The Browns and Baker Mayfield finalized their high-profile divorce on Wednesday with Mayfield heading to the Panthers for a 2024 conditional fifth-round pick. The Browns will also be paying a large chunk of the quarterback’s salary ($10.5 million, according to NFL Network), while the Panthers are responsible for roughly $5 million. Mayfield himself will take a $3.5 million cut to free himself from his former franchise.
There is an awful lot to dissect here. This is a trade that has tentacles everywhere, from the NFL’s disciplinary process involving Deshaun Watson, to the futures of several other quarterbacks, to a potential lifeline for a franchise obviously flailing.
There are economic consequences, moral consequences and, if nothing else, a surge of interest in a Week 1 Panthers-Browns game that may have barely registered with us otherwise (the NFL always wins).
Let’s get to it:
