Football

Despite speculation to the contrary, quarterback Baker Mayfield was reportedly a model teammate during his time with the Carolina Panthers.

According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the Panthers felt Mayfield showed "great maturity" when he was demoted to the backup role behind PJ Walker and Sam Darnold and that he was not a "difficult teammate."

Furthermore, the Panthers reportedly believe Mayfield "accepted his role" and "didn't make any waves" despite the demotion.

Per ESPN's David Newton, Panthers head coach Steve Wilks said Monday that Mayfield requested his release and was granted it. The former Cleveland Browns signal-caller was subsequently claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams.

The Cleveland Browns originally made Mayfield the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft, and while he had his moments, such as finishing second in the 2018 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year voting and leading the Browns to the playoffs for the first time since 2002 in 2020, he ultimately flamed out.

Mayfield played with an injured non-throwing shoulder for much of the 2021 season, and he struggled to the tune of a 6-8 record, 3,010 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 14 games.

The Browns decided to move on from Mayfield, trading a bounty of draft picks to the Houston Texans for quarterback Deshaun Watson, despite the fact that Watson had been accused of sexual assault or misconduct by 25 female massage therapists.

That spelled the end of Mayfield's tenure in Cleveland, with Jason Lloyd of The Athletic later reporting that he was viewed as "childish and immature" within the Browns organization.

After missing out on other opportunities to upgrade the quarterback position, the Panthers acquired Mayfield from the Browns prior to the start of the 2022 regular season in hopes that he could take the reins from Darnold.

Mayfield was named the Browns starter for Week 1 and went on to make six starts overall, but he struggled mightily with a 1-5 record. He also completed just 57.8 percent of his passes for 1,313 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions for a Panthers team that fired head coach Matt Rhule.

The offense was so stagnant with Mayfield at the helm that the Panthers made the switch to an NFL journeyman and former XFL star in Walker until Darnold returned from injury.

L.A. could represent one of Mayfield's final NFL opportunities, particularly as a starter, provided he gets a chance to start down the stretch.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford is on injured reserve with a neck injury and presumed out for the remainder of the season, leaving the Rams with John Wolford and Bryce Perkins under center before they claimed Mayfield.

It has been a rough season for the Rams, but they are the reigning Super Bowl champions, and Mayfield could build up plenty of goodwill around the league with positive reports out of Los Angeles.

Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier could be a top candidate to become head coach of the Indianapolis Colts next season, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.

Graziano reported that Frazier "has been brought up to me by more than one person lately as a name to watch" for the vacancy in Indianapolis.

Jeff Saturday has been the Colts' interim coach since Frank Reich was fired in November, but the team is just 1-3 since the switch and could be seeking a full-time replacement in the offseason.

Frazier would be a qualified candidate after six seasons as the Bills' defensive coordinator, including the last three years as assistant head coach.

Buffalo has the No. 4 scoring defense in the NFL despite being without Pro Bowl cornerback Tre'Davious White for much of the season. Last year, the unit ranked first in both points and yards allowed on the way to an 11-6 record and a trip to the AFC divisional round.

Frazier also has experience in Indianapolis as the defensive backs coach for the 2006 team that won the Super Bowl.

The 63-year-old spent that season under head coach Tony Dungy, who could be an "ally" in the coaching search considering his pull in Indianapolis with owner Jim Irsay, per Graziano.

Though Frazier did struggle in his last stint as a head coach, going 21-32-1 across four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, his resume since then should get him another chance at leading an NFL team.

The Colts could use a veteran leader after falling to 4-8-1 in 2022 despite entering the year with high expectations.

Hiring Frazier, who is Black, would also be a positive step for the franchise after widespread criticism following the addition of Saturday.

The Fritz Pollard Alliance announced it would review the team's process for naming an interim coach who had no prior coaching experience at either the NFL or college level. The organization previously argued the hire went against the "spirit" of the Rooney Rule intended to create opportunities for minority candidates.

Brock Purdy did enough in a Week 13 win over the Miami Dolphins to convince Hall of Famer Joe Montana that the San Francisco 49ers can still win the Super Bowl.

"You know what, if he does what he did last week, yeah," Montana said of Purdy leading the team to a title, per Josh Peter of USA Today.

Purdy, who earned the moniker of "Mr. Irrelevant" as the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, replaced the injured Jimmy Garoppolo on Sunday and came through with 210 yards and two passing touchdowns in a 33-17 win.

"Mr. Irrelevant was pretty relevant last weekend," Montana said. "I think they’ve got a chance. I mean, their defense is playing well. When you've got a good defense, you can make (up for) a lot of mistakes on offense, and those guys have a tendency to make it up for you."

Garoppolo will miss the rest of the regular season with a foot injury, although ESPN's Adam Schefter reported the veteran can return late in the playoffs if the 49ers make a deep run. In the meantime, Purdy will take control of the offense and make his first career start on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Despite his lack of experience, Purdy has one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history in his corner, as well as the league's No. 1 defense.

The struggling Denver Broncos may be in line for some serious changes this offseason.

According to Jason La Canfora of The Washington Post, "There is a mounting consensus that [head coach Nathaniel Hackett] will not be back—'They can't sell that to their fans in 2023,' one GM said—and three executives I spoke to all believe that front office changes are more likely than not in Denver."

La Canfora added that the job security of general manager George Paton, in particular, has been called into question by folks around the NFL.

Hackett, 42, was hired in January to take over for Vic Fangio, who spent three seasons as the team's head coach and never led them to a winning record. The hope was that Hackett, after tenures as the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills (2013-14), Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-18) and Green Bay Packers (2019-21), could help transition Denver's offense alongside new quarterback Russell Wilson.

Instead, the results have been nothing short of a disaster.

The 3-9 Broncos rank last in the NFL in scoring (13.8 PPG) and 27th in yards (315.2 YPG). They've only scored 17 or more points in two or more games. To put that in perspective, their upcoming opponents, the Kansas City Chiefs, haven't been held to less than 17 points in a single game this season.

The result has been eight losses in their last nine games.

Wilson in particular has been bad, throwing for 2,558 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions in 11 games while completing 60.1 percent of his passes. The decision to both trade for him and sign him to a five-year, $242.5 million day does not look good in hindsight.

That doesn't bode well for Paton. The general results on the field don't bode well for Hackett. If major changes come for the Broncos this offseason, it won't come as much of a surprise to anyone.

Kliff Kingsbury's time as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals may be coming to an end.

Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post reported executives around the league "are anticipating" that the NFC West team will move in a different direction before next season. He noted it is still up in the air if general manager Steve Keim will also be fired.

The Cardinals made the playoffs last season with an 11-6 record, meaning expectations were high entering the 2022 campaign.

However, things have gone anything but according to plan.

Arizona is 4-8 on the season and well behind the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers, who are 8-4. The Cardinals have also lost four of their last five and are largely just playing out the string at this point.

Things went off course before the year even started, as DeAndre Hopkins was suspended for six games for violating the league's performance-enhancing drug policy. There was also plenty of outside noise regarding an independent study clause in Kyler Murray's contract that the team eventually removed.

Murray has dealt with a hamstring injury at times this season and exchanged in some back-and-forths with Kingsbury and others. It reached a point that Minnesota Vikings cornerback Patrick Peterson even called Murray out for only caring about himself.

Kingsbury has been unable to navigate the various challenges Arizona has faced this season into a winning record and could be approaching the end of his tenure as a result.

It was somewhat surprising when the Cardinals hired him ahead of the 2019 season considering his only head-coaching experience had been a mediocre run at the collegiate level with Texas Tech.

He went 35-40 in six seasons from 2013 through 2018 with the Red Raiders even though he had Patrick Mahomes as his quarterback for three of those years.

Kingsbury's record isn't much better with the Cardinals at 28-32-1, and he will have one single playoff game in four years at the end of this season. There is apparently a belief that won't be good enough to keep his job.

The Los Angeles Rams might have achieved two goals when they claimed veteran quarterback Baker Mayfield off waivers Tuesday.

The reigning Super Bowl champions now have another option under center with Matthew Stafford still on injured reserve and John Wolford battling a neck injury.

Los Angeles also ensured Mayfield didn't land with the San Francisco 49ers, who have to lean on Brock Purdy as their starter with Jimmy Garoppolo out for potentially 7-8 weeks because of a Lisfranc injury, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Social media applauded the gamesmanship by Rams general manager Les Snead.

Schefter threw a bit of a wet blanket on the discourse, though, when he reported the Niners didn't place a waiver claim on Mayfield.

Some also wondered whether San Francisco was the one playing three-dimensional chess.

At 3-9, the Rams haven't been mathematically eliminated from the playoff race, but their quest for the postseason is effectively over.

Playing the role of spoiler and helping to deny the Niners an NFC West title provides Los Angeles with what little satisfaction it can take from a disappointing season.