According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, the Panthers and Seahawks have shown interest in trading for Browns QB Baker Mayfield, but Cleveland hasn’t been willing to absorb enough of his fully guaranteed $18.858 million salary to get a deal done at this point.
Howe mentions that there was some progress in the negotiations between the Browns and Panthers before Carolina traded up to select Matt Corral.
While neither the Panthers nor the Seahawks have ruled out acquiring Mayfield, Howe says it will require the Browns to take on a much greater portion of his contract than they’ve offered so far. As of now, it remains unclear how wide the gap is between the parties involved.
Howe adds that the Panthers and Seahawks are pushing for the Browns to eat close to $17.823 million of Mayfield’s salary, which is all but the minimum base salary of $1.035 million owed to Baker this season.
The Browns could wait to see if a notable injury happens before the start of the season before getting serious about absorbing that kind of dead money hit, but it appears as though this is a situation you can expect to play out over the next few months.
Mayfield, 26, was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick out of Oklahoma in 2018. He just finished the fourth year of a four-year, $32.68 million rookie deal that included a $21.85 million signing bonus.
The Browns exercised Mayfield’s fifth-year option which will cost Cleveland $18.858 million fully guaranteed in 2022.
In 2021, Mayfield appeared in 14 games and completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. He also rushed for 134 yards and a touchdown.
We’ll have more on Mayfield as the news is available.
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