For several months the Seahawks were rumored to be interested in potentially trading for former Browns QB Baker Mayfield. Earlier this week, Mayfield was traded to the Panthers, finally ending that speculation game. Throughout the process there were conflicting reports regarding Seattle’s level of interest in Mayfield. Some journalists insisted that the Seahawks were very-much into Baker – enough to even consider signing him to an extension – while others claimed there never was much there there, including one the morning of the trade from Ian Rapoport at NFL Network.
Now we have more info courtesy of Joe Person at the Athletic, who’s arguably the most plugged-in beat writer in the country. His co-report along with Zac Jackson states Seattle wasn’t a player in these talks.
“Externally, a lot of dots connected Mayfield and what appears to be a rebuilding Seattle team, but the Seahawks never made a real trade inquiry. Fitterer, who spent 20 years in Seattle’s front office would have known if the Seahawks were serious about Mayfield.”
Makes sense.
While this team could certainly use an upgrade at quarterback, the plan all along seems to have been for Drew Lock and Geno Smith to battle it out this year and try to find the next Russell Wilson in the 2023 NFL draft. Along the way, there were rumors about several QBs, including Deshaun Watson and just about every other quarterback who changed teams this offseason. None of them really ever seemed close to happening, though.
The truth is that Carolina needed a quarterback upgrade much worse than any other team heading into Year 3 under Matt Rhule, who’s gone 10-23 since he took the Panthers’ head coach job.
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