Baker Mayfield has arrived in Los Angeles as the latest quarterback who will attempt to replace Matthew Stafford. It was somewhat surprising that he was not only waived by the Panthers, but that the Rams chose to claim him off waivers.
But given the team’s quarterback situation, it really was a matter of “why not?”
It helps that both Liam Coen and Sean McVay liked Mayfield a lot when he was coming out of Oklahoma in 2018. Coen was the Rams’ assistant WRs coach that year and though Los Angeles had no shot at drafting Mayfield, nor any plans to do so, Coen watched a lot of film on him.
Coen liked what he saw and says McVay did, too.
“Just looking at the whole picture, where we’re at, where he’s at. We’re realistic about bringing somebody in, acquiring somebody at this stage in the season, and what that actually might look like. But if it is something that can provide a spark and somebody that can come in and help us compete to win football games, that’s the ultimate goal for the last five weeks of the season. So obviously, really liked him coming out. I remember watching him a ton. (He’s a) competitor, tries to do everything to win football games. Sean obviously liked him at the time as well and had some conversations with him, I think like during the Combine or something. Just liked him as a dude. So that’s really the extent of that kind of nature.”
Mayfield obviously went first overall in the 2018 draft to the Browns but after an up-and-down tenure in Cleveland, he was traded to the Panthers. He was benched twice this season and recently, he asked to be released, which the Panthers granted.
The Rams only have Mayfield under contract for five more games, but there’s a chance he could be brought back in 2023 if this partnership works out in the next month. Coen can’t say what Mayfield’s long-term future in Los Angeles looks like, though.
“That I don’t know,” he said. “That’s more so something to play out for the rest of the season. We have five weeks left and kind of just go out and see how it plays out, whether he plays, doesn’t play, depth, I have no idea. Obviously, we’ll find out about his ability to come in and learn and do all those types of things. But excited to get him in here.”