It may seem unusual or even chaotic to imagine that Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, two top starting quarterbacks at the 3-1 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 3-1 Seattle Seahawks, once shared the same roster and were almost written off after their brief stints at the Carolina Panthers.
While both have since resurrected their careers against all odds after moving on, we revisit their wild journey together ahead of their Week 5 matchup in the 2025 NFL season.
How Did Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold Land at the Carolina Panthers?
Mayfield is in his eighth season in the league and third at Tampa Bay, but his journey began as the Cleveland Browns’ No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft. After four seasons marked by injuries and a lack of offensive impact, Mayfield was eventually moved to the Carolina Panthers for a brief stint in 2022.
Darnold, meanwhile, was selected No. 3 overall in the 2018 Draft by the New York Jets. After three seasons, he moved to Carolina for the 2021 season. Darnold’s departure from New York came for several reasons.
One of them was clearly a lack of production, as he was ranked near the bottom among quarterbacks since 2018 in interception rate, passer rating, completion percentage, and yards per attempt.
Were Mayfield And Darnold Teammates At Carolina?
Yes, Mayfield and Darnold were teammates, but only briefly during the 2022 season. Darnold joined the Panthers in 2021 and remained with the team until 2023, before he moved on to the San Francisco 49ers after his contract ended.
Mayfield, on the other hand, arrived in 2022 but left that same season for the Los Angeles Rams, where he revitalized his career before signing for Tampa Bay.
Who Was the Starting Quarterback For the Panthers Then?
The starting job in the 2022 season initially came down to the two, but Mayfield was ultimately named the Week 1 starter. However, he suffered an ankle injury in Week 5.
When he returned in Week 8, Mayfield wasn’t the starter anymore. It wasn’t Darnold, either: P.J. Walker was QB1, and the two stars were essentially his backups.
At one point, Mayfield was even used on the scout team as a defensive lineman during practices. The role was unusual for a former No. 1 overall pick, highlighting how the Panthers’ quarterback situation had turned out and how little faith the team had in him.
Mayfield went on to start just one more game in Week 11 before he requested to be released. His numbers in his seven games that season were as follows:
- Games Played: 7 (including six starts).
- Record as Starter: 1–5.
- Passing: 1,313 yards, 6 touchdowns, 6 interceptions.
- Completion Rate: 57.8%.
- Passer Rating: 74.4.
Mayfield’s most notable games came early and towards the end of his stint:
- Week 1 vs. Browns, where he threw for 235 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception in a loss.
- Week 9 vs. Bengals, where he entered the second half of a blowout loss and helped trim the team’s deficit from 35 to 21, throwing for 155 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Darnold started 11 games in 2021. In 2022, he started all the remaining games following Mayfield’s departure, that is, from Week 12 to Week 17. His numbers that season read:
- Games Played: 6 (all starts).
- Record as Starter: 4–2.
- Passing Stats: 1,143 yards, 7 touchdowns, 3 interceptions.
- Completion Rate: 58.6%.
- Passer Rating: 92.6.
- Yards per Attempt: 8.2.
Darnold had a slightly more productive and efficient outing in 2022 than Mayfield, but he still left Carolina at the end of that season, moving on after his contract ended with the Panthers choosing not to re-sign him.
Mayfield And Darnold Remain Friends
Despite their chaotic stint with the Panthers, Mayfield and Darnold remain close friends off the field. However, Mayfield doesn’t have many fond memories of their time in Carolina, as circumstances forced both players to move on from the Panthers eventually.
When asked if they ever reminisce about the “good old days,” Mayfield jokingly replied, “Uhhh. Reminisce on WHAT days? Oh, nope. No, we don’t.”
But that’s a distant memory. Now both quarterbacks have revived their careers and are playing lead roles for Tampa Bay and Seattle, two NFC teams currently off to strong 3–1 starts in the 2025 season. According to PFSN’s QB Impact score, Darnold ranks 20th with a 77.0 rating, while Mayfield sits just behind at 21st with a 75.3 score.
Both teams will now look to improve to a 4-1 start in Week 5 when they meet at Lumen Field in Seattle. The game starts at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday.