It looked like the Cleveland Browns and Carolina Panthers had already settled on a trade for quarterback Baker Mayfield, but there is one small detail they have to get past: His salary.
With the arrival of Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, Mayfield has become expendable, he is no longer needed in the team, so they have looked for a place for him in another team.
Mayfield is owed $18.9 million in the final year of his rookie contract. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated said during a recent appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” that Cleveland is willing to eat about half of Mayfield’s salary.
“Cleveland’s been willing to take on a fair amount of Baker’s salary, like $9, $10 million,” Breer said, via SI.com’s Daniel Chavkin. “For people out there who think that Cleveland’s holding on to Baker as Deshaun insurance, they wouldn’t be offering to take on a pretty significant portion of the guy’s salary if they were looking to hold him until there’s more clarity in the Deshaun Watson case.”
He then added that the Panthers will only trade for Mayfield “if it’s a bargain.”
The Browns pissed off a lot of front offices around the league when they gave Deshaun Watson a fully guaranteed $230 million deal, so nobody is willing to do them in favors when it comes to Mayfield.
Carolina hopes to reach a deal soon, as it needs the quarterback to join the team as soon as possible so he can adapt to the franchise’s philosophy.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NFL stories via Google! Follow Us
The Panthers’ current quarterback room is being led by Sam Darnold with the talk of Cam Newton possibly making his return.
