The wait is finally over. The Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers finalized a deal to send quarterback Baker Mayfield to Carolina for a late-round pick right before training camp, giving the new quarterback time to get used to the Panthers’ offense. After an inconstant relationship between the franchise and the player, both sides can now move on to greener pastures and get a fresh start.

The deal ends an acrimonious relationship for both sides. While Mayfield gave his all to reignite the franchise, which was long searching for a new franchise quarterback, it’s also true that it’s difficult to deal with his personality, especially when things aren’t going really well. The team decided that he wasn’t good enough to take all of his personality flaws and that he was immature; with a roster stacked on talent, Cleveland decided to break the bank and take a risk with Deshaun Watson instead of committing long-term with Baker.

Mayfield has four distinct seasons with the Browns. He was full of promise as a rookie and Cleveland wasn’t that far off from a playoff spot, even though the most important thing was that they thought they finally had a franchise quarterback; in 2019, with Freddie Kitchens as the head coach, things went south and his level was really disappointing, creating doubts.

The full Baker Mayfield trade:

– #Browns receive: 2024 5th-round pick that converts to a 4th-round pick if Mayfield plays 70% of the team’s offensive snaps in 2022.

– #Panthers receive: Baker Mayfield.

The $3.5M Mayfield gave back can be earned back via incentives.

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 6, 2022

Carolina tried to acquire Baker Mayfield during recent draft but Browns balked at paying salary. A deal breaker cuz CAR paid $7m of Teddy B’s $11.5m for Broncos last year under similar circumstances.
Browns finally conceded and reportedly paid $10.5M of Mayfield’s deal. #9sports

— Mike Klis (@mikeklis) July 6, 2022

But everything clicked in 2020. Not only Mayfield improved massively from the previous season but he proved that, when healthy, he could make the Browns a playoff team. And that’s exactly what he did, ending a 17-year playoff drought against bitter rivals Pittsburgh Steelers; the following week and against the same Steelers, he led his team to their first playoff win since they were re-founded. Everyone thought, at that point, that things were going to be good for a long-time.

“I think it’s been pretty obvious the mutual decision on both sides is to move on.”

Baker Mayfield on his status with the Browns

(via @SoonerScoop, @CareyAMurdock, @Eddie_Rado)pic.twitter.com/Y9YaINYIZO

— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) June 28, 2022

We’re just over a year since the Browns activated Mayfield’s fifth-year contract option. Now both sides are ready to start from scratch with new partners. That’s fine. That’s how football works. But they’ll meet together soon, since Cleveland plays Carolina in Week 1. You don’t want to miss this.

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