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The Los Angeles Rams are adding a quarterback to their roster after claiming former Carolina Panthers signal caller Baker Mayfield. per CBS Sports NFL insider Josina Anderson. The former No. 1 overall Cleveland Browns was released Monday by Carolina after just seven games with the Panthers. According to NFL mediaCarolina is now off the hook for the $1.4 million owed to the quarterback.
The Rams claimed Mayfield as they needed a quarterback with Matthew Stafford on injured reserve and John Wolford with a neck injury. via ESPN. Additionally, the Rams will regain a compensatory election if Mayfield signs elsewhere this offseason. ESPN reports There’s a shot Mayfield could play against the Las Vegas Raiders in two days. The team is reportedly in the process of sending the playbook to its new quarterback.
Aside from adding a season-ending quarterback, the Rams may have also played some sort of waiver-wire defense, keeping Mayfield away from rivals San Francisco 49ers, who lost Jimmy Garoppolo to a foot injury on Sunday. ESPN reports that the 49ers have not, nor have, claimed Mayfield any team other than the Rams.
Mayfield got the starting quarterback for the Panthers to start the year after Carolina sent Cleveland a conditional fourth-round pick for his services. However, a serious ankle sprain in Week 5 knocked him out of the starting lineup. Mayfield went 1-5 as a starter for Carolina and completed 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,313 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions in seven games played.
The Rams were one of our top four planned landing spots for Mayfield. The quarterback didn’t fall far behind in the layoff order since the Rams were No. 4. This isn’t the campaign the reigning Super Bowl champion envisioned as the Rams currently sit 3-9 in Week 14. LA may officially be eliminated this week’s postseason with a loss or a tie and a win or a tie for the Seattle Seahawks. They could also be eliminated with a Seahawks win and a New York Giants win or draw. If the Rams are eliminated from playoff contention this week, it would equate to the earliest playoff elimination for a defending Super Bowl champion with the 1999 Denver Broncos.