Although the Panthers are starting Baker Mayfield in Week 11, they want to see Sam Darnold in action this season. Steve Wilks said he would like to give Darnold some work, though the interim HC did not indicate that would be certain to happen this week against the Ravens. “I’m interested in winning the game. This is not pay $250 to get to play,” Wilks said, via The Athletic’s Joe Person (on Twitter).
Carolina used one of its injury activations to move Darnold onto its 53-man roster last week, but the former No. 3 overall pick did not see any action against the Falcons. P.J. Walker is out of the picture for the time being, after becoming the third Carolina QB this season to suffer a high ankle sprain. Mayfield will make his first start since sustaining his ankle injury in Week 9. Here is the latest from what has become one of the more complex QB situations in recent NFL history:
- After playing hurt last season, Mayfield has not turned it around. On the radar for a potential franchise-QB deal in 2021, Mayfield is on track for free agency for the first time. The market for the former No. 1 overall pick may check in at $5-$7MM on a prove-it deal, David Newton of ESPN.com notes. Mayfield’s 17.7 QBR ranks last in the NFL.
- This situation has been in flux since Cam Newton‘s 2019 foot injury. Prior to the team making the Newton-for-Teddy Bridgewater change, GM Marty Hurney and most of the Panthers’ scouts were high on Justin Herbert. But Matt Rhule did not view 2020 as the window to draft a quarterback, with Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com indicating in an expansive piece the team saw a jump from No. 7 overall to No. 4 — ahead of the QB-seeking Dolphins and Chargers — as too costly. While then-Giants GM Dave Gettleman was not keen on trading down, going most of his GM career without ever doing so, the Panthers not making a push for Herbert has led to QB chaos.
- After the Panthers determined Bridgewater — a preference of former OC Joe Brady — would be a one-and-done in Charlotte, they made a big offer for Matthew Stafford. Negotiations between new Panthers GM Scott Fitterer and Lions rookie GM Brad Holmes at the 2021 Senior Bowl led to Panthers brass leaving Mobile believing they were set to acquire Stafford, Fowler notes. It is interesting to learn how far the GMs progressed in talks, because Stafford made it known soon after he did not want to play for the Panthers. The Rams then came in late with their two-first-rounder offer, forcing the Panthers and others to look elsewhere.
- Rhule then pushed hard for Darnold, Fowler adds, after Panthers staffers went through film sessions evaluating he, Carson Wentz and Drew Lock. The Panthers sent the Jets second-, fourth- and sixth-round picks for the former No. 3 overall pick and picked up his guaranteed $18.9MM fifth-year option. Owner David Tepper begrudgingly picked up the option but became irked by the 2023 cost hanging over the franchise, per Fowler. Tepper is believed to have held up this year’s Mayfield trade talks in order to move the Browns to pick up more money on his option salary. The delay was connected to the Panthers already having Darnold’s fifth-year option to pay.
- Tepper’s main prize during this multiyear QB odyssey, Deshaun Watson, was leery of the Panthers’ staff uncertainty, Fowler adds. All things being equal between the four finalists — Atlanta, Carolina, Cleveland, New Orleans — the Panthers were not believed to be Watson’s first choice. The Falcons were viewed as the team that would have landed Watson if the Browns did not make that unprecedented $230MM guarantee offer.
- Fitterer offered support for a Mitch Trubisky signing this offseason, according to Fowler, who adds the team never engaged in extended talks with Jimmy Garoppolo‘s camp. While Garoppolo said the Panthers were in the mix, the team was believed to be leery of his injury history. Trubisky is in Year 1 of a two-year, $14.3MM deal. While Trubisky may well be available again in 2023, the Panthers — having added six draft picks from the Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson trades — will be connected to this year’s crop of QB prospects.
They also could’ve drafted Fields last year without moving up. Horn is very good, but they needed a QB, Fields was a really good prospect, and trading picks for Darnold that far into his rookie deal was a much riskier move than drafting a QB, even if you were optimistic about Darnold.
In hindsight, I’m glad Rhule didn’t draft either Herbert or Fields because it’s clear to me he/his staff wouldn’t have developed either of them well. Now we at least have a shot at getting a QB (with help around him) that theoretically at least a new staff can develop into something worthwhile.
Yeah, hindsight is tough, because with hindsight you’d undo at least four QB choices and a whole coaching regime. And you’re right that the next coach will have a high pick in what may well be a very strong QB spot with a strong tackle tandem and at least one star receiver. But man would it be nice to have not spent so many picks acquiring other teams’ busts or bad QB plans.
I’m not so sure that Fields would have made much of a difference. We’re not certain that he will end up being a five year starter, considering that by far his main strength is as a runner. Fields’ passing acumen at this point leaves much to be desired from a mechanical perspective, let alone his ability to read defenses.
Fields is still young, and seems to have a character and commitment second to none in the NFL (which is saying a lot considering the high character and commitment of other guys like Hurts and Allen), but he has a long way to go in figuring out how to be consistent passer who does not have to rely on his legs to make plays. Chicago was not a bastion of stability, but I’m not sure that Carolina is/was much better. Carolina was not in a place to build around that QB right away, due to all of its issues. Even a pro-ready QB would have struggled, and I’m not certain yet that Fields’ play style would make that investment worth it in the three or so years that it may have taken for the Panthers to be ready, and then in successive years beyond.
I don’t disagree with any of your points. At the same time, with hindsight AND foresight, letting the 2021 draft come to them and taking the best QB prospect on the board would have landed them a better plan, higher upside, and a more reasonable value bet than anything else they’ve tried since Tepper entered the picture. I’d rather lose Horn, gain Fields, and get back all the picks spent on Darnold, Mayfield, and Corrall than be where they are now, and I would have told you the Fields vs. Darnold part before that draft too.
I suppose that it depends on if Carolina can stabilize the QBS position next year. Whether that involves one of their current players actually rebounding (with a coach other than Rhule, and more importantly, someone other than McAdoo smothering their development), or picking a new QB, Horn would be a valuable asset long term. If they don’t, then you would be right.
I do agree that Corral was a wasted pick, and the Mayfield deal essentially gave them what the Darnold deal did. The issue is really with the team, not the players, as we know. And by “the team”, I think we all know it means “the owner”.
“This is not pay $250 to get to play”.
I think fans could get themselves concussed for less than that elsewhere.
The Broncos would like to offer Mr. Unlimited and his $245 million contract to anyone crazy enough to take it.
Meddlesome owners spell disaster for any franchise. No matter who they choose at QB, if Tepper continues to interfere, the Panthers will remain a mess.
Agreed.
I don’t have an issue with meddlesome owners per se but few NFL owners today actually have any knowledge of football. Al Davis ran every aspect of the Raiders and made it work because he did have football knowledge.