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The Seattle Seahawks had nothing to do with the Carolina Panthers’ recent trade for Baker Mayfield, but that is not stopping the franchise from being labeled as one of the biggest losers in the deal. ESPN’s Bill Barnwell called the Seahawks a loser in the trade and continues to be perplexed by Seattle’s lack of interest in Mayfield given the Browns’ extremely low asking price.
“By passing up the opportunity to trade for Mayfield at what was an extremely modest cost, the Seahawks sure seem like they’re going to move forward in 2022 with Drew Lock and Geno Smith as their quarterback competition,” Barnwell wrote on July 6. “It has been difficult to understand or believe since the Wilson trade actually went down, but everything the Seahawks have said and done makes it seem like they believe they can coax above-average play out of what appears to be replacement-level options.
“I’m not sure I really understand Seattle’s lack of interest in Mayfield, especially at this cost. Nobody loves competition quite like Seattle coach Pete Carroll, and for whatever you want to say about Mayfield’s ability, it’s hard to argue with the Oklahoma product’s desire. And Mayfield was playing in a run-heavy, play-action-intensive offense in Cleveland, one that bears at least some similarity to what the Seahawks are expected to run in 2022.”
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The Panthers Landed Mayfield for Just a Future 5th Rounder
There are layers to what the Panthers will ultimately give up as part of the Mayfield deal, but the starting point is more than reasonable given the quarterback’s upside. The Panthers will send the Browns a future fifth-round pick unless Mayfield plays 70% of the snaps in which case the selection is upgraded to a fourth-rounder. Carolina will pay Mayfield a base salary beginning at $4.85 million, per Spotrac, a far cry from the quarterback’s initial $18.8 million.
According to ESPN’s Jake Trotter, Cleveland agreed to pay $10.5 million of Mayfield’s salary, and the quarterback also signed off on beginning the season with a lower base salary. Mayfield can earn this money back by hitting certain incentives during the season. The Panthers can afford for Mayfield to flop and would merely owe the Browns a fifth-round selection while moving on to a different quarterback in 2023.
Will the Seahawks Wait Until 2023 to Add a QB?
The Seahawks had an opportunity to test drive Mayfield in the team’s offense for a year while giving up minimal future assets and paying the quarterback a reduced rate. Seattle’s lack of interest in Mayfield shows the team either has surprising confidence in their current quarterback group, or they are targeting an upgrade in the 2023 draft. There is one final option as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported the Seahawks have explored adding Jimmy Garoppolo, but the franchise is running out of time to land the veteran quarterback before training camp begins.
“You have Seattle that’s still out there,” Fowler explained during a July 11 edition of “SportsCenter.” “They were sort of implicated in the Baker Mayfield situation, didn’t make that move.
“I’m told that internally they have discussed the possibility of Garoppolo playing for them. They’ve done their film work to see how he would fit. Tricky certainly to do a trade inside the NFC West but the 49ers and Seattle know they can maybe sort of wait this out because the 49ers have limited cap space right now, I think around $5 million.
“They want to re-sign Nick Bosa and Deebo Samuel, to do that they need some of Garoppolo’s $24 million in base salary. Seattle probably knows that which means maybe they won’t try to make a trade. They’ll just wait for the 49ers to release him.”
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