Sam Darnold says he, Baker Mayfield 'cool' with competing to become Carolina Panthers' starting QB

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The Carolina Panthers turned the heat up on Sam Darnold earlier this month when they traded for Baker Mayfield to compete for the starting quarterback job, but as far as Darnold is concerned the two are «cool» with battling it out.

«When things start rolling in training camp it's just going to be fun to be able to compete and have fun with it,» Darnold said Tuesday as the Panthers reported to camp at Wofford College. «At the end of the day this is a business and we both take our craft and what we do very seriously.

»So it's going to be serious when that time comes to compete, but off the field and all of that stuff, me and Baker are really cool."

This was the first time Darnold has spoken to the media since the Panthers traded a conditional 2024 draft pick to the Cleveland for Mayfield, who became expendable after the Cleveland Browns traded with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson.

That reunited the 2018 draft's top pick (Mayfield) with the third overall pick (Darnold).

Both have been full-time starters since entering the league, Mayfield with Cleveland and Darnold with the New York Jets and Panthers. They still consider themselves starters even though the Panthers have declared an «open» competition for the job.

«We're both in our eyes the starting quarterback for this team right now,» Darnold said. «And that's how we're both going to view it. So it's just about going out there and competing, and that will be fun.»

Coach Matt Rhule said the competition will be good for a Carolina team that has gone through four starting quarterbacks the past two seasons.

He doesn't have a deadline for when he'd like to name a starter, only that he'd like to know by the Sept. 11 opener against Cleveland.

«Anytime