Panthers QB battle between Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold has dominated preseason chatter

When the Carolina Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield, the team invited an open quarterback competition to its training camp.

Such battles are rare. Only three other teams — the Steelers, Seahawks and Falcons — had yet to name their starting quarterback as of earlier this week.

Carolina hasn’t had a true training camp quarterback battle since 2003, when Rodney Peete held off Jake Delhomme and started the first game, only to be replaced at halftime by Delhomme, who then led the team to the Super Bowl.

Nearly 20 years later, the Panthers are again searching for stability at the game’s most important position.

After consecutive five-win seasons, coach Matt Rhule enters Year 3 with playoff expectations. Since January, the Panthers have been focused on improving at quarterback. General manager Scott Fitterer attempted to address those concerns by drafting rookie Matt Corral No. 94 overall and then trading for Mayfield to compete with incumbent Sam Darnold.

That trio — plus P.J. Walker — are all vying for valuable reps to prove why one over the others should be QB1.

But the Panthers remain in no rush to name a starter.

“Anytime you put timelines on things, you end up rushing to make bad decisions. To me, this is about very much being in the moment, and not making rash judgments,” Rhule said before camp opened. “Whenever we know, we’ll know. ... It’s our job to not just pick a starting quarterback, it’s to make sure that we have four guys that can go in and win for us.”

Through three weeks of training camp, his sentiment didn’t change. Mayfield and Darnold are the first-team quarterbacks, while Corral and Walker split third-team duties.

Mayfield has largely outplayed Darnold by generating more explosive plays through the air. His 40-plus yard touchdowns to Robbie Anderson and Rashard Higgins are camp highlights. But Darnold is keeping things close by quickly distributing the ball to tight ends and running backs while occasionally hitting some intermediate throws.

It’s been a fast-paced and productive camp for Carolina. The team is in its final installation phase ahead of Saturday’s trip to Washington for the first preseason game. The team is progressing daily under new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. Mayfield looks more comfortable with each practice as he and Darnold compete for the starting job.

Mayfield has come a long way since his first Panthers practice. On Day 1, Mayfield operated like a quarterback unfamiliar with the playbook and his receivers. The team did not trade for Mayfield until July 6. He had the playbook for less than two weeks before camp began, and his first time throwing to starters like Christian McCaffrey and D.J. Moore occurred the Thursday before camp at an off-campus throwing session that Darnold organized.

The NFL’s no-contact policy, which sets a time between the end of minicamp and the start of training camp during which coaches and players cannot work out together, forced Mayfield to learn the offense on his own rather than someone being able to teach him.

But, despite a better resume and noticeably superior arm talent, Mayfield and Darnold remain locked in a competition that most around the league believe will eventually end with Mayfield as the starter.

‘Me and Baker are cool’

Before camp began, Darnold said he considered both himself and Mayfield as starting quarterbacks. It was a humble admission considering Darnold dominated QB1 reps during nine weeks of OTAs and minicamp and took an early command over McAdoo’s offense.

But Darnold understands his reality. The team that traded for him just 15 months ago exhausted every possible quarterback solution this offseason after Darnold went 4-7 as a starter, battled injuries, and threw more interceptions than touchdowns for a second consecutive season. Carolina explored trading for Russell Wilson, and courted Deshaun Watson — he ended up in Cleveland — before drafting Corral and acquiring Mayfield.

“Me and Baker are cool. I’m sure when things start rolling in training camp, it’s just gonna be fun. We’re gonna be able to compete and have fun with it,” Darnold said. “But at the end of the day, this is a business and we both take our craft and what we do very seriously. So it’s going to be very serious when that time comes to compete, but off the field, and all that stuff, me and Baker are really cool.”

Darnold is 17-32 overall as an NFL starter. Mayfield was 6-8 last season at Cleveland and is 29-30 overall.

Mayfield and Darnold were the No. 1 and No. 3 picks, respectively, in the 2018 draft. For different reasons, both are still trying to establish themselves as capable NFL starters. Mayfield had to take a $3.5 million pay cut to join Carolina. He can earn that money back via several formidable on-field incentives.

Darnold is the team’s highest-paid player this season, according to Overthecap.com. His $18.9 million fifth-year option is fully guaranteed. Excuses can be (and are) made for Darnold: He’s had five different offensive coordinators in as many seasons, and has never been sacked fewer than 30 times in a year.

‘Extremely transparent’

Mayfield has endured similar hardships. McAdoo is also his fifth coordinator. In 2019 and 2021, Mayfield was sacked 40 or more times. In 2019, he posted 3,827 passing yards, a career-high. Mayfield’s career-worst seasons are comparable to Darnold’s best years.

In Carolina, though, the coaching staff has made it clear the competition — and the communication — is wide open.

“Everything is extremely transparent,” Mayfield said. “They’re telling us together how they’re handling it. It’s not being said to one person and Sam’s hearing other things. It’s right there in front of us, clear and concise.”

Mayfield is transitioning smoothly into Carolina. He reported to camp with team captain and linebacker Shaq Thompson, riding shotgun in Thompson’s pickup truck to Spartanburg. Thompson said he offered Mayfield a ride after the new quarterback reached out to talk some trash ahead of camp.

“I like a quarterback who talks trash,” Thompson said. “He’s competitive. That’s how Cam was in 2015. Cam was competitive, talking mess, him and TD (Thomas Davis). We’re all competitors.”

Mayfield’s competitive nature radiates at practice. He’s performed best in fast-paced, up-tempo situations. His best days feature highlight plays via downfield throws. He pushes the ball in ways Darnold either cannot or is unwilling to.

But both quarterbacks have also shown a tendency to turn the ball over. No two quarterbacks have thrown more interceptions since 2018 than Mayfield (56) and Darnold (52). Mayfield has thrown nearly twice as many touchdowns (92) in that time span compared to Darnold (54).

“The disappointing thing is each guy had an interception,” Rhule said after a recent practice. “We’ve got to protect the football.”

Carolina gave the ball away 29 times last season, tied for second-most behind only the Giants (30). Eventually, either Mayfield or Darnold could create serious separation by stringing together a couple of turnover-free practices.

The Panthers will not name a starting quarterback until after the team’s second preseason game — an Aug. 19 exhibition against New England — at the earliest. Darnold and Mayfield will keep splitting reps until then.

Unless, of course, Rhule determines he needs more time to decide.

“I’m not putting a timetable on the quarterback position until after we get back from the Patriots week,” Rhule said after Saturday’s scrimmage during which neither quarterback had a decisive advantage. “The Patriots week is a true litmus test for us. That will really show us where guys are.”