While Baker Mayfield might have lost his starting job and eventually found himself being traded out of Cleveland, his reputation as a quarterback may have been the biggest winner in the whole ordeal. Count ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky among those who think Mayfield’s addition makes the Carolina Panthers a much better football team.
The Browns traded Mayfield to the Panthers on Wednesday, ending their long-running offseason drama. The move means that Baker will now be competing with Sam Darnold for the starting quarterback spot in Carolina. While many NFL fans would say that Mayfield represents an upgrade, Orlovsky takes things a step further and said Thursday on First Take that Baker will be able to turn this 5-12 team into a playoff contender in 2022.
.@danorlovsky7 has HIGH praise for Baker Mayfield and the Panthers 👀
"This is a playoff team with Baker Mayfield." pic.twitter.com/A2KpVhkIAl
— First Take (@FirstTake) July 7, 2022
Orlovsky cites the fact that the Panthers have one of the best defenses in the NFL already, so the addition of a better quarterback, coupled with their improved offensive line, should help put Carolina back in the playoffs.
“This is the best wide receiver group, and you can’t debate that, that Baker Mayfield has ever played with,” said Orlovsky, in a comment that earned a strong reaction from his fellow hosts.
Orlovsky cites Mayfield’s big arm and “elite ball placement” as some of the ways he will improve Carolina’s offense and help them create plays, presuming that Christian McCaffrey and Robbie Anderson are healthy (and excited to play with him).
So it’s not as though the ESPN pundit is saying that Mayfield alone makes Carolina a playoff team, but simply that the Panthers now have all the pieces in place to compete at that level. Of course, looking like a playoff contender on paper in July is a lot different from actually winning games in November and December, and we’ll see if Baker and his new team are able to actually prove Orlovsky right.
[First Take, TBL]
