Trade Talks Continue Between Panthers, Browns for Baker Mayfield
Head coach Matt Rhule praised Sam Darnold last week after he put on a display at the final OTA practice open to the media.
"I thought Sam was outstanding today," Rhule said. "I think that was probably our best practice today back and forth, offense and defense. We started the practice off with two-minute and ended it with two-minute. It was great to see Terrace Marshall get loose for a deep ball, but I think that was Sam's best practice since he's been here."
Not even a full week since those comments were made, another report came out that tied the Panthers to Baker Mayfield. Tuesday morning, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports tweeted that the Panthers and Browns are in ongoing trade discussions centered around the former No. 1 overall pick. Jones noted that there is "urgency" from Carolina's side to get a deal done so that he can get a day or so in with the team at minicamp this week which runs through Thursday.
As it has been for the past several weeks, the biggest hurdle that remains for the two sides is agreeing on how much the Browns will pay of Mayfield's $18 million that he is owed in 2022.
Last week, Rhule was asked if the team would still be interested in adding a veteran quarterback to the roster.
"I think as we finish minicamp, Scott [Fitterer] and I will talk really every position and say, 'hey, where are we?' At every position, you only have so much salary cap and you're trying to be financially feasible. So, we'll sit down and talk now that we've got a chance to see these guys for eight, or nine weeks and see where we need to bring some more help in, where we need to look for somebody, where we're good at.
"I think we're always trying to make the team better, but if we have the guy on the team already, then we don't want to spend more money to bring in a backup guard or a backup whatever. We've had internal discussions. Right now, I'm in the coaching phase of OTAs, and then when we get to the end of it, we make decisions."
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