Baker Mayfield being eyed by the Carolina Panthers but he’s not the only QB they’re looking at

The Cleveland Browns may have a taker for Baker Mayfield in the Carolina Panthers.

The Cleveland Browns have been trying to find a taker for Baker Mayfield since they made the boneheaded decision to trade away their future for Deshaun Watson, a man with 25 sexual misconduct accusations against him, and 22 civil suits pending regarding those complaints. The NFL hasn’t been too receptive to trading for Mayfield, mostly due to his $18 million cap hit, and since the Browns are unwilling to eat half of it, no team wants to trade for him.

He’s coming off an injury-filled 2021 campaign where the Browns marched him out every week, despite his shoulder being in no shape to compete, bringing up concerns about the competence of the Browns front office and coaching staff. Other NFL teams know the Browns are in a tough situation now, having given up six draft picks, three of which were first-round selections, to get Watson, and knowing full well that the team won’t dare risk keeping Mayfield. Seeing how that could be a PR nightmare.

So the NFL teams know they have the Browns where they want them. After all, the Browns need to make a move, not the other way around. So, that brings up the question as to who wants Mayfield? The Seattle Seahawks have emerged as a potential landing spot, as have the Carolina Panthers, who according to Mary Kay Cabot have taken the “inside path” to land him.

Joseph Person of The Athletic has also said that Mayfield is on the Panthers’ list, but he isn’t the only one. Person didn’t list any names but guys like Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Foles, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Jared Goff have all been tossed around to some degree across the league.

Baker Mayfield is the best option and you know it

Garoppolo has succeeded in San Francisco due to the defense he was in. He never really looked good as a starter there, which is why the team is so excited to move on to Trey Lance, to see if he’s any better. Foles and Fitzpatrick are stopgap guys who can give you a year as a veteran presence but that’s it.

I think Goff has gotten a bad rap and is a capable NFL starter, but he doesn’t have the same gun-slinger mentality that Mayfield has.

Is that good or bad? Who’s to say. It’s a personal preference. Neither guy is going to come cheap, and the Panthers are already on the hook for $18 million that is going to Sam Darnold. So it’s not like they have a lot of money to burn on another quarterback. This is partly why teams want the Browns to eat Mayfield’s contract to some degree, as most teams have set their payroll for the year.

It remains to be seen if the Panthers will go and get Mayfield but if they do, he’ll likely be the starter for them.