Panthers Expected to Name Baker Mayfield Week 1 Starter, per Source

Carolina’s new QB will likely be under center against his old team in Week 1.

As has been anticipated for several weeks, the Panthers are expected to name recently-acquired quarterback Baker Mayfield as the team’s Week 1 starter, sources told MMQB‘s Albert Breer.

“I think it’ll come before, not after, this week’s game against the Bills. Maybe even Monday,” Breer wrote in his weekly column. “There won’t be any surprises. Baker Mayfield has pretty clearly been the best quarterback in camp.”

Breer noted both Mayfield’s on-field play and off-the-field maturity impressed Carolina’s coaching staff as it evaluated the team’s crop of QBs. 

“The coaches sent him the playbook in early July during a no-contact period, and when he reported a couple weeks later, they were really impressed with the grasp he’d gained for a complex scheme without anyone else’s help,” Breer wrote. “[Mayfield] has also shown humility coming out of a rocky exit from Cleveland, and he’s been respectful in entering a quarterback room, melding quickly with Sam Darnold and Matt Corral, even though they were all competing for the same thing. So you add that stuff to what Mayfield’s shown in camp in the way of processing and instincts and field vision? And yeah, that decision is coming really soon.”

Mayfield, 27, spent his first four NFL seasons in Cleveland before being traded to Carolina in July. He threw for 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions last season, and he sports a 29–30 career record as a starter. Mayfield is now expected to be under center for Week 1 against the Browns as both franchises enter a new era.

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