The Baker Mayfield era in Carolina is officially over.
Mayfield was waived on Monday morning in a move that ends his stay with the Panthers at 12 games. Mayfield started the first five of those games before an ankle injury knocked him out of the lineup and he made one more ineffective start in Week 11 to wrap up his on-field time with the team.
With Mayfield out, the Panthers will send a 2024 fifth-round pick to Cleveland to complete the trade for the quarterback. It could have been upgraded to a fourth-round pick, but Mayfield needed to play 70 percent of the team’s offensive snaps for that to happen.
Per multiple reports, Mayfield asked for his release from the Panthers. Presumably that’s because he hopes to land somewhere he can play over the final weeks of the regular season. Many have pointed to the 49ers as a possibility given Jimmy Garoppolo’s season-ending injury, but there was reportedly some interest from the Seahawks this offseason and teams like the Rams and Texans could see Mayfield as a better option than the ones currently available to their offenses.
