The Carolina Panthers acquired Baker Mayfield from the Cleveland Browns today in exchange for a conditional fifth round pick in 2024. The former No. 1 overall pick in the draft will compete with Sam Darnold for the starting role in training camp.
The Panthers will only take on only $5 million of Mayfield’s contract, while the Browns pay $10.5 million. Mayfield agreed to void the other 3.5 million off his base salary to make the move possible, per Mike Garafolo.
The clear winner in this trade is Mayfield, as he gets to compete for the starting role on a young, hungry squad with low expectations. The only way to go is up from last season’s disastrous 5-12 finish, so it isn’t a high-pressure situation. Mayfield’s sub-par 2021 didn’t inspire much confidence from fans or analysts, but there’s still hope in the statistics for the 27-year-old.
Baker Pre-injury vs post-injury
People often forget that Mayfield led Cleveland to a playoff win against Pittsburgh in 2020 after the best regular season of his career, throwing for 3,563 yards, 26 TDs and only 8 picks just two seasons ago.
Not to mention, before Mayfield tore his left shoulder last season, he was straight-up slinging it.
Baker Mayfield not only leads the NFL with with an 81.6% comp pct, but he's also not shying away from the deep ball.
16.3% of his throws have been 20+ yards downfield, one of the highest rates in the league. pic.twitter.com/Ss8n8P7GmZ
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 23, 2021
This tweet from CBS Sports shows that, through the first two weeks of the season, Mayfield had the best completion percentage in all of football while ranking fourth in percentage of attempts 20+ yards downfield. However, he tore his labrum in the week 2 win against the Texans and his performance declined steadily from there.
It was clear that Mayfield struggled with his shoulder throughout the season because he showed obvious discomfort after throwing the ball or taking a hit. He even tried a shoulder brace later on, but it didn’t seem to make a difference.
According to DraftShark, Mayfield injured his shoulder further in a week 7 blowout against Arizona. His performance dropped again after that incident, as he didn’t throw for 250 yards or complete 70% of his passes for the rest of the season. All of his injuries pre-date a clear drop in production from Mayfield, but he stayed out there because he just loves football.
To say that Mayfield was a completely different player after the injury is an understatement. He started the season with two of the best games of his career from an efficiency standpoint, and he wasn’t being shy with his arm. If Mayfield’s shoulder is fully recovered and he is back to being comfortable in the pocket, he still has an incredibly high ceiling.
Was it worth it?
Yes. The Panthers gave a conditional fifth round pick that turns into a fourth depending on Mayfield’s playing time, according to CBS Sports. They also took on less than a third of his remaining contract, even though they had significant cap space to work with.
A lot of Panther fans will be angry with this move because they don’t want Mayfield at quarterback, but from a purely logical standpoint, this is a win for Carolina. They get a veteran quarterback with playoff experience for next to nothing. He’s done more winning than their entire QB room combined and, per usual, he has a chip on his shoulder.
If you know Baker Mayfield, you know he plays best with that chip, as long as the shoulder underneath doesn’t have a torn labrum. Carolina fans should definitely monitor how comfortable and accurate Mayfield looks in training camp, but he claims to be 100% healthy and ready to go, according to Mary Kay Cabot.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, the Carolina Panthers are a better team with Mayfield at quarterback than with Darnold, it’s that simple. He’s had more success in every aspect of the NFL and he’s a natural motivator, which Darnold clearly isn’t. This young Panthers squad will play hard for Mayfield because he wants to win, and he knows how to get there.
As long as his shoulder doesn’t have any lingering damage, Mayfield gives Carolina a significantly better chance to win, especially in week 1 against his former team. A revenge game out of the gate will have the whole football world watching.
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