BERIA, Ohio — The Cleveland Browns agreed to trade quarterback Baker Mayfield to the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday for a conditional 2024 draft pick.
The Panthers will pay $4.85 million of Mayfield’s salary, while the Browns will pay $10.5 million, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Mayfield agreed to convert the remainder of his $18.8 million salary into incentives to facilitate the deal, which is yet to be completed physically. Mayfield could earn that money based on the team’s performance, a source said.
The Browns will receive a fourth- or fifth-round pick in 2024, depending on Mayfield’s playing time in Carolina, a source told ESPN. To be a fourth-rounder, Mayfield would have to play 70 percent of the snaps, a league source told ESPN’s David Newton.
Mayfield, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, joins a Panthers team that already has Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, on its quarterback depth chart. The Panthers also selected Matt Corral in the third round of this year’s draft.
The Panthers have no intention of trading Darnold after acquiring Mayfield, a league source told Newton.
Now, Mayfield and Darnold, who competed against each other to become the No. 1 pick in 2018, will compete again in training camp to battle for the right to be the Panthers’ starters this season, a league source told Schefter .
QBINTsBaker Mayfield56Sam Darnold52Jared Goff49Jameis Winston47Josh Allen46– ESPN Stats and Info
If Mayfield wins the job, his first starting assignment will be against the Browns, who are scheduled to visit Carolina in Week 1. The Browns are currently 1-point favorites at Caesars Sportsbook.
Panthers quarterbacks posted a 30.3 QBR last season, which ranked 30th in the NFL, according to an ESPN Stats & Information study. Mayfield had a 35.1 QBR last season, ranking 27th out of 31 qualified quarterbacks, while Darnold was the only non-rookie with a lower QBR.
With the trade, Carolina’s Super Bowl odds went from 125-1 to 100-1 at Caesars Sportsbook, while its odds to win the NFC jumped from 60-1 to 50-1 and to win the NFC South from 12-1 to 11- 1.
“We want to thank Baker for all of his contributions to the Cleveland Browns,” owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam said in a statement. “From the moment he was elected, he gave his all for this organization and this city. With his fierce competitive spirit, he thrilled fans and accomplished things that no player at his position had done in Cleveland in a very long time. He also made a difference in the community, whether it was hosting events at the Boys & Girls Club, honoring our troops, supporting the Special Olympics, as well as countless other charitable endeavors. We are grateful for all he has done for this organization and wish him and Emily well in the future.”
The Mayfield trade comes on the heels of Cleveland’s blockbuster trade with the Houston Texans that brought in quarterback Deshaun Watson. The Browns gave Watson a new five-year contract worth $230 million fully guaranteed, the richest deal in guaranteed money in NFL history by a margin of $80 million. Cleveland also surrendered three first-round picks in the trade, the first team to do so for a player since the Minnesota Vikings traded three first-rounders to the Dallas Cowboys for running back Herschel Walker in 1989.
With Mayfield gone, the Browns now have Watson as their starter along with Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs at quarterback. However, Watson may not be available to the Browns at all this season. He has been accused in civil lawsuits by 25 women for acts ranging from sexual assault to inappropriate behavior during massage sessions. His hearing before the jointly appointed NFL and NFL Players Association disciplinary official, Sue L. Robinson, ended after three days on Thursday.
YearQBGames2018Baker Mayfield601999Tim Couch621954Bobby Garrett0>>Traded to Packers after draft– ESPN Stats & Info
The NFL has been pushing for a suspension for at least a year, according to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, who reported that both sides have made multiple attempts to reach a settlement while the hearing is still ongoing, but have yet to come to an agreement. There is no timetable for Robinson’s decision.
If Watson is sidelined, the Browns are expected to start Brissett at quarterback.
The Watson trade effectively ended the Mayfield era in Cleveland. The Browns drafted the former Heisman Trophy winner No. 1 in 2018, and he made his Week 3 debut this season off the bench and led the Browns to their first win in 635 days. He finished second in NFL Rookie of the Year voting while breaking the NFL rookie record with 27 touchdowns. This record was later surpassed in 2020 by Justin Herbert of the Los Angeles Chargers, who finished with 31 touchdown passes.
However, Mayfield’s tenure as a whole was marred by inconsistency, drama and a left shoulder injury that plagued him through the 2021 season.
During his four years in Cleveland, Mayfield, according to multiple sources, has grown increasingly disillusioned with the franchise, which has made him the fourth quarterback in NFL history to play for four different head coaches in his first three seasons. Even after Mayfield led the Browns to their first playoff win in 26 years in the 2020 season, the team declined to commit Mayfield’s camp to a potential contract extension once he became eligible, a signal to Mayfield that he may not is in the team long-term plans.
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Mayfield then suffered a torn labrum in his non-throwing left shoulder in Week 2 of the 2021 season. Rather than sit out or undergo season-ending surgery, Mayfield played through the injury and struggled for much of the season. One season after finishing in the top 10 in QBR in 2020, he fell all the way to 27th in 2021, the biggest drop in QBR (30.4) of any passer in the league, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Still, over the past two months, Browns coach Kevin Stefanski and general manager Andrew Berry have repeatedly confirmed publicly that Mayfield will remain their quarterback.
At the NFL meeting in February, Berry told Mayfield’s agent that the Browns might pursue an elite-level quarterback such as Russell Wilson or Aaron Rodgers, according to a source familiar with the conversation. Mayfield’s camp was also aware that the shortlist could eventually include Watson, even with 22 civil lawsuits pending at the time alleging inappropriate behavior and sexual assault during massage sessions.
On March 12, when a Texas grand jury declined to bring criminal charges against Watson, the Browns made their move, securing a meeting with Watson in Houston.
Multiple sources told ESPN that Mayfield was angry that the Browns did not directly inform him that they would meet with Watson; instead, he found out about it through social media. Mayfield responded with a statement that night, thanking the city of Cleveland and its fans “for really embracing who I am” as Browns officials returned from Houston.
The turning point for Mayfield with the Browns, however, came later that week.
On March 16, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported that a Browns source told him the team wanted to replace Mayfield with “an adult at the position.”
Mayfield requested a trade the next day. The Browns initially told him they were “not honoring his request.” But after Cleveland signed Watson, Mayfield became redundant.
As a result, Mayfield became just the third quarterback in NFL history to go No. 1 overall in the draft and last four or fewer seasons with the team that drafted him, according to ESPN Stats & Information, joining JaMarcus Russell ( Raiders) and Jeff George (Colts).
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