Panthers make Baker Mayfield their starting quarterback

Two days ago, Panthers coach Matt Rhule wasn’t ready to name a starting quarterback. Today, he is.

The Panthers have announced that Baker Mayfield will be their starting quarterback in 20 days, when they host the Browns.

It hardly guarantees that Mayfield will have the job all year. He’ll need to play well, and the Panthers likely will need to win more than they lose.

Also, if he’s banged up, he won’t be able to claim that he plays as long as he wants to play, or whatever he did in Cleveland last year to continue being the starter when his left shoulder was clearly an issue. With Rhule and the rest of the coaching staff on the hot seat, they’ll flip to Sam Darnold, if they need to.

Still, the first pick in the 2018 draft will be the guy for Week One. And we can only hope that, at some point before, during, or after the game, Mayfield will declare, “The Browns is the Browns.”