Baker Mayfield is in his third season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ starter and has led them to back-to-back consecutive NFC South titles. In 2025, he’s playing the best football of his career with the Buccaneers sitting at 6-2.
With Mayfield’s recent success, it’s easy to forget that in 2022, he was nearly out of the league after being traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers. During that stint, he went viral for lining up as a scout team defensive end. The star quarterback recently reflected on that moment three years later.
What Did Baker Mayfield Say About Playing Scout Team Defensive End During His Time With the Panthers?
In 2022, one season after leading the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002, Baker Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers. At the time, it felt like his career was being sent to die in Carolina.
That’s more or less what happened. After winning the quarterback competition over Sam Darnold, Mayfield suffered an injury and eventually became a backup later in the season. During that stint, the viral moment of him playing defensive end on the Panthers’ scout team happened.
In an interview with NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt, Mayfield reflected on that moment, explaining that regardless of his role in Carolina, he wanted to do whatever he could to help the team win.
“I looked at 2022, okay, ‘how can I be the best version of myself, no matter what role I had?'” Mayfield said. “And that’s from going in and competing with Sam [Darnold] and also having PJ Walker in the room. ‘How can I support these guys whether I’m starting, backup, or inactive?'”
He continued, “I’m proud to say that in whatever role I had in Carolina, I did it with 100% effort. And yeah, tape up the ankle when it’s sprained and give the team a good scout defensive end look.”
Regardless of the ups and downs in Mayfield’s career, that team-first mentality has always been there, even if it meant lining up as a scout team defensive end.
Later that season, he requested a release, which Carolina granted, and the Los Angeles Rams picked him up off waivers. While in Los Angeles, he led the team to a comeback win over the Las Vegas Raiders. That performance caught Tampa Bay’s attention, and the Buccaneers gave him a shot the following offseason. The rest, as they say, is history.
Mayfield has come a long way from serving as a scout team defensive end in Carolina. Through eight games in 2025, he’s led the Buccaneers to six wins, the top spot in the NFC South, and ranks 18th among NFL quarterbacks according to PFSN’s QBi metric.
It’s almost hard to imagine that viral moment from three years ago, but it may have reshaped his entire career. It gave him a new perspective on what it means to be an NFL quarterback and helped spark his revival in Tampa Bay.
