Baker Mayfield and Bryce Young followed a similar path to the NFL as Heisman Trophy winners and first overall draft picks, so there was a connection between them even before Young’s Panthers tenure went off track this week.
Mayfield wasn’t benched in his second year with the Browns, but his time with the team was cut shorter than expected when they traded him to the Panthers in 2022. Mayfield didn’t play well at the end of his time in Cleveland or with Carolina and the Panthers cut him before the year was out, so he faced some of the same questions about his football future that Young is facing right now.
Mayfield answered those questions with the Bucs last year and he said Wednesday that he believes Young will get the same opportunity.
“A lot of the time, guys have the talent, they might have the brains, but they don’t have the right opportunity, the right fit,” Mayfield said at a press conference. “I’m sitting here right now in a way better fit than the other places I’ve been. That’s not to put other teams down, but it’s a matter of the pieces around you, the coaches. For Bryce, a guy that — I can relate to this — finding that belief within yourself again. He’ll get it. His story is far, far from finished.”
Panthers head coach Dave Canales was Mayfield’s offensive coordinator last year and part of the reason he got the job in Carolina was the work he did with Young. The Panthers say they aren’t thinking about trading Young, but it remains to be seen if any future chapters of Young’s story will play out with the Panthers.
