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There’s no way to make the Baker Mayfield trade look good for the Cleveland Browns. They shipped off a starting-caliber quarterback for a to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional fifth-round pick — and the Browns didn’t even dump all of Mayfield’s salary.
The Panthers strong-armed the Browns into paying $10.5 million of Mayfield’s salary for 2022, according to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. Meanwhile, the Browns are set to pay $46 million to Deshaun Watson in 2022 after inking him to a massive contract extension (that followed a blockbuster trade). That deal and trade frayed the Browns’ relationship with Mayfield beyond repair. But because of Watson’s pending and settled civil lawsuits with allegations of sexual misconduct, he may not play a single game in 2022. So Cleveland may have just punted on the upcoming season, with Jacoby Brissett looking like the projected starter for the year.
A new QB in Carolina: The #Panthers are acquiring former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield from the #Browns for a 2024 conditional 5th-round draft pick, sources tell me and @TomPelissero. Deal is pending a physical. All parties split the financials to make it happen. pic.twitter.com/xuTLqosmZm
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 6, 2022
The Panthers managed to get good value on Mayfield, who may never be an elite quarterback but is certainly worth a late-round draft choice. It helps, too, that Carolina decreased Mayfield’s financial burden by forcing the Browns to pay him in 2022. The Panthers also negotiated a $3.5 million pay cut with Mayfield, who is set to earn about $5 million, according to Garafolo. That’s a good deal for Mayfield, who will compete with and likely beat out Sam Darnold during training camp.
This could be a lose-lose trade for both teams, with Mayfield flopping in Carolina — taking up cap space and eating up draft capital. But there’s a chance the Panthers win this trade, if Mayfield emerges as a steady starter. And frankly, even if he doesn’t, the Panthers are not burning much in the way of assets to give Mayfield a try. In fact, Carolina traded away more capital to move up in the draft and select quarterback Matt Corral than it did in this deal for Mayfield.
The Browns, meanwhile, continue to look foolish for bungling their relationship with Mayfield in order to acquire Watson, entrenched in lawsuits. Cleveland can’t win this trade. There’s no scenario where they come out looking good. The Browns’ abysmal offseason has only gotten worse.