Browns Trade Baker Mayfield To Panthers
On Wednesday the Panthers acquired Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Carolina will send a 2024 fifth-round pick that can change into a fourth-rounder if Mayfield starts and plays at least 12 games this season.
After a disappointing season with injuries and drama this past season, it was best that both sides parted ways. Mayfield agreed to forgo the $3.5 million of his guaranteed $19 million contract in 2022. He can make it up with incentives but he decided to forgo his $3.5 million because he wanted to get traded.
Mayfield will have a chance to revive his career but he will have to work for it. For now, the Panthers have Sam Darnold who was picked two picks after Mayfield. Mayfield will have to beat him out in order to start this season and get some of the money back that he decided to forgo.
Things didn’t seem to be clicking in Cleveland for Mayfield. He did have a couple of coaching changes so that can have an effect but also he wasn’t hitting his receivers. He had Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Laundry as his top two guys and he wasn’t throwing to them like most thought he would. The run game and the defense had to carry in order for the team to be good. One thing he did well was getting Cleveland to the playoffs and winning their first playoff game in 26 years. At the end of the day there was just too much going on and it was time for both sides to start fresh.
This is not the first time Mayfield has had to prove himself on the field. He had to prove himself in college as he bounced around a couple of times before settling in Oklahoma. This is familiar territory for Mayfield he is always the underdog and he does seem to prove people wrong at times. Maybe he can do it again with a fresh start in Carolina.
