Which Baker Mayfield are the Carolina Panthers going to get in 2022? Well, hopefully not the one in the report we’re about to tell you about.
Following the announcement of Wednesday’s trade, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic dished out a few festering details from Mayfield’s time with the Cleveland Browns. And, uh, they weren’t too positive.
Past rumblings of the former No. 1 overall pick losing some of the team, at least by Lloyd’s reporting, seemed to have been accurate. As he writes, Baker wasn’t exactly a widely respected leader of men.
“Mayfield was widely viewed as childish and immature,” Lloyd noted. “His behavior annoyed teammates and divided the locker room. He was often difficult to coach.”
The most high-profile issue, of course, came with wideout Odell Beckham Jr. With an assist from Odell Sr., the star receiver wiggled his way out of Cleveland due to a perceived, um, lack of chemistry with the bombastic quarterback.
Another particular instance of friction cited by Lloyd came between Mayfield and head coach Kevin Stefanski. According to the account, Mayfield took exception to Stefanski missing a meeting so he could, instead, speak with defensive end Myles Garrett. As a result, Stefanski “privately shined a glaring spotlight on his quarterback during film sessions from that day forward.”
Hopefully for the Panthers, everyone will be on their best behavior for this particularly important season. Plus, it’s not like their head coach is on pins and needles this year, right?
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