Pat McAfee reveals whether the Panthers are actively pursuing Baker Mayfield 

For those hopeful that Baker Mayfield has a ready-made destination in Charlotte, temper your expectations. Pat McAfee poured some cold water on the rumors of the Panthers trading for the currently-benched Browns QB.

McAfee denied that Mayfield was an imminent trade target for Carolina after he criticized Cleveland for blindsiding him about their QB situation. They also traded for Deshaun Watson before subsequently extending him on a fully guaranteed $230 million contract.

According to McAfee, there was never anything concrete about Mayfield becoming a Panther before mandatory minicamp:

"We talked about Baker Mayfield and the Browns and the Panthers being in the middle of negotiation because the Panthers were hoping that Mayfield could maybe attend their mandatory minicamp that happened this week. That is the first time a lot of people were tweeting me. They've been in conversation for some time. That's not how I understood it. No, it was actually cut off."

McAfee said that Mayfield doesn't make sense with Sam Darnold in tow if the former's salary isn't going to be covered by Cleveland:

"They said like they're gonna wait until after mandatory minicamp or OTAs to see what they have, what they don't have, what they're looking to do. And also what are the Browns willing to pay Baker Mayfield's contract, so that the Carolina Panthers don't have to? If Carolina Panthers pick up Mayfield and they pick up his entire salary, they'll be paying 18 and a half million dollars to Mayfield and $19 million to Sam Darnold at the same damn time and have no idea what their future quarterback situation is."

The Browns are willing to pay half of Baker Mayfield's salary

Cleveland is doing itself a major favor by offering to pay half of Mayfield's salary. It's unlikely they could have moved off the former No. 1 pick otherwise, leaving them with a disgruntled former Heisman winner unwilling to play for a team that may have the QB they traded for to replace him unavailable due to a violation of the NFL's personal conduct policy.

Albert Breer explained the Browns' strategy on the Rich Eisen Show:

“Cleveland’s been willing to take on a fair amount of Baker’s salary, like $9, $10 million. For people out there who think that Cleveland’s holding on to Baker as Deshaun insurance, they wouldn’t be offering to take on a pretty significant portion of the guy’s salary if they were looking to hold him until there’s more clarity in the Deshaun Watson case.”

With the Panthers unable to include Darnold in a deal, the door to a Mayfield trade is now open.

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If you use any of the above quotes, please credit The Pat McAfee Show, The Rich Eisen Show, and H/T Sportskeeda.