Baker Mayfield on month with Rams: ‘It was a whirlwind’

Mar 20, 2023 - 7:56 PM

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Baker Mayfield signed with his fourth time in about the last nine months after agreeing to a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last week, leaving the Los Angeles Rams after a five-game stint that nobody expected. Especially not Mayfield. Following a four-year career with the Cleveland Browns and a seven-game trial with the Carolina Panthers, Mayfield was picked up on waivers midseason at a time when the Rams had been devastated with injuries and unable to rely on backups John Wolford, Bryce Perkins.

Despite L.A. being the shortest stint with any team, Mayfield does leave the Rams with a probable sixth round compensatory pick for their troubles. But Mayfield decided to try his hand at starting again right away by signing with the Bucs over accepting a backup job on the Rams, assuming that L.A. offered him a deal to stay.

Baker met with NFL Network’s Andrew Siciliano on Monday to talk about why he signed with Tampa Bay—where he’s been told he will compete against Kyle Trask to replace Tom Brady—and what it was like to have a one-month audition for Sean McVay.

“It was a whirlwind, I’ll say that,” answered Mayfield, chuckling as if he was holding back something. “Definitely not how I drew it up, but it taught me to roll with the punches.”

Mayfield goes from his unexpected ride with the Rams to playing for Todd Bowles and first-time offensive coordinator Dave Canales, previously the quarterbacks coach for Geno Smith and Russell Wilson on the Seattle Seahawks. But Mayfield first needs to beat out Trask and whatever competition comes, not ruling out that the Bucs could draft a quarterback in April.

L.A. still needs a backup quarterback of their own, and certainly someone who could be needed sooner than later. It won’t be Mayfield. It might be a whirlwind.