The Carolina Panthers finally decided to take the plunge on Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, trading for the former 2018 first-overall pick on Wednesday.
The team had been rumored for quite some time to be interested in Mayfield. Now, he will compete with returning Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold for the starting quarterback position this season.
While many Panthers fans are excited to bring in Mayfield, Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo and wide receiver Robbie Anderson didn’t sound too thrilled in the past.
Old comments from both McAdoo and Anderson were re-discovered on Wednesday that would indicate that they aren’t the biggest fan of Mayfield’s game.
A Panthers Instagram page posted in April that Mayfield’s most likely landing spot was in Carolina, to which Anderson responded by saying “Nooooo”, clearly showing that he did not want Baker in Carolina.
From April, starting #Panthers WR Robbie Anderson on Baker Mayfield… pic.twitter.com/p6BEVKeDAt
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) July 6, 2022
It now appears that he has backtracked on those previous comments.
Anderson took to social media on Wednesday after the Mayfield trade was finalized, posting a video from a Panthers press conference that day with the caption, “I don’t have an issue with Baker stop tryna paint that narrative.”
I don’t have an issue with Baker stop tryna paint that narrative. pic.twitter.com/52GhVHget4
— Robbie Chosen (@chosen1ra) July 6, 2022
“That was just me thinking out loud,” said Anderson of his previous comments on Mayfield. ” I was just trying to be a good teammate to my quarterback (Sam Darnold). That’s it, just trying to defend the guy who is my quarterback, that’s it.”
While this is a good step to bury the hatchet with Mayfield, he didn’t exactly take back his comments or say that he is excited for Baker to come to Carolina in this interview. He just gave his reasoning on why he made those comments, so he still may not be happy that Mayfield is now his teammate.
If Mayfield is the starter for the Panthers next season, it could definitely still be an uncomfortable relationship between the two going forward.
