The Cleveland Browns have been lastly in a position to unload quarterback Baker Mayfield final week, sending him to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional 2024 fifth-round choose that turns into a fourth-rounder ought to Mayfield take 70 p.c of the snaps at quarterback this yr.
Translation: the Browns gave him away. When the smoke clears, they’ll carry a $10.5 million lifeless cap hit this yr and now have an incredible $48.7 million in available cap space.
On the opposite facet of the commerce, the Panthers are on the hook for little or no. Mayfield will price them simply $4.8 million this yr and provides them a veteran quarterback that might make this dormant offense click on. They’ve the whole lot else in place to turn out to be a potent offense on this league.
So, with Mayfield yielding so little on the open market, how did the New York Giants assume they have been going to deal Saquon Barkley for any kind of considerable return?
The reply? They weren’t. No crew got here ahead to make a worthy provide for Barkley, who was taken second general within the 2018 NFL draft behind Mayfield. There is no such thing as a crew prepared to tackle Barkley’s $7.2 million wage for this season and give up draft capital within the course of.
Consequently, the Giants are caught with Barkley, which might not be the worst factor particularly if he can play the entire season unhurt and supply a spark out of the backfield.
