Well, there you have it folks. The Baker Mayfield era is over in Cleveland.

The Browns have shipped the former #1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional 5th-rounder in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The last four years have been quite a rollercoaster with the Bakeshow. I think he’s the best quarterback the Browns have had since returning in 1999. We’ll always have that playoff win over the Steelers. He was 21-of-34 for 263 yards and three touchdowns. And we’ll always have that story of him getting domed up in a Cheesecake Factory parking lot. Allegedly.

But, it wasn’t great, right? He was 30-31 as a starter for the Browns. The shoulder injury seemed to give him, and his supporters, a built in reason for his abysmal season last year. His touchdown to interception ratio was well under 2.0 and we saw him more in shitty insurance commercials than we saw him on the Red Zone channel.

As I’ve said before, there are two types of quarterbacks in the NFL: ones that you can win a Super Bowl with and ones that you can’t. I think Baker Mayfield is in the latter category. Conversely, I think Deshaun Watson, if properly massaged, is in the former category.

The trade seems about right, to be honest. The entire league knew the Browns were desperate to cut their losses with Mayfield and I’m sure there were lowball offers from various teams. But say that conditional 5th-rounder from Carolina turns into an all-pro? Best trade ever.

See you Week 1. Browns at Panthers.