Baker Mayfield is expected to be named, as expected, at the start of his first week in Carolina

A quarterback competition that never felt like a competition won’t be a competition for much longer.

as expected, Baker Mayfield It is expected that his initial name will be in Carolina. TheAthletic.com It says it is inevitable. However, no timeline for making the announcement was applied.

The Panthers traded for Mayfield after the offseason program ended. The mere fact that the deal made an impression that the Panthers wanted Mayfield to play Sam Darnold. But when former Panthers quarterback Jake Dellum, who is currently with the team as announcer, announced that Darnold She has the upper hand In the competition, some began to question whether the Panthers had simply added Mayfield as a low bid to buy, got him in the fifth round and paid just $5 million of his salary. (The Browns pays $10.5 million.)

Then, once camp opened, the coaching staff split the first-team reps, giving Darnold a seemingly fair chance of winning the job while also giving Mayfield fewer opportunities to rest on a new team with a fresh attack. Despite not getting the bulk of the cast, Mayfield has convinced the coaching staff — and presumably, the locker room — that he’s the best option, at least when Brown comes to town for the first week.

Even if Mayfield starts every game, Darnold will make more money this year. He has a fifth year elective salary of $18.8 million, along with a seventeenth game sweetener of $1.1 million. Mayfield, who was originally on the same fifth-year salary, agreed to take a pay cut of more than $3 million. while he can Redeem it with incentivesneeds a very special year (more than a million dollars tied to getting to and winning the Super Bowl), the game’s 17th Test is gone forever.

Of course, Mayfield isn’t thinking about not making close to $20 million in 2022. He’s thinking about making a lot more in 2023 and beyond. To get there, he needs to play. And it looks like he will, at least when the season starts.

After that, it is up to him. It will need to be functional. He will also need to stay healthy. for him This is my job The situation in Cleveland allowed him to play with a non-throwing shoulder when it was clear he shouldn’t be on the field. In Carolina, he probably won’t get such respect, especially with the coaching staff thinking a lot about 2023 and beyond as well.