Sam Darnold is the incumbent starting quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, while Matt Corral is a rookie with a puncher’s chance of winning the role. Meanwhile, the front office is playing the waiting game with the Cleveland Browns in an attempt to acquire Baker Mayfield.
According to reports the Panthers are interested in Mayfield. However, they are not interested in absorbing more of his $18.8 million contract than the Browns were offering previously. The $18.8 million is part of Mayfield’s fifth-year option. The amount in itself isn’t bad for any other team. Carolina’s concern is that they are already in a jam with Darnold and don’t want to make the same mistake twice. It’s understandable. However, the question is not only can the panthers continue to play the waiting game, but also should they?
Again, not wanting to absorb a huge chunk of Mayfield’s contract, after setting themselves up nicely in terms of freeing up cap room and flexibility is understandable. Especially when Mayfield isn’t the most consistent quarterback out there. But if the front office is still searching for their quarterback and believes that Mayfield is that guy for now, how much are the Panthers willing to compromise? If the Browns really want Mayfield gone, how much are they willing to concede to Carolina? To me, a fair sweetener is both teams exchange a combination of players and picks and the Panthers absorb a quarter of that $18 million. But there are questions that still remain…Is this a fair compromise for the Browns and the Panthers? Should the Panthers even pursue Mayfield at all? What is a reasonable deal for these teams?