Could Browns pay '90 percent' of salary to trade QB Baker Mayfield?

Those who predicted that quarterback Baker Mayfield would remain attached to the Cleveland Browns through the completion of the 2022 NFL Draft were proven correct by the time Saturday night came and went. The Carolina Panthers, repeatedly linked with the former Cleveland starter after his employer acquired Deshaun Watson in March, ultimately spent the No. 94 pick on Ole Miss signal-caller Matt Corral, a decision that some assume removes the Panthers from future discussions regarding Mayfield's services. 

That may not be entirely accurate. 

For Monday's "Football Morning in America" piece, NFL insider Peter King explained one way the Browns could "convince" the Panthers to take a flier on Mayfield this spring or summer. 

"I think if I were the Browns, I’d try to get a 2023 seventh-round pick from Carolina and pay 90 percent of his salary, just to get him out of the Cleveland consciousness," King wrote. 

As things stand today, Mayfield is owed a fully guaranteed salary of $18.858 million for 2022. 

For what it's worth, Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network and The Athletic's Zac Jackson were among analysts who noted before the weekend that taking a financial hit and/or packaging Mayfield with a draft pick was the most likely way Cleveland would get the 27-year-old off the books without simply releasing him. Browns general manager Andrew Berry made it clear in late March he was in no hurry to go down either of those roads and seemed to repeat such a take during an appearance on Cleveland's 92.3 The Fan. 

"It’s a fluid situation," Berry remarked about Mayfield's status with the Browns, according to Jeremy Layton of the New York Post. "We will deal with it day by day. We are pleased with the weekend and pleased with the guys that we added."