Happy Thursday, everyone! Hope you're well.
Let's get right to it.
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Good morning to everyone but especially to...
BAKER MAYFIELD AND THE CAROLINA PANTHERS
The quarterback carousel has taken another big spin in what's been a wild NFL offseason: Baker Mayfield is headed to the Panthers. Here are the details:
The Panthers will send the Browns a conditional fifth-round pick (could turn into a fourth-round pick based on Mayfield's playing time).Cleveland will pay $10.5 million of Mayfield's $18.85-million salary this season; Carolina will pick up $4.85 million, and Mayfield converted the rest to incentives, which helped facilitate the trade.Should Mayfield be named starter, his first game as a Panther will be against ... the Browns in Week 1.Mayfield requested a trade way back in mid-March as the Browns pursued (and eventually acquired) Deshaun Watson. This is a huge win for Mayfield. Not only was his trade request finally granted, but he's going to a team where he should start immediately.
His primary competition is Sam Darnold, who was one of the worst quarterbacks by basically every metric last year. Third-round rookie Matt Corral and former XFL standout PJ Walker are also on the roster.Since Matt Rhule took over as head coach in 2020, the Panthers have thrown the fewest touchdowns and the most interceptions.Last year, Mayfield struggled while playing through a significant shoulder injury. But one year prior, he threw 26 touchdowns to just eight interceptions and led Cleveland to the playoffs for the first time since 2002. Now, he joins a Panthers team that features Christian McCaffrey, DJ Moore and an improved offensive line. All told, the Panthers earn a strong "A-" grade from our NFL expert Cody Benjamin:
Benjamin: "Worst-case scenario, Mayfield flops and proves no better than his immediate surroundings, and the Panthers let him walk in 2023, proceeding with the QB reset (and potential regime reset) they were destined for anyway. Best-case scenario, Baker brings some much-needed juice to their QB room, actually capitalizes on some of the talent around him, and the Panthers get a head start on locking up a potential long-term starter without having to spend excess draft capital to start over."
