The 2022 season is proving to be rough on quarterback Baker Mayfield. The former first-overall pick has gone from being a starter in the league in Week 1 to becoming unemployed by Week 13.
According to multiple reports, the Carolina Panthers have released Mayfield on Monday. The 27-year-old player is now heading to waivers and, if not claimed by another team, will become a free agent.
The move was a mutual decision by the two parties. After losing his status as a starter, Mayfield realized he would have to look for opportunities elsewhere and asked the team to release him. The Panthers happily obliged, as they were already planning to let Oklahoma State product walk at the end of the season.
Mayfield joined the Panthers shortly before the start of the 2022 NFL season in a trade with the Cleveland Browns. Carolina hoped he would elevate a talented team and finally resolve their QB problems. But that wasn’t the case.
Mayfield mostly struggled during his time as starting signal-caller for the Panthers. He completed a career-low 57.8 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,313 yards, six touchdowns, and six interceptions in seven games. He was 1-5 as a starter.
The Panthers will now proceed with Sam Darnold and PJ Walker as their quarterbacks for the remainder of the season. Mayfield, on the other hand, will look for a place where he could make an impact. The San Francisco 49ers seem like a plausible destination considering that they have lost their starter Jimmy Garoppolo to a season-ending injury on Sunday.
