Once upon a time it was a crazy thought to say that quarterbacks Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield would be teammates.
And yet here we are.
The Cleveland Browns traded Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday. That follows suit with the New York Jets from a year ago.
Mayfield was the top-overall pick at the 2018 NFL draft. Two picks later at No. 3, Darnold was drafted by the Jets… who ended up dealing him to Carolina.
Now it begs the question: Who did it better? The Jets or Browns?
It’s easy to see that New York got the better trade return than Cleveland.
The Browns landed a fifth-round pick for Mayfield. That’s it.
But there’s more to the deal. Cleveland also will still pay some of the final year of Mayfield’s contract in 2022.
By comparison, the Jets blew this out of the water.
In return for Darnold, the Jets received three picks: a sixth-rounder in the 2021 draft and a second-rounder and fourth-rounder in 2022. One of these selections ended up being a player New York is very excited about.
The Jets traded the 38th pick, which they acquired from the Panthers – as well as their own 146th pick – to move up and take running back Breece Hall in the second round of the recent draft.
No salary in 2022 will be paid to Darnold from the Jets as the Panthers went on the pick up the fifth-year option on his rookie contract after the trade was finalized.
Of course with any trade there’s context.
Mayfield’s cost was much less because of those dollars.
Not to mention, he was halfway out of the door already because Deshaun Watson was acquired by the Browns earlier this offseason. Regardless of what happens with Watson off the field, Mayfield was leaving and has.
But that’s not the Jets’ problem…
All in all, Wednesday went down as a good day in the world of New York general manager Joe Douglas.
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