On Monday, Baker Mayfield was released by the Carolina Panthers and he has already been linked to several teams including the Indianapolis Colts.
This offseason, the Indianapolis Colts had a chance to go after Baker Mayfield but Indy opted to go with Matt Ryan. Now, 13 disappointing games later, the Colts may have another chance to acquire Mayfield. On Monday, the Carolina Panthers released Mayfield after the veteran quarterback asked for a release so he could possibly join one of the QB-needy teams in the NFL. Unfortunately, Indianapolis still fits that criteria.
Although the Colts currently have three quarterbacks on the active roster, Ryan, Nick Foles, and Sam Ehlinger, Indy doesn’t really have a quarterback that it’s confident in as the starter. Ryan has started the majority of the games but following Sunday’s blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys, Ryan could be heading to the bench again. Does this mean Indy will bring in Mayfield?
Since it is so late in the season, Baker Mayfield has to go through the waiver wire before he actually becomes a free agent. Since he would only be owed $1.3 million, he’ll likely get claimed if a team really wants him. NFL insider, Ian Rapoport, went on The Pat McAfee Show to talk about the likely teams that will submit a claim and the Colts were one of the few.
"I could definitely see a team like the Texans, Colts or Rams claiming him before he gets to the Niners" ~@RapSheet #PMSOverreactionMonday pic.twitter.com/8oxm1gtHKw
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 5, 2022
Would claiming Baker Mayfield make sense for Colts?
In addition to Indianapolis, Rapoport named the Houston Texans, San Francisco 49ers, and Los Angeles Rams as the teams to watch on the waiver wire. Of those teams, both the Texans and Rams are currently ahead of Indy on the waiver wire. If neither of them put in a claim for Mayfield, he could be on his way to the Colts. But, does that move even make sense?
Mayfield will be a free agent after this season, so any team claiming him will only be getting him for four or five more games. That makes sense if you’re a contending team like the 49ers and believe Mayfield can help the team reach its goals, but for a team like Indianapolis, that’s 4-8-1, it doesn’t make much sense. Mayfield wouldn’t really come and solve Indy’s problems and lead them on a late-game push.
If there is any reason why the Colts would want Mayfield for their final four games, it is so they could basically audition him to be next season’s quarterback. If he’s impressive, Indy would work to re-sign him, but if he isn’t, the Colts would let him go without losing anything significant. Even still, that doesn’t quite seem like a good enough reason for Indianapolis to claim Mayfield. With Indy heading toward the top half of the draft, most fans would probably prefer the Colts draft a rookie instead of rolling with another veteran.
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