Baker Mayfield passed his physical with the Panthers on Thursday and that means he is now officially a member of the NFC South team.
It also means that he’s officially a teammate of Sam Darnold, who was selected by the Jets with the third overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft. Mayfield went first overall to the Browns that year and it’s rare that the same team has employed two quarterbacks drafted that high in the same year.
Per Elias Sports, the only other team to employ two quarterbacks picked in the top three of the same draft was the 1980 Raiders. Dan Pastorini was the third pick of the 1971 draft by the Oilers and opened the season as the Raiders starter. A broken leg knocked him out for the year and Jim Plunkett, who the Patriots picked first overall in 1971, took over the job.
Plunkett guided the Raiders to a Super Bowl win that year. Not many people are predicting the same result for the Panthers, but they’re hopeful that Mayfield’s arrival can generate better results than they’ve had in the last few years.