The Panthers entered the weekend as the favorites to acquire Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, with ESPN’s Kimberley A. Martin tweeting on Friday that talks could soon “heat up” between the two teams. Instead, the Panthers traded up in the draft to select Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral with the No. 94 pick. So what gives?
According to Yahoo’s Charles Robinson (on Twitter), talks between the Panthers and Browns were “halted” after the sides couldn’t come to terms on a deal. Specifically, the two front offices were squabbling over how to divide up Mayfield’s $18.8MM in guaranteed money next season. Of course, the money might not have been the only reason why the Panthers seemingly pivoted from a veteran to a rookie; per ESPN’s David Newton, adding a quarterback via the draft “always was [GM Scott] Fitterer‘s first choice.”
Now, Robinson’s report might not necessarily stop trade talks altogether, but for what it’s worth, Fitterer seemed to shut the door on adding another QB to the grouping of Corral, Sam Darnold, and P.J. Walker.
“I never put an absolute on anything,” Fitterer said (via Newton). “We came into this weekend with the intention of getting a quarterback, and that’s what we did. And we’re going to go with this group.”
With one suitor apparently out of the running, the options appear to be drying up for Mayfield and the Browns. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com writes, the Seahawks were the only Mayfield/rookie QB suitor to not add a signal-caller through the first two days of the draft. The Lions and Saints have also been mentioned as potential landing spots, while the Panthers and Falcons (who selected Cincinnati QB Desmond Ridder) would be out. Fortunately for the Browns, the worst-case scenario is no longer a concern; with the Steelers drafting Kenny Pickett, the Browns no longer have to worry about cutting Mayfield and watching him land in Pittsburgh.
He would work for the Philadelphia Eagles
The Browns don’t want that much back in return and if they work the money out, I think Mayfield would be great in Philly
Good thought!
He would be a perfect fit for the team and the city.
uh, disagree there
He’s better than Hurts
yeah sure, but I don’t think the fanbase wants him or would like him.
Does Philly like anyone? They booed Santa Claus
Indeed they did lol
I think Baker Mayfield should go to The Vikings, because Kirk Cousins is doing all right and he would have a good RB, TE, and WR team.
Bucs loosing Brady after this season. He could learn from Brady a thing or 2 on how to lead
I think that would be ideal for everyone. Baker would have to redo his contract and take less this year and recoup it in the latter 3 year extension. He’d still be young enough to get a big payday if he performs. I know he’s not the coach anymore but Arians loved Baker his rookie year. Arians was actually wanting the Cleveland job after they Mayfield’s rookie year. They choose Kitchens and Arians got Brady instead. Haha
I can see that, an arrogant player playing for the most ridiculous fan base in the nfl..
Fanbase and your opinion of it has what to do with where Mayfield goes?
I like Baker I am a Browns fan, but he’s a bit arrogant and from the outside seeing him join phili makes sense. My comment was just an inward thought posted but to reply on yours, it doesn’t.
I read somewhere today that Grap handled the Lance draft perfectly. He was fine with them trading up (at least in public) and was comfortable with competition. Baker & his wife, on the other hand, screamed at the team, coaches, & players. He’s too immature. Like many of his age; ‘scrub SM’ of their present teams to make a point!
To be fair, there is no competition here. Watson is the QB here and the team more or less told Baker he could pound sand.
If I recall, he asked for a trade before they signed Watson.
lol….wtf did this made up narrative come from?
Baker’s salary is guaranteed, right? He should just take his place on the bench. Watson’s unlikely to be suspended during this season, but injury is always a possibility.
Baker to the Giants for Kadarius Toney.
Browns need WR help and Toney is cheap and quality. He does have issues but he produces.
Giants declined Jones 5th year option and are open to trading Toney. They also have other WRers and don’t need him. Baker vs Dan Jones for starting QB
NFL needs to adopt a system like football and let teams loan out players to the other random leagues or arena leagues. They honestly don’t care about Baker but what if they got 5 to 10 M from the Charlotte Moonshiners for him to play QB and that money comes off the Browns cap, remaining is dead money.
I’ll continue to keep writing this…..
At some point – possibly even pre-season – a contending teams QB will go down and their FO and HC will know full well that their backup cannot be the guy for 2022.
While Mayfield may not be as good as the QB that went down, at least he’ll give the team some chance of a successful season.
That’s when he’ll be traded.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Lions take a flier on Mayfield. Worst case scenario, you have him as a backup for a year. Best case scenario, you found a long-term starter. I think his tough, gritty style of play would fit in well with Campbell’s culture.
I do find it odd that the Browns were willing to eat the money for OBJ, but demand something in return for Mayfield.
Cleveland has bungled the opportunity to trade Mayfield from the moment they declared “We’re going to have an adult at quarterback”.
Unlike San Francisco with Jimmy G, Cleveland only benefits if they trade Mayfield. To cut him puts that entire 5th year option salary of ~$19M as a dead cap hit. Therefore they need to trade him and that contract. They will wait out OTA’s and Camp to see if anyone has a major injury at QB and hope to get a high return for him or they’ll need to eat some of the $19M and hope for at least a 4th round pick.
San Francisco with Jimmy G is in a much different position. A cut or trade leaves them with a $1.4M dead cap hit but frees over $25M of salary cap. For SF a trade of any type has value, even if it’s a late round or conditional pick.
Both teams have questions with their planned QB1 for Cleveland it’s a possible suspension and for SF it’s possible lack of readiness. SF has a much more pressing need to get cap space than does Cleveland which will make this interesting to play out.
Any team that tries to get either QB will need to clear cap space first.