CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After failing to acquire Deshaun Watson, the Carolina Panthers had two offseason trade options to find a starting quarterback: Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garoppolo.
They went with Mayfield because the Cleveland Browns agreed to pay $10.5 million of the quarterback’s 2022 salary and Mayfield agreed to take a $3.5 million pay cut, leaving only a conditional fifth-round pick as the other part of the deal.