It’s okay to make a mistake once in a while, but as soon as you realize that it’s a mistake, then you should just back off from the situation. The Carolina Panthers did just that in recent weeks when they traded for Baker Mayfield to take over as the starting quarterback; as soon as the opportunity arise, the Panthers were one of the favorites to land Mayfield, and after months of discussion, they did just that.

Trading for Mayfield, with the price they paid, is far from a mistake – it’s a very good deal, in fact. But the other side of the story is that, with Baker coming to the team, Sam Darnold’s tenure with the Panthers is over, barring a miracle. This is where the franchise deserves some commendations: they took a shot with Darnold last season, he failed, and they did not commit the same mistake twice.

Mayfield and Darnold were both top 3 picks in the 2018 NFL draft and they both left the teams that drafted them without even finishing the rookie contract. But this is where the similarities between the two ends: Baker has done a good enough job in the league to merit a starting spot, even winning a playoff game, although he surely hasn’t lived up to his potential of a first overall pick; Sam, by his part, has been seeing ghosts since his New York Jets days – I’m not joking, by the way – and only gets new chances because of his draft status of four years ago.

Sam Darnold's best season (sophomore):
19 TD/13 INT, 84.3 QBR

Baker Mayfield's worst season playing through a season ending injury:
17 TD/13 INT, 83.1 QBR pic.twitter.com/7i6Pu60R8T

— Natalie Miller 🏈 (@Nat_NFLDraft) July 16, 2022

Most INTs thrown since 2018

Baker Mayfield – 56
Sam Darnold – 52
Jared Goff – 49
Jameis Winston – 47
Josh Allen – 46

— NFL Stats (@NFL_Stats) July 6, 2022

Mayfield’s best season saw him with 26/8 TD/INT numbers, breaking the 17-year playoff drought from the Browns and restoring hope in the franchise after two decades of immense suffering. Darnold, for his part, did absolutely nothing to earn the trust of Panthers’ fans, failing even to produce a 300-yard game in his first (and probably only) season there.

We're projecting Mayfield for 366.5 completions on 580.7 attempts (63.1%) for 4,238.0 yards, 22.8 TDs, & 16.2 interceptions. That's 7.3 yards per attempt with a 3.9% TD rate.

This is an upgrade over what we were previously expecting at QB with Darnold (7.0 YPA, 3.5% TD rate).

— Establish The Run (@EstablishTheRun) July 7, 2022

Darnold is still tied to the Panthers for another season, but no team still believes that he has enough talent to be a starter in the league, so we can discard trade possibilities and all of that. His NFL career is all but over, and even when he signs with another team as a free agent next season, he’s not going to start. With Baker coming to Carolina, you can erase Darnold from the league.

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