Getty Baker Mayfield and Josh Allen embrace on the field after a game.
The Buffalo Bills will be in need of a backup quarterback in the next offseason, and one analyst suggests they could go after a player who would once have seemed a very unlikely choice to play behind Josh Allen.
After Mitch Trubisky’s one-year reclamation project behind Allen, the Bills traded for the 34-year-old Case Keenum and restructured his expiring contract. If the team opts to go with another veteran, one analyst believes they could take a swing at the quarterback who went No. 1 in Allen’s draft class — Baker Mayfield.
Bills Could Swing for Mayfield
Bills radio host Joe DiBiase suggested this week that the team could go after Mayfield if they wanted to make a splash in free agency. The Cleveland Browns had picked up Mayfield’s fifth-year option before trading him away to the Carolina Panthers last offseason, and there is a very good chance he will be looking for a new team. The Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule this week, and a new coach will likely want to start over with their own quarterback, making it unlikely that Mayfield would re-sign with the team.
There is no guarantee that Mayfield would be in line for a starting job next season. Though he had a strong season in 2020, throwing for 3,563 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading the Browns to an 11-5 record, he has been on a downturn since suffering and playing through a shoulder injury the next year. He went 6-8 last season, throwing for 3,010 yards with 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Mayfield’s downward trajectory has continued this year with the Panthers, completing 54.9 percent of his passes for 962 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
Im 1000% out on baker mayfield, good grief man.. t.co/M6tYjAveFq
Bills Could Make Strong Pitch to Mayfield
The Bills used a similar situation to their advantage in the 2021-22 season. After the Chicago Bears cut ties with Trubisky, the Bills convinced him to sign on to be Allen’s backup despite higher offers. As Bills general manager Brandon Beane explained at the time, the team sold Trubisky on the chance to play for one season under the same coaching staff that helped Allen to a breakout season and then go back to free agency to compete for a starting job.
“I don’t know all of what went on in Chicago but he started 50 games, he won 29, I think the label sometimes that has been put on Mitchell from afar is that maybe he doesn’t deserve it all,” Beane said after Trubisky signed. “He’s a kind young man, caring and this is just a reset for him. We don’t expect him to be here long-term…Hopefully, in a year he’ll get a chance to go back on land a nice contract and a starting job somewhere, we have no doubt that will happen.”
Mayfield could be in a very similar situation next season, in need of a reset after a turbulent ending with the Browns and an uneven season with a Panthers team that will likely be headed into a rebuild next season.
Mayfield also appears to be in search of a redemption story, especially after struggling with injuries over the course of the last year. After undergoing shoulder surgery in January, he took to social media to post that he was looking forward to getting “back to my true self.”
“Surgery went great. Was a complete success,” Mayfield tweeted. “Now it’s on to the road to recovery. It’s one of those steps to get back to my true self. … This is not the end of my story.”