Baker Mayfield can lead Carolina to the playoffs

Baker Mayfield is officially a Carolina Panther. His saga in Cleveland is over. He was traded to Carolina Wednesday for a fifth-round pick. The Panthers quarterback room is now made up of Mayfield, Sam Darnold and third-round pick Matt Corral. With Darnold's inconsistency in 2021 (nine passing touchdowns, 13 interceptions) and Corral's inexperience, Mayfield has the immediate inside track to becoming the starter in 2022. Not only that, but Mayfield has the ability and attitude that can propel the Panthers into the postseason for the first time since Cam Newton's prime.

Remember, Mayfield was the quarterback who brought the Cleveland Browns back to the playoffs for the first time in 18 seasons. He made Cleveland a Super Bowl contender. His 2020 season was the most impressive season of his four-year career. He threw 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. His passer rating was 95.9 for that season. Unfortunately, a shoulder injury made it difficult to succeed in 2021. However, now that Mayfield has a clean slate, he has the talent and team around him to be successful.

The Carolina Panthers have a very solid core of skill-position players on offense. Running back Christian McCaffrey is an All-Pro player when healthy. Carolina also has two 1,000-yard receivers in D.J. Moore (three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons) and Robby Anderson. Defensively, the Panthers have Pro Bowlers in edge-rusher Brian Burns and linebacker Corey Littleton. They also have a tackling machine in middle linebacker Shaq Thompson (three consecutive seasons with 100+ tackles) and a ball-hawking cornerback in Donte Jackson. Matt Rhule's team has more talent than people think. The NFC South is a difficult division with Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, along with an underrated Saints team. But with the addition of a competitor and gamer in Mayfield, Carolina is a much better team and could be in the running for a wild-card spot come January.