Baker Mayfield was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday July 7. The 2017 Heisman Trophy Winner was traded their with the expectation mosthe will mostg likely start once he learns the offense.
Eric Mangini spoke on the show Speak For Yourself about the acquisiton of Mayfield to the Panthers. He thinks it's almost a lock that he will start for the Panthers this season. Along with taking a paycut that helped facilitate the trade could go a long way for the starting job.
Mangini said:
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"I don't think Baker would have taken the pay cut, unless they told him you got a legitimate shot and they had to be pretty compelling. It had to be a pretty compelling argument for him to say, Alright, ‘I'm gonna bet on myself here."
Eric Mangini thinks Baker Mayfield will win the starting job in Carolina
Mangini also went on to talk more about why he personally believes the new quarterback will win the job. He notes that he has the best stats of any quarterback on the Panthers roster and has a playoff victory under his belt.
Mangini said:
"I'm on the Baker Mayfield starter and wins the job track because of a lot of things when you look at every objective criteria, whether its completion percentage, whether it's quarterback rating, whether it's touchdown, percentage, interceptions, interception percentage, the fact that he's been able to to win a playoff game, all those different things means that he's an upgrade. And to me this was this was a great move by Carolina."
Mangini added that although Baker is behind in the offense, he thinks the former Browns QB will thrive learning under a new coordinator in Carolina.
Mangini added:
"He's on his second team. He plays it seems to me that he plays better that way and I know there's that he's at a disadvantage in terms of learning system. Sam's got the edge there. But he's played long enough, he's played with enough new coordinators to know how to be able to learn a system quickly. I think this is a really good move for Carolina."
The Panthers will have a battle between Mayfield, Sam Darnold, and rookie Matt Corral, who they selected in the third-round.
Darnold currently has the advantage of knowing the system by playing their last season. However, Mayfield could start come week one of the 2022 regular season.
If you use any quotes credit Eric Mangini, Speak For Yourself and H/T Sportskeeda
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