Panthers wide receiver Robbie Anderson gave the impression in April that he didn’t want Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield on the team. Anderson has since tried to put the toothpaste back in the tube by pointing out that he was just trying to support Sam Darnold. Anderson, who has played with Darnold with both the Panthers and Jets, recently explained to I Am Athlete that he believes Darnold’s career has been derailed since his early years in New York. “I feel like his development has been messed up in the league,” Anderson said, via Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports . “Look at Pat [Mahomes] and look at Lamar [Jackson]. They didn’t play right away. I don’t think Sam should have played right away. “I feel his career started in the wrong way. I feel like — being in the building, the coaches — I was there. In his defense, I don’t think he was 100 percent developed properly.” This is absolutely possible. But Darnold got off to a fresh start in Carolina and ultimately didn’t perform well enough to keep the Panthers, whose owner is obsessed with acquiring a franchise quarterback, from trading for Mayfield. Darnold still has a chance to win the starting job. While a tie or anything close to it will likely go to the newcomer, Darnold has a chance to show the coaching staff enough not to play Mayfield. Then again, if Darnold had shown them enough last season or during the 2022 offseason, they wouldn’t be trading Mayfield.
