The chances of Baker Mayfield wearing a Carolina uniform in 2022 increased when the Panthers deferred on taking a quarterback in the first round of the draft. (ClutchPoints)
Trade market for Baker Mayfield improves after Carolina opts for offensive tackle in first round
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Editor's note: Tony Grossi is a Cleveland Browns analyst for TheLandOnDemand.com and 850 ESPN Cleveland.
The Browns had a good night while sitting out the first round of the 2022 NFL draft because of the Deshaun Watson trade.
Their chances of resolving the Baker Mayfield roster impasse improved when the Carolina Panthers couldn’t trade the No. 6 overall pick and elected to use it on North Carolina State offensive tackle Icky Ekwonu.
The Panthers figure to circle back to a trade for Mayfield because they don’t have picks in the second and third rounds. GM Scott Fitterer said this week he told incumbent starter Sam Darnold the team would add a quarterback to compete for the starting job. So it looks like he’ll have to trade for one.
Quarterback-needy teams Seattle and Atlanta also opted not to take a suspect quarterback prospect in the first round. But the Seahawks have two picks in the second round and one in the third, and the Falcons have two picks in each round. They could easily justify taking a quarterback on the second day of the draft.
Carolina’s newfound desperation for a quarterback doesn’t mean the Browns will be able to swap Mayfield without eating a significant portion of his guaranteed salary of $18.858 million. But even if the Browns have to pick up, say, $12 million of Mayfield’s scheduled salary, it would create close to $7 million in salary cap space.
Further, the more money the Browns agree to eat of Mayfield’s salary, the higher draft-pick compensation they could command – most likely in the 2023 draft.
It was a wild night for the Browns to be bystanders.
There were nine trades – most since the draft was extended to three days in 2010. And two fourth-year receivers were traded during the draft – Tennessee’s A.J. Brown was shipped to Philadelphia and Baltimore’s Marquise Brown to Arizona to rejoin former Oklahoma teammate Kyler Murray.
The first five picks were defensive players.
When Atlanta took USC receiver Drake London with the No. 8 pick, it triggered a record run on wide receivers.
In rapid fire, Ohio State’s Garrett Wilson went No. 10 to the Jets, OSU teammate Chris Olave went No. 11 to the Saints after a trade, Alabama’s Jameson Williams went No. 12 to the Lions after a trade, Penn State’s Jahan Dotson went No. 16 to the Saints and Arkansas’ Treylon Burks went No. 18 to the Titans.
But there were no other receivers taken after those six. That left the following receivers available for the Browns, who own the No. 44 overall pick in the second round: George Pickens of Georgia, Skyy Moore of Western Michigan, Christian Watson of North Dakota State, Jalen Tolbert of South Alabama, John Metchie of Alabama and Alec Pierce of Cincinnati.
If the Browns turn to defensive line, the best available are ends Arnold Ebiketie of Penn State, Logan Hall of Houston and Drake Jackson of USC, and tackles Travis Jones of UConn and Perrion Winfrey of Oklahoma.
The Steelers were the only team to take a quarterback in the first round – Kenny Pickett of Pitt. It was the first time since 2013 only one quarterback was drafted in the first round.
