The Carolina Panthers may not have officially decided who’ll be their starting quarterback to begin the regular season. But they may know how many of them they’ll be heading into the opener with.
Following Monday’s training camp outing, head coach Matt Rhule was asked if he plans on carrying both Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold on the initial 53-man roster—depending, of course, on who wins the competition. He said that’s always been the case.
“Yeah, I mean, unless something happens to one of them. If one of them gets banged up,” he told ESPN’s David Newton. “I think when we traded for Baker—and we had already drafted Matt [Corral] and we have PJ [Walker], who we really like—we knew, ‘Hey, this would be a year we’ll probably carry three quarterbacks. So that’s been the plan all along. It’s the plan as I sit here now.”
Now, who’s the third man?
Carolina’s new quarterback order will probably see Corral as the third-stringer. Between he and Walker, the 2022 third-round pick is much more likely to be claimed off waivers in a potential move to the practice squad—where the odd guy out would presumably be sent.
Additionally, if the Panthers so chose, Walker wouldn’t count even a dime towards the cap in 2022 on a release. The backup signed a one-year, $875,000 pact with the team this offseason.
Rhule also gave a little insight to an event that’s a bit more near than Week 1—their first preseason tilt. He thinks they could play all four men against the Washington Commanders on Saturday.
“I think we’ll probably play maybe three, maybe four,” he said. “I mean, if we play Sam and Baker, we’re playing them both. So, ya know, we won’t play one or the other. We would play them both. Then I really want Matt and PJ to get in there. They’re not getting a ton of these reps. But late in the game, those guys deserve a chance to play.”
Those reps, obviously, have gone to Mayfield and Darnold.
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