If the Carolina Panthers knew all along that Baker Mayfield would be their starting quarterback, then why did they stage a competition for the job?
Did they want Mayfield to win over the respect of his new teammates? Did they want to potentially up the trade value of Sam Darnold? Or were they really holding an honest battle between the two men?
Maybe it’s some or none of that. Or, maybe it’s a little of what NFL insider Mike Florio theorizes.
While chatting with co-host Chris Simms on a recent episode of Pro Football Talk, Florio suggested that the Panthers may have wanted to gauge Mayfield’s maturity by making him earn the spot.
“That’s boring,” Florio said of Mayfield’s relatively tame comments from Monday about heading into Week 1. “But that’s what I think Baker Mayfield needs to be in Carolina. He needs to embrace boring. He was a little too controversial in Cleveland. And Chris, I kinda had a theory that they did this competition between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold just to see how Baker Mayfield would handle not having the job given to him. Do we have a grown-up at the quarterback position?”
That, of course, is a nod to Mayfield’s reputation within the Cleveland Browns organization—one that painted him as “childish and immature.” A report by Jason Lloyd of The Athletic back in July noted that his behavior allegedly annoyed coaches and teammates, even to a point where he divided the locker room.
Fortunately for Mayfield, he has a new locker room that he’s not dividing. In fact, he’s getting over quite well in it thus far.
And as for the Browns, their new adult quarterback will be missing the first 11 games of the season after being suspended for allegations of sexual misconduct from over two dozen women.
