The Carolina Panthers named their starting quarterback Monday, doing what has been expected for the past couple of weeks when they named Baker Mayfield as the winner of the job.
It was a “Captain Obvious” sort of move, but also the right thing to do. For those who have watched the Panthers in practice, Mayfield was clearly outplaying Sam Darnold. He throws a better ball, takes more downfield shots and has learned enough of the offense (although certainly not all of it) to make the Panthers comfortable throwing him out there in Week 1.
That first game, Sept. 11 at home against the Cleveland Browns, will be a revenge game of sorts for Mayfield, whether he admits it or not. Mayfield quarterbacked the Browns for almost all of the past four seasons, but Cleveland grabbed Deshaun Watson this offseason and gave him the most ridiculous contract in NFL history.
Certainly perturbed and suddenly expendable, Mayfield was traded to Carolina on July 6 for a conditional fifth-round draft pick. Carolina has tried in a couple of ways to replace Darnold after he went 4-7 as a starter in 2021 — trying out Cam Newton 2.0 last season and then, very regrettably, entering the Watson sweepstakes again in 2022.
Maybe the third time is the charm with Mayfield as Darnold’s replacement, and maybe it isn’t given the Panthers’ awful history with trying to solve the QB issue ever since Newton got hurt at Pittsburgh in 2018.
But this is a direction the team had to take, because if you don’t have QB solved, you don’t have a winning team. Darnold is a backup quarterback who will make a lot of money and stay in the NFL a long time, but 2021 proved that you don’t want to build your team’s future around him. (It also doesn’t hurt that Mayfield will help the Panthers sell more tickets).
As Steve Smith, the Panthers great who also serves as the team’s analyst for preseason games, put it Friday night: Mayfield has charisma, swagger and a John Wayne mentality. Darnold, although he’s a fine backup QB, doesn’t excite anybody. “He’s going to put you to sleep, reading a book,” Smith said. “We don’t need any librarians.”
Panthers coach Matt Rhule, of course, was more diplomatic in announcing the Mayfield promotion. It’s likely Mayfield will get some work with the other starters Friday night in Carolina’s third and final exhibition game, vs. Buffalo.
Mayfield and Darnold have had a civil competition throughout training camp. “It’s not about trying to stab one another in the back,” Mayfield said. And it will continue to need to be civil, because history shows that QBs get hurt and Panther fans certainly haven’t seen the last of Darnold.
Darnold will play sometime this season. And he will need to play decently, because Carolina doesn’t have a great third option. Rookie Matt Corral sustained a severe foot injury in Friday night’s exhibition and is likely done for 2022, so it’s quite possible the Panthers will begin the season with only two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster.
But Mayfield is the guy, and he needs to be the guy. He’s still got a lot of prove — he’s a one-year rental at this point who’s playing for a new contract in 2023. And if he plays well, Christian McCaffrey stays healthy and the defense makes another leap, this could be a playoff team.
That’s a whole lot of ifs, but Mayfield at least gives the Panthers hope.
And after going 22-43 over the past four seasons, they sorely need that.
