Baker Mayfield Traded to the Carolina Panthers
Baker Mayfield and the Cleveland Browns drama has come to a solution. On Wednesday, Mayfield was traded to the Carolina Panthers.
Mayfield was traded for a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick. Mayfield, a former first overall draft pick, had many ups and downs throughout his career. There was a lot of pressure on Mayfield as a first-round pick and another name on a long list of quarterbacks who were supposed to save the franchise. Mayfield did his best to bring the Browns to the promise land. The team made gradual growth each year that Mayfield was at the helm along with other young stars such as Myles Garrett. In 2020, Mayfield and Garrett led the Browns to their first playoff appearance since 2002.
In the years following, Mayfield and the Browns have had some tumultuous times. Mayfield played through multiple injuries in 2021, the most restricting being a separated shoulder on his non-throwing arm. Mayfield and the team both struggled to follow up on the previous year’s playoff appearance. Mayfield was accused of purposefully not throwing the ball to Odell Beckham Jr.. True or not, it was not a good look for Mayfield as his overall struggles did not need a storyline to go with it.
The relationship between the team and their quarterback reached levels of animosity that could only have resulted in a divorce. The change gave Mayfield a fresh start with a solid young team in Carolina that is potentially a quarterback away from making big strides. Cleveland made a move and acquired troubled Houston Texans Quarterback Deshaun Watson. The new QB has lots of drama and is likely to miss either part or all of the coming NFL season.
The two teams will play in the first week of this upcoming NFL season. It would be the most Browns move ever to trade away a quarterback and then proceed to get beat by that quarterback in week one the next season. I can guarantee that game is circled on Mayfield’s schedule. We will see the story come to a close week one, on September 11th in Charlotte, North Carolina.