Former Sooner star QB Baker Mayfield on the move to Carolina Panthers

The Cleveland Browns dragged their feet for months but finally dealt Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers for what will likely become a 4th round draft pick and ate $10.5 million in order to facilitate the move.

Mayfield himself allowed $3.5 million of his nearly $19 million contract to be incentive-laden to be cap friendly for his new club as well.

The move makes solid sense for the Panthers who clearly need a massive upgrade from Sam Darnold, which Mayfield certainly is, and a huge win for Mayfield who just needed to get the heck out of Cleveland and far away from the joke of a franchise that created arguably the most unstable situation for a young QB ever.

It had gotten to the point where any move would be a positive one for Mayfield.  Mayfield will be the Panthers starting QB, regardless of how much speculation and fake QB competitions will be talked about over the coming weeks.

I spoke with 4 Man Rush last night, discussing what the move meant for both Mayfield and the Panthers.

How Good Can the Panthers be now with their offseason moves?

Quite good in my opinion, the Panthers drafted the most talented offensive lineman in the NFL draft in Ickey Ekwonu, and picked up interior offensive linemen such as G Austin Corbett, and C Bradley Bozeman. This will allow Brady Christensen to move inside to guard, and with borderline pro bowl caliber right tackle Taylor Moten, the Panthers should have a significantly upgraded offensive line. Throw in the addition of offensive line coach James Campen and the boys in blue up front should be game for the next step.

The Panthers also snagged Rashard “Hollywood” Higgins from the Browns, with whom Mayfield has quite the connection.

How does Mayfield fit with the Carolina scheme?

Carolina offensive coordinator Ben Mcadoo runs an offense that resembles the West Coast system, which also adds in tons of run-pass-option and other modern wrinkles. He also loves to dial-up well-timed deep-ball opportunities. He employs mostly three-step drop and quick release for a QB. This means a lot of pre-snap answers, and quick post-snap reads. This fits great for Baker Mayfield, who is at his best when he can flip it and rip it. He has a quick release and a strong arm.

This system is the best fit for Mayfield on paper than any system he has played under since entering the NFL. Better yet, the personnel when it comes to catching the ball is also vastly improved. Mayfield will finally get a WR1, that he never had in Cleveland with WR D.J. Moore and a deep threat and true WR2 in Robby Anderson. Mayfield had Jarvis Landry and mismatched parts to throw to in Cleveland. Odell Beckham was often injured and was also clearly no longer the player he once was in New York.

Mayfield during his career has thrived in 11-personnel, which will be the common grouping for the Panthers, and when you add in the pass-catching ability of RB Christian McCaffery, there will be easier passes to complete in this system that has a chance for quality value.

It is also worth noting McAdoo was the offensive coordinator for the Giants when future Hall of Fame QB Eli Manning threw 30 or more TDs two the three times in his career.

Final thoughts

The saga is finally over, and Mayfield will have an opportunity to continue his career as an NFL QB. Mayfield appeared to be ascending before a torn labrum among other injuries derailed his 2021 season. The Browns were punished from a value perspective waiting as long as they did to make the move, and the Panthers get the 2017 Heisman winner for basically a four-piece chicken nugget happy meal.

Mayfield is now the odds-on favorite to win comeback player of the year in the NFL, and a playoff berth should be the expectation now for the Panthers who have a solid, young roster.