Carolina Panthers announce Baker Mayfield as opening-day starter versus Browns

Week One action in the NFL just officially got even more intriguing. The Carolina Panthers announced on Monday that former Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield will start game one of the season versus his former team, as expected. Mayfield briefly battled it out with returner Sam Darnold after his trade in early July and won the job after starting multiple preseason games.

Winning the job in Carolina was exactly what the former Sooners star intended to do when he took a pay cut to join the Panthers. The Browns opted to give Deshaun Watson a massive contract while leaving their former first-round pick on the hook. Now, Watson is suspended for 11 games and Mayfield has the opportunity to make his former team pay in the season opener.

The kickoff for Game 1 is on Sept. 11 at 11 a.m. ET on CBS. The Panthers have home-field advantage.

Mayfield is coming off of a season that was injury-riddled, which resulted in the least productive year of his young career. In 14 games for the Browns, he posted 3,010 passing yards, 134 rushing yards, 18 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He took a career-high 43 sacks and posted a QBR that ranked 27th among starting quarterbacks. The only quarterbacks with lower QBR last season were Trevor Lawrence, Darnold, Zach Wilson and Justin Fields.

Panthers rookie Matt Corral sidelined for season

Carolina head coach Matt Rhule probably couldn’t be more relieved in hindsight that the team chose to pursue Mayfield. Although some believed the Panthers could brave a rocky season with rookie Matt Corral, that plan could have gone disastrously.

As it turns out, the rookie quarterback has a Lisfranc injury, according to The Athletic’s Joe Person. The injury effectively ends Corral’s rookie season before it really started.

Corral, a third-round pick out of Ole Miss in the 2022 draft, left the Panther’s preseason game against the Patriots on Friday night and was later in a walking boot. Rhule said Corral had his foot stepped on during the game, causing the injury.

Corral was alternating at the quarterback position with P.J. Walker on Friday as the Panthers rested their top two quarterbacks: Mayfield and Sam Darnold.