Sam Darnold entered the 2021 NFL season with a near certainty that he would be the starting quarterback for the Panthers. Not only does he not have the same certainty in 2022, he is not even considered the favorite to do it again.
Following Carolina's acquisition of Baker Mayfield from the Browns, Darnold and Mayfield are expected to have a competition for the starting position, with Mayfield considered the frontrunner given the past success he's had in the NFL.
But Darnold, speaking for the first time since the trade, has said he's not worried about the competition, and, in fact, he's looking forward to the opportunity to compete with Mayfield.
"Me and Baker are cool. You know I'm sure competing and when things start rolling in training camp, it's just gonna be fun," Darnold said. "We're going to be able to compete and have fun with it, but at the end of the day, this is a business and we both take our craft and what we do every seriously so it's gonna be very serious when that time comes to compete, but off the field and all that stuff, me and Baker are really cool."
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Players and coaches at the Panthers' first day of training camp at Wofford College spoke about how the two have already begun to get along despite the competition.
"They're not gonna let it hinder they friendship, whatever they may have going on, like they knew each other so it's going to be a good battle because you never know it's never bad blood whoever wins at the end of the day," wide receiver D.J. Moore said.
But Darnold said ahead of the competition, both view themselves as the starter.
"In our eyes, we're both the starting quarterback for this team right now and that's how we're both going to view it.
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During his redshirt freshman season at USC, Darnold lost a quarterback competition with Max Browne out of the gate. However, in the fourth game, he supplanted Browne as the starter and didn't relinquish the position until he was drafted third overall by the Jets in 2018.
Darnold said from that competition, he learned he needs to stay constant and consistent in his attitude and do what he can on the field.
"Even if I wasn't competing, if this is my job going into camp, that's how I would treat it," Darnold said. "You always got to remain that constant guy for the team and consistent and you just gotta continue to have that consistency on the field."
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When asked if he was hurt by the decision to bring in a new quarterback, Darnold said it isn't his job to understand or evaluate the decisions made by the front office, and that if they thought having the two quarterbacks in the same room would improve the team, than that was the best thing for the team.
So, how will the decision be made?
"To me, my job is not to pick the starting quarterback. The players will do that with the way they play," Rhule said the (via NFL.com). "My job is to make sure that we have really good players in the room, which we do, and make sure that they have opportunities. So it'll be a fun ride and when we know we'll know."
Why did the Panthers trade for Baker Mayfield?
The Panthers had been linked as a possible trade destination for Mayfield since he requested a trade from the Browns, but it wasn't until after OTAs that a deal was finally completed.
Rhule explained it had been an ongoing conversation with Fitterer throughout the offseason, and that the team was happy with Darnold's performance in the spring and at OTAs, but that eventually, trading for Mayfield felt like the right move.
"There was a time that wasn't sure if it was going to happen, but when the time came, at the end of the day, we felt like it was the right thing for the team and we did it," Rhule said.
Rhule said he likes the quarterback room with Mayfield, Darnold, Matt Corral and P.J. Walker, and said he thinks the quarterback competition between the four will be good for the team.
Darnold was asked whether he considered requesting a trade after the deal for Mayfield was made, to which he said he had not.
"First of all, I'm not in a position to be able to do that, and then that's just not who I am," Darnold said.
So, the Panthers will roll with four players in the QB room and may the best man win.
"Not many teams have four quality players like that and it's going to be a lot of great competition," Rhule said.
