Just one day after picking up former No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield off waivers, the Los Angeles Rams are preparing to have him active for their outing against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday.
When it was reported that Los Angeles had put a waiver claim on the former Carolina Panthers and Cleveland Browns quarterback, suggestions were that he could be active.
With his team in the midst of a six-game losing streak, Rams head coach Sean McVay all but confirmed that on Wednesday.
“I’ll lean toward him being active,” McVay told reporters.
There’s a pretty obvious reason for this. Rams starter Matthew Stafford is on injured reserve and will miss the remainder of the season due to a spinal cord injury. Backup John Wolford is questionable heading in with a neck injury of his own. This would leave Bryce Perkins as the only active quarterback on game day. That’s not an ideal scenario.
Though, McVay also thinks that Mayfield can handle being active despite having just joined the team late Tuesday evening.
“He’s a really sharp, smart, cerebral player that has a great competitiveness to him that you can’t help but like,” McVay on Baker Mayfield, via Greg Beacham of the Associated Press.
Mayfield initially requested his release from the Panthers after it was revealed privately he’d be the No. 3 quarterback behind Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker moving forward. Set to hit free agency in March, the former No. 1 pick wanted an opportunity to prove his worth down the stretch. Carolina afforded him that. Despite this, Mayfield’s struggles since a breakout 2020 season can’t inspire too much confidence.
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- Baker Mayfield stats (2021-22): 60% completion, 4,323 yards, 23 TD, 19 INT, 80.2 QB rating
The fact that no other team put a waiver claim in on Mayfield should tell us a story. He’s fallen completely off the map since a drama-filled end to his tenure with the Browns. Just don’t tell that to Mr. McVay.
“When you have a player of his caliber become available and you look at just the circumstances and the situation surrounding our quarterback room, we felt like it was the right move for us. I’ve always respected his game,” McVay on baker Mayfield.
For the Rams part, the defending Super Bowl champions are just playing out the string. They’ve lost six consecutive games and are in last place in the NFC West. In addition to Stafford being sidelined, fellow stars Cooper Kupp, Allen Robinson and Aaron Donald will not suit up Thursday night against the Raiders.