The Carolina Panthers finally did the expected move since the draft and traded a late-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for quarterback Baker Mayfield, who’ll have a fresh start and a chance to revive his career following his unceremonial ending with the Browns, four years after the franchise made him the first overall pick of the 2018 draft.

The trade isn’t exciting per se, but it’s a good move by the Panthers nonetheless. They can get much better quarterback play out of Mayfield instead of fooling themselves that Sam Darnold can be their franchise quarterback, and they won’t have to pay more than $5 million from a season of Baker – if he’s good enough, then great, they can extend his contract; if they’re not satisfied, they can just let him hit free agency in 2023 and walk away losing nothing.

The Panthers were always the most logical spot for Mayfield. Since the Browns traded for Deshaun Watson and made it clear that he wasn’t welcome in Cleveland anymore, the list of possible destinations was slim – and it shrimped as free agency went on. The New Orleans Saints decided to re-sign Jameis Winston; the Seattle Seahawks are confident about their quarterback battle between Drew Lock and Geno Smith.

It’s a shame the Panthers parted ways with Joe Brady. I would’ve loved to have seen what he’d do with Baker Mayfield.

— Honest NFL (@TheHonestNFL) July 7, 2022

New on @TheNFLWire: I went stats-heavy analyzing Baker Mayfield's fit in the Panthers' offense, and I'm less than sure about how well he'll do in *cough* Ben McAdoo's offense.

Christian McCaffrey may be Baker's best hope. https://t.co/uJjmXdyqoi

— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) July 7, 2022

Carolina was the final logical option. Matt Rhule will deal with a new quarterback for the third straight season, and he’s already under pressure to show more than just 10 wins out of 32 games. Rhule was hired to stabilize the franchise in the long-term, but he has not come even close to doing so until now. If Mayfield is healthy in 2022, at least he’ll have competent quarterback play, unlike the previous two years. Perhaps his offense will finally stabilize and he’ll be able to compete for a wild card spot.

Today, the #Panthers traded a Day 3 pick to make Baker Mayfield their starter.

As always, our team is deep in the weeds analyzing from every angle.

Baker is now our QB26 in #FantasyFootball.

Read on for our take on how this affects his new teammates & for his full projection.

— Establish The Run (@EstablishTheRun) July 7, 2022

For Mayfield, the mission is not just to lead the Panthers but to save his career as well. The offensive line has been improved and we have must-see TV on Week 1 when the first game of the season has the Cleveland Browns and the Carolina Panthers going against each other. Imagine Baker starting his new chapter by erasing his own demons?

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