pads.”

The Panthers gave up a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick to get Mayfield from the Browns this offseason. Carolina is also paying Mayfield roughly $4.86 million, with Cleveland picking up the other $10.5 million.

That’s a far cry from the Panthers giving up three draft picks — including a second-round selection — to get Darnold from the New York Jets via trade in 2021. The 25-year-old is getting $18.9 million guaranteed as part of the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.

Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, followed closely by Darnold at No. 3. Since then, Mayfield has more passing touchdowns (92 to 54) and passing yards (14,125 to 10,624), as well as a better passer rating (87.8 to 76.9) than Darnold. 

As a rookie, Mayfield threw for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns. Both of those numbers are better than any in Darnold’s four-year career.

Even when Mayfield struggled mightily in 2021, he threw for 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while Darnold passed for 2,527 yards, nine touchdowns and 13 interceptions. Darnold was also the NFL’s worst deep passer last season, completing only 27.5% of his 20-plus-yard pass attempts for just 368 total yards.

Still, Shannon Sharpe isn’t optimistic that the Panthers made the right move, saying that Mayfield is still a “middle-of-the-pack quarterback” no matter how you shake it.

“I don’t view Baker Mayfield as a substantial upgrade over Sam Darnold,” Sharpe said. 

“Baker was not credentialed enough to come in and get a job like a Peyton Manning. … I don’t have a problem with how Matt Rhule handled this situation, I just don’t know how much better Baker makes [the Panthers] than a Sam Darnold. Everything is really gonna be really predicated on Christian McCaffrey staying healthy.”

Baker Mayfield reportedly named Panthers QB1 for Week 1 vs. Browns

Shannon Sharpe explains why he isn’t optimistic about the Panthers’ move.

Mayfield has also been working back to full strength after undergoing surgery in mid-January to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, an injury that limited him to 14 games last season.

Darnold didn’t miss any time due to injury in 2021, but he did only appear in 12 games (11 starts) after being benched for backup PJ Walker and again after the mid-season return of Cam Newton.