Cleveland will receive either the fourth or fifth-round draft pick in 2023 from Carolina, depending on if Mayfield plays seventy percent of the Panthers snaps this season, so the Browns will be rooting for Mayfield to at least stay in the lineup.
The Browns will pay ten million of Mayfield's 18.9 million dollar contract for this season, Carolina will pay five million, and Mayfield agreed to a reduction of his contract and gave back 3.5 million to allow the trade to be finalized.
Baker Mayfield leaves Cleveland as arguably the best quarterback for the Browns since their return in 1999, and while anyone that has watched them knows just how incredibly low the bar is for that claim, it still is a correct claim.
Even still, Baker Mayfield wasn't a great quarterback or even a very good quarterback and it's not unreasonable to have expected more from the first overall selection in the draft.
Baker Mayfield was pretty good for most of his rookie season and he was better than average in 2020 but he was really bad in both 2019 and 2021 and that means that Mayfield was never able to string back-to-back good seasons.
Mayfield's combative persona and energy made him a Cleveland favorite almost from the start but the same qualities that made him a favorite also made him a petulant and immature player that sometimes saw everyone blamed for his poor play but himself.
Mayfield defenders point to the playoff win in Pittsburgh, his playing through an injured shoulder, and that he was taking over a team that had won just one game over two seasons of play.
Mayfield detractors argue his below-average completion percentage for a quarterback that was lauded when drafted for his accuracy, his 29-30 overall record, and how defenses took away his moving pocket to the right, crippling his vision of the field and taking away downfield throws.
Baker Mayfield was reputed to be the ultimate locker room leader, yet problems such as the infamous issue with Odell Beckham occurred on his watch.
Baker Mayfield is only the third quarterback taken first overall that lasted less than five seasons with that club, joining Jeff George and JaMarcus Russell but this may have been a self-inflicted wound.
Yes, I know that Jimmy Haslem and Andrew Berry wanted DeShaun Watson but they were resigned to finishing 2022 with Baker Mayfield when Watson eliminated the Browns from the four teams bidding for his services with Houston.
However, when Baker Mayfield couldn't help himself, professed being wronged and asking for a trade- that's the moment when the Browns knew they would have to pay whatever it cost to bring Watson to Cleveland- because they simply couldn't gamble another season on the mercurial Mayfield getting himself together enough to buy into the program.
I still believe that had Mayfield tried to release even the most rudimentary press release that didn't demand a trade that Haslem and Berry may not have returned to Houston and given Watson everything but the water in Lake Erie.
Mayfield's childish tantrum forced the Browns into red alert, thinking that their quarterback position was suddenly without Watson, possibly without Mayfield and if they did have Mayfield, they would have the petulant version soiling the team, which they simply could not have and expect a playoff return.
I wrote when the Browns drafted Mayfield that they were the victims of an elaborate con game and I still feel that- to an extent.
Baker Mayfield had his good streaks and when he was playing well, he played a little beyond my expectations.
Still, when you pick a player first overall, you expect more than an occasional good streak and more than just an average quarterback.
In the end, that's what Baker Mayfield was an average quarterback and in today's AFC with a conference where for years the Browns will have to get past Mahomes, Allen, Burrow, Herbert, Wilson, etc to reach a Super Bowl- Baker Mayfield just wasn't going to be good enough to get that done.
The Browns need a great quarterback in these times, Baker Mayfield was always going to be a mouthy average one.
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