Getty Quarterback Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns walks off the field following the Browns loss against the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on November 28, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
The Cleveland Browns‘ attempts to trade away quarterback Baker Mayfield prior to Thursday’s NFL Draft have hit yet another snag, as the team considered most likely to scoop him up won’t be making a deal before the first round — if at all.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday, April 25, that the Carolina Panthers do not plan to execute a trade for Mayfield until they decide what to do with their No. 6 overall pick and see how the rest of Day 1 of the draft plays out. Depending on how the dominoes fall, Carolina’s interest in Mayfield may expire altogether.
From NFL Now (in Las Vegas): The #Panthers aren’t trading for QB Baker Mayfield, at least not before Thursday. Which opens up a ton of questions…
“Baker Mayfield is not expected to be traded, at least to the Carolina Panthers or really anyone else, before the first round of the NFL Draft, and there are several reasons for this,” Rapoport said. “[The] Carolina Panthers pick No. 6 overall as it stands now. We know Scott Fitterer, the [Panthers] general manager, just like his mentor [general manager of the Seattle Seahawks] John Schneider, loves to trade. Maybe they trade back, we’ll see. As of right now, they pick sixth.”
“Could they take a tackle? Sure, I think that’s what a lot of people think. But it seems they could also take a quarterback. They could take a quarterback at sixth, they could trade back and take a quarterback,” Rapoport added. “These are the kinds of scenarios they are now weighing in their building and they’re going to continue to weigh over the next couple days, so they are not going to trade for Baker Mayfield prior to the draft [and] cut off those options.”
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Panthers’ Interest in Baker Mayfield Continues to Shift
GettyQB Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns looks on prior to a game against the Arizona Cardinals at FirstEnergy Stadium on October 17, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
Rapoport appeared on The Pat McAfee Show April 15 and reported that the Panthers were “the most likely spot” for Mayfield to land considering all of the factors, which include the QB’s nearly $19 million guaranteed contract next season and an outside chance that the Seahawks might deal for him if the Browns are willing to eat some that salary as part of a trade.
It wasn’t only Rapoport pushing that insider information. Just one day later on April 16, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com reported that Carolina was on the “inside track” to complete a trade for Mayfield.
Five days after that on April 21, Krisopher Knox of Bleacher Report suggested that the Panthers could get a deal for Mayfield done by offering Cleveland a fourth-round pick in 2022 (No. 137 overall, to be exact) and a third-round selection in next year’s draft.
Mayfield Saga Could Stretch Well Into Offseason
GettyQuarterback Baker Mayfield of the Cleveland Browns during pregame warmups before a game against the Houston Texans at FirstEnergy Stadium on September 19, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
However, Rapoport’s report on Monday appears to have changed the math on all of that, not to mention the timeline.
“So [this] means a couple things: 1) [We] could have a quarterback going pretty early [in the the 2022 NFL Draft]; and 2) Baker Mayfield [maybe] doesn’t get traded to Carolina,” Rapoport said.
“It is going to be a long, long wait,” he added. “We could be talking about Baker Mayfield and where he gets traded in July, in training camp or … as we get closer to the start of the season.”