3 reasons the Carolina Panthers are right not to pursue Baker Mayfield

Baker Mayfield has been too inconsistent

We’ve seen this story before with the Carolina Panthers taking a shot at a young former top-three draft pick hoping to turn his career around. In fact, Sam Darnold was in the same draft class as Baker Mayfield, picked just two spots after him.

Unlike Mayfield, Darnold never led his team to the playoffs and hasn’t shown anything like the Pro Bowl potential. However, the inconsistency and flaws are visible in both quarterbacks and with the Panthers having failed at the position multiple times the past two years, they can’t afford to give up assets and miss again.

Mayfield is owed $18.85 million next year since his fifth-year option was picked up just as Darnold’s. That’s just too much money to risk when Carolina is already having to deal with what they owe the former USC star.

Being able to get a read on what type of quarterback Mayfield is has been tough to figure out. He can get hot but also makes a lot of bad decisions and cost his team in a big way during crunch time.

In 2020, he had his best season, throwing 26 touchdowns to just eight interceptions for 3,563 yards but his play dropped significantly in 2021. Some of that can be contributed to a lingering shoulder issue, but there is much more to this scenario than meets the eye.