Baker Mayfield is one of the more notable names expected to change teams ahead of the 2023-24 NFL season.
Last year the former Oklahoma standout joined the Carolina Panthers in hopes of pumping fresh life into his career. The Cleveland Browns had just dumped him in favor of Deshaun Watson, and many were curious to see how he would respond.
As it turns out, not particularly impressively.
Mayfield didn’t do much of note in Carolina and eventually saw the Panthers opt for both P.J. Walker and Sam Darnold over him. Eventually, he parted ways with the team and joined the Los Angeles Rams in a late-season bid to prove he was still a starter.
The results to that experiment were mixed as well. Mayfield had one good game and one decent one, but he largely failed to separate himself from the pack in L.A. as well.
When it was all said and done, Mayfield ended his 2022-23 NFL campaign with 2163 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Both were career-lows. His 63.6 percent completion percentage with the Rams was better than his 57.8 percent with the Panthers, but both were within range of his 61.4 percent career completion percentage.
So where does Mayfield go from here? Thus far two teams have been mentioned as being in serious contention for his services.
This week, a frontrunner emerged.
According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the New Orleans Saints are a squad to keep an eye on. Obviously the NFL is in a state of flux right now with quarterbacks playing musical chairs, and Mayfield will likely find himself a chair based on what guys like Derek Carr and Aaron Rodgers end up doing.
“The Saints staff was high on Mayfield ahead of the 2018 draft, and those old draft evals can definitely have an impact down the road with guys as they get older and hit free agency, especially when there’s a need that can be tied to it,” Breer wrote.
Clearly New Orleans has been connected to Carr in recent weeks, but he is arguably the most sought-after passer available right now. There are three franchises chasing him at the moment. It would certainly behoove the Saints to have a Plan B.
Mayfield definitely isn’t anyone’s first choice as a starting quarterback at this juncture. Clips of him trying to throw passes at practice haven’t exactly increased his stock value. And his off-the-field woes, like that weird leaked DMs scandal, are certainly eyebrow raising.
Vanessa Bryant stole the show at #NBAAllStar this weekend. https://t.co/nSez5HR8et
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 19, 2023
That said, it is hard to ignore how decorated Mayfield was coming out of college. If nothing else, that will always earn him a second-look from various NFL franchises.
A lot of quarterbacks are going to be changing teams over the next couple of months. Mayfield will be one of them.
Which chair will Mayfield be sitting in when the music finally stops? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
