-
Baker Mayfield was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Carolina Panthers. Will he find the same success as he did with the Browns? Photo courtesy of Erik Drost and Flikr
The Cleveland Browns made a trade on June 6, 2022 that more than likely shocked most University of Oklahoma football fans. Former Sooners Quarterback Baker Mayfield was traded from the Browns to the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers gave the Browns a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick for the exchange. The conditional pick could turn into a fourthround pick if Mayfield plays 70 percent of the offensive snaps for the Panthers in the 2022-2023 season.
After months of Mayfield’s uncertainty about where he was playing next season, he has finally found his new home. That new home came at a price for Mayfield; he will lose 3.5 million dollars from his contract if he stayed with the Browns. His annual salary for the upcoming season will be 15.5 million dollars. The Browns will pay for 10.5 million dollars while the Panthers will pay for 5 million dollars.
The reason behind the Mayfield trade has a lot to do with a trade that happened months prior. In March of 2022, the Browns traded 2022, 2023, and 2024 firstround draft picks along with a 2023 third-round draft pick and a 2022 and 2024 fourthround draft pick to get Watson and a 2024 sixth-round draft pick.
The Texans used the 2022 first-round pick to trade back later into that draft round and selected Kenyon Green, a offensive guard from Texas A&M. The 2022 fourth-round pick the Texans acquired was used on Dameon Pierce, a running back from Florida.
Another motivating factor for the departure of Mayfield was when Watson signed a five-year 230 million dollar deal with a 44 million dollar signing bonus after being traded to the Browns. This deal is astonishing for Watson since he hasn’t played a snap of football since the 2020 NFL season. Mayfield had to watch as his own team traded for a new quarterback and signed that quarterback to a deal 10 times that amount that he was receiving.
The Panthers finally have what’s considered as an upgrade at quarterback with this trade. They had Sam Darnold as the projected starter for the 2022-2023 season. Darnold was the starter for the Panthers last season, but posted a record of 4-7 and threw nine touchdowns to 13 interceptions.
Mayfield didn’t have great statistics for last season either, but he played through a torn labrum muscle in his non-throwing shoulder the entire season.
Mayfield will look to be the week one starter for the Panthers and will play in an intriguing game against his old team, the Cleveland Browns. Another interesting fact about this regularseason game is the Browns will be paying Mayfield to play against them since they are paying a portion of his contract.
When Mayfield was in college, the Sooners weren’t the first team he played football for. He started his career at Texas Tech for the Red Raiders. He played decently there having 12 touchdowns to nine interceptions, but moved onto OU and had an outstanding career.
Mayfield threw for 12,292 yards with 119 touchdowns to 21 interceptions while winning the Heisman trophy at Oklahoma. This is similar to his NFL career as he’s played decently for the Browns throwing for 14,125 yards with 92 touchdowns to 56 interceptions.
With fans following his career, one question remains, will Mayfield strike lightning twice and win the MVP trophy with the Panthers?