Seahawks’ Cooper Kupp still wowed by what Bucs’ Baker Mayfield did on 2022 Rams
Baker Mayfield has been atop the peak of the NFL as a young player. He was the first pick in the draft, and a finalist for league rookie of the year.
He’s also been to the NFL’s bottom. Traded by the team that took him first overall. Released that same year. Signed and released by four teams in an eight-month span of 2022 into ‘23.
Mayfield has remade himself and his career with consecutive Pro Bowl seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers the last two years. In 2024 he led the Bucs to the NFC South division title. While doing that, the now-30-year-old quarterback earned a $100 million contract extension with the Bucs.
Yet what Cooper Kupp and a group of current and former Los Angeles Rams respect Mayfield most for is what the QB did for L.A. over two days in December 2022.
That month, the Carolina Panthers released Mayfield. It was just five months after the Panthers had traded to get him from Cleveland. The Browns had selected Mayfield with the number-one pick in the 2018 draft, as a swashbuckling passer from Oklahoma.
In 2022 he went 1-5 for the Panthers before they waived him. The Rams signed him because their starter Matthew Stafford was injured.
L.A. signed Mayfield on a Tuesday. About 48 hours later, the Rams played the Raiders in a Thursday night game. Rams coach Sean McVay, renowned for his intricate and voluminous his play book, started John Wolford at quarterback. Wolford was in for one drive: three plays, 3 yards, one punt. The underdog Raiders took a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.
McVay then put in Mayfield, just two days after the Rams had signed him. Mayfield was fantastic. He completed 22 of 35 passes. He led L.A. back from a 16-3 deficit. He directed a 98-yard drive in 95 seconds to his touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining. It — he— won the game for Los Angeles, 17-16.
McVay then put in Mayfield, just two days after the Rams had signed him. Mayfield was fantastic. He completed 22 of 35 passes. He led L.A. back from a 16-3 deficit. He directed a 98-yard drive in 95 seconds to his touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining. It — he— won the game for Los Angeles, 17-16.
Three years, two teams and one, massive contract later, Mayfield is now a Pro Bowl QB leading his 3-1 Buccaneers into Seattle. They play Kupp’s 3-1 Seahawks Sunday at Lumen Field (1:05 p.m., CBS television, KIRO channel 7 locally).
Kupp, now wide receiver for Seattle after the Rams released him this spring, remains wowed by what Mayfield did that ultra-short week in L.A. three years ago.
So what that it was Mayfield’s only win in four starts with the Rams late that 2022 season? Kupp still can’t believe what Mayfield pulled off in McVay’s innovative, complicated offense in just two days.
“Yeah, man. Shoot, he was awesome,” Kupp, 32, said Wednesday. “What he was asked to do was, I mean, dang near impossible.
“He ran the offense after (two) days of being there. Something ridiculous. Went down and won the game. ...
How much of a crash course did Kupp, then a 29-year-old Rams leader coming off Super Bowl MVP season as the 2021 NFL offensive player of the year, give Mayfield in those two days to beat the Raiders?
“I don’t know how he (did it). I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Kupp said.
“That was Baker and his ability to just compartmentalize things. For him to be able to step in — once the football, once the plays start, that’s its own animal. But getting through the procedural stuff that you have to do as a quarterback is an incredible challenge.
“That was Baker.”
Kupp says to this day, guys from that Rams team respect Mayfield for it.
“That’s a huge deal. Guys want to play for him,” Kupp said. “He came in — I think he’s talked about how much fun he had the rest of that (season, four Rams games).
“I’m super-happy for him. ...Whatever people want to say about him, he’s gone off and been Baker Mayfield.
“That’s a pretty cool career arc for him.”
Mayfield like Sam Darnold
Mayfield’s arc is remarkably similar to the path Sam Darnold has taken to become the Seahawks’ new quarterback.
The New York Jets selected Darnold third overall in the 2018 draft, two spots after Cleveland took Mayfield. Like Mayfield, Darnold struggled on a bad team to begin his career.
Like Mayfield, Darnold got traded by the team that drafted him. Like Mayfield, Darnold got traded to Carolina.
Mayfield and Darnold were teammates with the Panthers in 2022. That is, until Carolina benched Mayfield, replaced him with Darnold and waived Mayfield to Los Angeles.
Like Mayfield, Darnold went from floundering to flourishing while with his fourth NFL team. After the 2023 season backing up Brock Purdy in San Francisco, Darnold had his best season by far in 2024 with Minnesota. He threw for 4,300 yards and 35 touchdowns while leading the Vikings to a 14-3 season and a playoff appearance. Darnold earned his first Pro Bowl selections last season.
And like Mayfield, Darnold’s career revival earned him a three-year contract worth up to $100 million. Darnold signed his mega deal with Seattle in March, to replace traded Geno Smith.
“Sam and I are really close,” Mayfield told reporters in Florida Wednesday, per Jenna Laine of espn.com. “I’m happy for him, from going a couple different places that weren’t great for us to having a good opportunity elsewhere. It’s fun to see.
“I knew he just needed that chance, and he’s thriving now. It’s good to see — but hopefully not this weekend.”
Mike Macdonald’s respect for Baker Mayfield
Before Darnold arrived in Seattle this spring, Smith had resurrected his career with the Seahawks. He broke many of Russell Wilson’s passing records and earning his first two Pro Bowl selections in three seasons replacing the traded Wilson as Seattle’s franchise QB.
So, yes, the Seahawks know the value of giving quarterbacks a second — or fourth — chance, like Mayfield’s had with the Bucs.
“Our organization is the poster child for that sort of thing,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said. “A wise man once said players are allowed to get better. And that’s something we believe in here.”
Darnold has been coolly efficient during the Seahawks’ three-game winning streak that began after he lost a fumble in the red zone in the final seconds of a 17-13 loss to San Francisco in week one. He co-leads the league with Baltimore’s two-time NFL most valuable player Lamar Jackson in yards per pass attempt. Darnold has the league’s seventh-highest completion rate through four games this season (70.0%).
For the Buccaneers, Mayfield has eight touchdowns against just one interception. He led the Bucs to their first 3-0 start in 20 years. He became the first quarterback in NFL history to win the first three games of a season all with winning scores in the final minute.
Tampa Bay’s only loss this season is to Philadelphia, 31-25 last week. There’s no shame in that. The Eagles have won 20 of their last 21 games.
Macdonald is drilling his Seahawks defensive players this week on the importance of keeping Mayfield inside the pocket and not letting him run around them outside on Sunday.
“He’s one of those guys that, by our metrics on the extended play, he’s probably the best in the league right now,” Macdonald said. “That’s something you have to deal with.
“But he also plays on time. He’s extremely accurate. He’s got great arm talent. And then when he extends plays, he’s a great competitor. He’s got a playmaking element to his game later on in plays.
“So, a tough guy to defend.”
Macdonald said he has “a lot of respect for Baker.”
“I think he’s playing at a really high level,” Macdonald said. “Obviously his team respects the heck out of him. He’s tough. He competes. He’s won. We’ve had a lot of great battles with him when he was in Cleveland.”
That was during the 10 seasons Macdonald spent as a defensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens inside the AFC North, playing the Browns twice each year.
“And Sam’s writing a heck of a story for himself, too, right now,” Macdonald said.
“It’s great what’s going on in the league with some of the quarterbacks, bringing their careers to a different level as it grows. That’s pretty cool.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
