Baker Mayfield to the Panthers was the only move that ever made sense
The Baker Mayfield saga has finally reached its conclusion. He is headed to the Carolina Panthers to begin the second act of his NFL career.
This is not exactly a franchise-altering move for the Cleveland Browns. That move already happened earlier in the offseason when they landed Deshaun Watson and gave him a fully-guaranteed $230 million deal.
For the Panthers, however, it may be a final shot for the current regime to keep their jobs. This is why Mayfield to Carolina was always the obvious move waiting to happen.
The Panthers needed Baker Mayfield
Matt Rhule was hired in 2020 to lead the Panthers. Jumping to the present, he has compiled a 10-23 record in that span. But the main concern surrounding his tenure has been curious choices at the quarterback position.
These choices began in 2020 when Cam Newton was let go in favor of Teddy Bridgewater. The team then decided the following year that Bridgewater was not a good fit, so they traded for Sam Darnold. He was injured early, leading to a rotation between P.J. Walker and Newton, who made a disastrous return following a stint with the Patriots.
It became increasingly clear that Darnold was not the answer. Unfortunately, the quarterback class of the 2022 NFL Draft was not exactly an elite selection of talent. Kenny Pickett was the only signal-caller taken in the first round, and Carolina ended up taking one in the third round in Ole Miss' Matt Corral. This provided them with options, but just like in the past, there is no clear-cut favorite.
The Panthers and Seattle Seahawks were left as the two teams with no clear plans at quarterback. However, it can be argued that the Seahawks got Drew Lock and are fine with that reality. So when considering a Mayfield trade, all eyes went to Carolina.
Things would've been different had the team just hired a new coach. However, Rhule is in his third year and has done much more losing than winning. His team needs a spark and there just so happened to be a fiery quarterback looking to prove himself.
There is no guarantee that the fifth-year QB will find success in Carolina. Yet both sides are perfect matches and have been ever since the Browns acquired Watson. Carolina needs a face for the franchise, while the former Cleveland shot-caller is a quarterback looking to prove Cleveland was the problem, and not him.
Moreover, there is also another side to this. Let's say the Panthers have a losing record and their new signal-caller is average at best. That might very well leave Mayfield, Rhule, and Darnold all looking for new fits in 2023. This opens the question of whether the Mayfield-Carolina relationship is one for the deep future.