Report: Browns And Panthers Having Trade Talks About Mayfield

The Cleveland Browns are reportedly having trade talks with the Carolina Panthers for Baker Mayfield.

This is not a new headline, for months we have been hearing of the Panthers’ potential interest in Mayfield.

The fact is the Panthers have Sam Darnold who is in the same draft class and earns the same fully guaranteed salary as Baker Mayfield.

That’s why it does not completely make sense, but here is the latest information courtesy as reported by Terry Pluto of cleveland.com. 

Terry's Talkin' Browns:https://t.co/A2N6100Oyb

— Terry Pluto (@terrypluto) June 12, 2022

What Are The Browns Waiting For To Resolve The Mayfield Situation?

The Browns have not done anything regarding Mayfield for multiple reasons.

Obviously, they have not been satisfied with the offers from other teams.

Pluto believes they are waiting to hear if or when the NFL plans to suspend Deshaun Watson.

It seems extremely likely that Watson will miss games, but the severity of the suspension is yet to be determined.

If Watson is set to miss significant time, the ball will be in the hands of Jacoby Brissett.

This play by Jacoby Brissett… RIDICULOUS 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/mGbvwcVZJF

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 27, 2019

Brissett has experience as a starter, but it remains to be seen if the Browns have confidence in him for a prolonged period of time.

The team clearly believes Brissett is an upgrade over Case Keenum.

If Brissett Is QB1, Who Is The Backup?

If Brissett is the long-term starter at QB1, that should not affect or elevate Joshua Dobbs who is the team’s QB3.

Dobbs has very limited NFL experience so moving him up to QB2 is unlikely.

That leads to a need for a solid QB2 to back up Brissett.

Could the Browns and Panthers swap Mayfield for Darnold and plug Darnold in as QB2?

https://twitter.com/QuarterbackStat/status/1534579894574886912

That is one theory, but how either team improves or benefits from that trade is difficult to determine.

Another theory forwarded by Pluto is that the Browns will wait until they find out about the Watson situation and if necessary, pick up a backup quarterback who is cut from another team in training camp, similar to the circumstance that landed Nick Mullens in Cleveland in 2021.

Conclusion

The Mayfield and Watson speculation will continue through the summer until the Browns know Watson’s status and Mayfield is either traded or released.

Pluto firmly believes that Mayfield will not take another snap as a Cleveland Brown which seems to be the case given how events have unfolded since March.

Stay tuned.