Rams have chance to claim Baker Mayfield, if they want him

Dec 5, 2022 - 6:49 PM

By ALL accounts, Baker Mayfield is one of the worst quarterbacks in the NFL. Though the media attempted to soften his long stint on the trade block this offseason because of a “shoulder injury”, the truth is that 31 teams were not very interested in acquiring Baker Mayfield despite being a former Heisman winning number one overall pick. The money got in the way too, but eventually the Carolina Panthers—then the NFL’s most desperate team—decided to be the one-of-32 that wanted Baker Mayfield.

Because obviously the Cleveland Browns had also opted for somebody else to start at quarterback.

Mayfield had a mirage campaign with the Browns in 2020, getting way too much credit for an 11-5 record and decent stats that were inflated by Mayfield producing in inconsequential situations against horrible competition. He struggled enough for the Browns to give up three first round picks for the most controversial player in the NFL today and on Monday the Panthers also decided that they don’t want Mayfield either.

Baker Mayfield was released on Monday and he will go on waivers, where the L.A. Rams have a top-four waiver claim priority based on current NFL standings. With Matthew Stafford out for the year, should the Rams add the worst quarterback in the league because he was once a highly rated prospect?

Maybe.

Mayfield has been the worst QB in the NFL. He ranks 33rd out of 33 in QBR, 32nd out of 33 in passer rating, and 32nd out of 33 in completion percentage. The only quarterbacks in his vicinity are Zach Wilson (benched), Russell Wilson (too expensive to be benched), Davis Mills (benched), and Kenny Pickett (would be benched if the Steelers weren’t so bad).

As hard as it is to believe that Baker Mayfield is worse than John Wolford and Bryce Perkins...He’s probably worse.

However, the Rams have nothing to lose at this point and Wolford’s injury history is one reason why L.A. could need another body other than Case Cookus. But there’s no future here with Baker Mayfield unless he agrees to a vet minimum contract in 2023, which the Rams would not have to claim him before agreeing to. Mayfield is a free agent and it would cost L.A. a lot of money to claim his contract for the rest of the season.

Do I think the Rams will claim Mayfield? I think he might clear waivers!

Because Baker Mayfield is the NFL’s worst quarterback. And the Rams are the NFL’s team with nothing to lose. We’ll see.