TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield threw some shade at the Carolina Panthers again on Wednesday when asked about his time there with now-Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, whom he’ll see on Sunday.
Mayfield was asked if he and Darnold “reminisce about the good old days in Carolina,” where Mayfield went 1-5 as a starter in 2022 before he was released that season.
He responded, “Uh, reminisce about what days?”
Then after a long pause, he said, “Uh … nope. No, we don’t.”
Darnold started 11 games for Carolina in 2021 and went 4-7. In 2022, the Panthers traded a conditional fifth-round draft pick with the Cleveland Browns for Mayfield, who sustained a high ankle sprain in Week 5. Subsequently, PJ Walker took over, started five games and went 2-3.
Mayfield was then benched after his return in Week 11, coinciding with his departure. Darnold took over in Week 12 and finished the season 4-2.
“Sam and I are really close,” Mayfield said. “I’m happy for him — from going a couple different places that weren’t great for us to having a good opportunity elsewhere, it’s fun to see. I knew he just needed that chance, and he’s thriving now. It’s good to see, but hopefully not this weekend.”
After a quick stint with the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, Mayfield signed a one-year deal with the Bucs in 2023 worth up to $8.5 million with a base salary of $4 million. He led the team to a 9-8 record and a division title, where they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-9 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
Mayfield was then rewarded with a three-year deal worth $100 million with $40 million guaranteed at signing, and $115 million with incentives. After another division title (they finished 10-7 in 2024), the Bucs guaranteed him $30 million in 2026.
Darnold’s journey has been very similar to that of Mayfield, who had been the first pick in the 2018 NFL draft. Darnold was selected third that same year by the New York Jets. He played three seasons there and went 13-25 as a starter before the Jets traded him to Carolina in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick and a 2022 second- and fourth-round pick.
Although Carolina didn’t pan out for either player, Mayfield saw some positives in their time there.
“That whole QB room with PJ Walker, Sam and I — it was fun,” Mayfield said. “[We were] guys that have played ball, knew we needed each other in that room … We’d just bounce things off [each other], have normal football conversations, grow and learn together and go from there.”
The Panthers traded Darnold to the San Francisco 49ers in March 2023 following Jimmy Garoppolo‘s departure and injuries to Brock Purdy and Trey Lance. Then in 2024, on another one-year deal — this time with the Minnesota Vikings — Darnold went 14-3, losing to the Rams 27-9 in the wild card. He then signed a three-year deal this offseason with the Seahawks worth $100.5 million and $50 million guaranteed, and like Mayfield this season, has led them to a 3-1 record.
Adding to the connections — Walker signed with Mayfield’s old Browns team in 2023 after spending training camp with the Chicago Bears. He was then with the Seahawks in training camp last season and spent last year with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.
As for Mayfield, this wasn’t his first shot at the Panthers. After the Bucs victory over the Jets in Week 3, he said, “I loved it.”
“And also their D-coordinator [Steve Wilks] was the one that cut me in Carolina,” Mayfield said.
Wilks, who had taken over for fired head coach Matt Rhule after five games, praised Mayfield, but then said to a reporter last Friday, “I don’t know how long you’ve been doing this but I’m sure you’re quite educated on it. I don’t really think an interim coach has that much authority over personnel. If that’s the case, I would’ve never gotten rid of our best player, Christian McCaffrey.”
Mayfield also talked about his dismissal in Carolina when the Bucs clinched the NFC South title there in Week 18 of the 2023 season when he said, “Yeah, this room we’re standing in right now was kind of where I found out that I wasn’t going to be a part of the team anymore.”
