Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold Open Competition For Starting QB

Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold will have an open competition to start at quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, general manager Scott Fitterer said Tuesday.

"This is an open competition. The reason why we added Baker is to make the group better as a whole," Fitterer said Tuesday during a media availability to introduce Mayfield, who was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns last week.

Mayfield said Tuesday that he embraced the competition and said that Darnold had already reached out to him and he's looking forward to competing with his new teammate and challenging each other.

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He said, like all NFL players, he's not expecting to be a backup and acknowledged that Darnold has the same mentality. He said ultimately, however, he will "fill whatever role is expected of me and be a great leader and a great teammate."

Mayfield agreed to take a $3.5 million pay cut to be traded to the Panthers, which he admitted: "wasn't easy."

The Browns will receive a fourth- or fifth-round pick in 2024 in exchange for Mayfield.