On Monday morning, it was announced that the Carolina Panthers would be releasing Baker Mayfield. The Denver Broncos should sign him immediately. This could be a gift that the team didn’t even know they needed.
Sources: The #Panthers are expected to release QB Baker Mayfield. He'll hit waivers when it's finalized later today.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 5, 2022
The tweet came from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and could be a puzzling decision. Mayfield’s time with the Browns ended when the team swung a trade for Deshaun Watson. Mayfield was instrumental in getting the Browns back to the playoffs for the first time in about 561 years.
He was the first overall pick back in the 2018 NFL Draft where the Broncos selected Bradley Chubb four picks later. Denver seemed to have some interest in Mayfield. Mayfield was then traded to the Carolina Panthers and was soon named their starter.
The Panthers have used multiple quarterbacks this year and Mayfield’s performance has not been great. Carolina seemed to think late in the season was a good time to release him. He’ll do on waivers and the Broncos should be one of the first teams in the waiver line to have a chance to nab him.
Obviously, there is a huge fit for the San Francisco 49ers as they just lost Jimmy Garoppolo for the year. The Denver Broncos should have interest in Mayfield, though.
He would immediately supplant Brett Rypien on the roster as the primary backup. Rypien is not good, even by backup standards. Baker Mayfield also has some solid play on his resume and could perhaps do well by settling for a backup job for a bit.
This also gives you quality insurance in case Russell Wilson’s body breaks down or his play deteriorates going into 2023. I do believe Denver should claim Mayfield and keep him on the roster for more than this year.
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This gives the team a truly high-quality backup player and someone you could even use as a one-year bridge if the team were to move off of Wilson in the near future. Also, like I just mentioned, if Wilson were to miss a game or two in the future, you’d have a much better chance at winning with Mayfield under center than you would if Rypien was taking snaps.