Panthers mailbag: How close is Mayfield to hitting his playing time trade condition?
The Carolina Panthers are hoping to produce their first two-game winning streak of the season when they face off against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium.
But with the team now at 3-7, fans are curious about their future. So, naturally they have questions, and The Charlotte Observer is here to answer them in the weekly mailbag.
Every week, we will take a select trio of questions from our beat writers’ weekly AMAs (ask me anything) on Twitter and expand on answers given to the best questions.
Below are three questions selected for this week’s mailbag:
From @ceffious on Twitter: Where are we in the Baker snap count watch? Can’t imagine they let Cleveland get a 4th here.
Back in July, the Panthers traded a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for quarterback Baker Mayfield. The pick can become a 2024 fourth-round pick if Mayfield plays 70% of the Panthers’ offensive snaps this season, according to a league source.
So far this season, Mayfield — who started the first five games of the campaign — has played 54.12% of the snaps through 10 weeks. The Panthers have played 582 total offensive snaps this season — according to Pro Football Reference — which averages out to 58.2 snaps per game. At that current clip, the Panthers are projected to play around 989 snaps this season.
Mayfield has played 315 snaps heading into his Week 11 start against the Baltimore Ravens. In order for Mayfield to play 70% of the current season projection, he would need to play about 693 snaps.
Mayfield is less than halfway toward reaching the condition. He would need to play about six and a half more games — including the matchup against the Ravens — to trigger the better pick for Cleveland.
From @CraigPaddock1 on Twitter: Is the turf playing a role in the high ankle sprains of the Panthers’ QBs? If so, why aren’t other positions not being hurt by it as well?
This has become a hot topic around the NFL this week for obvious reasons.
However, PJ Walker’s high ankle sprain was seemingly sustained when he was hit by a pair of Atlanta Falcons defenders in Week 10. He was hit high and low at the same time, which made his legs contort in an awkward fashion. He was then seen limping gingerly off the field in the fourth quarter following the hit, but he stayed in for the rest of the game and wasn’t immediately designated as injured.
Both Mayfield and Sam Darnold’s high ankle sprains also seemingly occurred on hits as well.
Darnold was clearly taken down awkwardly in the preseason finale against the Buffalo Bills. Darnold scrambled to his right and was taken down from behind as Bills defensive lineman C.J. Brewer landed on his leg as he threw away the ball. That was seemingly the cause of the injury. Mayfield was seemingly injured when he was tackled awkwardly in the second quarter of the Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.
This week, several players spoke out about the turf at Bank of America Stadium. However, according to the NFLPA, the Panthers’ home base isn’t one of the stadiums that uses a pure slit film surface, which the union is taking a stand against.
The New York Jets and New York Giants (MetLife Stadium), Detroit Lions (Ford Field), Minnesota Vikings (U.S. Bank Stadium), New Orleans Saints (Caesars Superdome), Indianapolis Colts (Lucas Oil Stadium) and Cincinnati Bengals (Paycor Stadium) are the teams coming under fire for the slit-film surfaces.
The Panthers have played on the road against the Giants and Bengals this season. Cornerback Stantley Thomas-Oliver sustained an Achilles injury at MetLife Stadium, which eventually landed him on injured reserve. Against the Bengals, the Panthers avoided major injuries. Still, the Panthers will face the Saints on the road in Week 18, so the Superdome is a concern heading into the finale.
As far as the home field is concerned, the Panthers’ management doesn’t seem too concerned. According to a Carolina spokesperson, the team performs an internal study — which is updated weekly — that monitors missed games due to injuries around the league, and the Panthers are in the top quartile of fewest games missed due to injuries.
From @RobRichards7 on Twitter: Will David Tepper commit to an established NFL head coach?
That remains to be seen. While the rumor mill has linked former Saints head coach Sean Payton to Panthers owner David Tepper’s desired wish list, that move would be hard to pull off for several reasons.
The Saints still own Payton’s rights, so a trade would likely need to take place for the Panthers to land him. Trading Payton within the division doesn’t seem likely, and the former Super Bowl winner might not want to head to Charlotte anyway. The Panthers have a lot of roster work to do — especially at quarterback — which could turn off some notable names, including Payton.
Someone like Frank Reich, who was recently fired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, could appeal to Tepper, but he’d be far from a splash move. Leslie Frazier and Raheem Morris are both former head coaches who are doing swell jobs as defensive coordinators, but they could be passed over for someone like Steve Wilks, who already knows the franchise, the town and is doing a solid job with the locker room. Wilks, despite the tag of interim, is an established head coach, albeit with a less charming resume than Reich or Payton.
Someone like former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores could be interesting with a second shot. Also, with the Pittsburgh Steelers struggling, could Mike Tomlin be available for trade? Those are two options for Tepper to consider.
Still, there’s something to be said about the uneven success of retread head coaches.
Sure, Tony Dungy, Pete Carroll and Andy Reid were able to bounce back from early career firings to win Super Bowls. But for every Dungy, Carroll and Reid, there is a Rex Ryan, Eric Mangini or Adam Gase. Just because a head coach is established doesn’t mean he can re-spark a career in Carolina.
Dennis Allen and Josh McDaniels are prime examples of why the second time might not be the charm after all. Allen is 3-7 with the Saints, while McDaniels is 2-7 with the Las Vegas Raiders. Allen and McDaniels have proven to be great coordinators, but maybe, just maybe they aren’t right for head-coaching positions.
If Tepper is willing to chase a young offensive mind, the trio of Shane Waldron, Shane Steichen and Kellen Moore would make sense. Waldron, the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator, is getting more out of quarterback Geno Smith than anyone else in his career. Steichen has shown the ability to call a balanced offense while putting quarterback Jalen Hurts in position to succeed. Moore has worked with Dak Prescott throughout the majority of his career, and he was able to help Cooper Rush keep things afloat in Prescott’s absence earlier this season.
Defensively, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans should be at the top of every team’s list. The former linebacker has proven to be a creative schemer and an effective leader in San Francisco.
This story was originally published November 17, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
