Panthers Hit Pause On Idea Of Baker Mayfield Trade

Not even the Carolina Panthers intend to trade for Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield now.

At least, not any time soon.

Per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport, if the Panthers do decide to trade for Mayfield, it won't be before the start of Thursday's NFL Draft. Instead, Carolina intends to make its draft picks -- starting at No. 6 overall -- and then reassess their needs.

This is a little bit of bad news for the Browns, who clearly can't wait to move on from Mayfield now that they have Deshaun Watson. Mayfield can't wait to move on from the Browns either. He did not show up for voluntary workouts and, given his fairly immature past, could serve as a distraction until the Browns find a taker.

As for the Panthers, it's true they are trying to figure out what to do about their own QB situation. Right now, the two candidates are Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker. Not exactly Tom Brady and Payton Manning -- or anything close.

Interestingly, Darnold was selected with the No. 3 overall selection in 2018, or two picks behind Mayfield that year. It would be a bit strange to see Darnold and Mayfield battling it out in training camp for the same team.

Anyway, the Panthers could also take a quarterback at No. 6. If they did that, you could likely forget the idea that they'd want Mayfield too.

Bottom line: the Browns and Mayfield may have to turn their efforts toward a team other than the Panthers if they want to get a trade done now. And it seems like that's exactly what both parties want.