Baker Mayfield sacrificed quite a bit to get his chance with the Carolina Panthers this season. But there’s a way he can get it back.
When the 27-year-old quarterback was shipped off back on July 6, he agreed to cut a chunk of his pay to fit the desired parameters of the deal. As far as the $18.8 million salary is covered—the Cleveland Browns are on the hook for $10.5 million, the Panthers for $4.8 million and Mayfield, essentially, for $3.5 million.
That $3.5 million he relinquished, however, can be recovered through a number of incentives. And the fine details of said incentives have emerged and are as follows:
- $250,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + 10 wins
- $500,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + Divisional Round win (with 50 percent of snaps)
- $600,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + NFC Championship win (with 50 percent of snaps)
- $700,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + Super Bowl win (with 50 percent of snaps)
- $300,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + top 5 in NFC in total offense or top 10 in NFL in total offense
- $300,000: Mayfield plays 75 percent of regular season snaps + top 5 in NFC in points scored or top 10 in NFL in points scored
- $300,000: Top 5 in NFC in completion percentage or top 10 in NFL in completion percentage
- $500,000: Pro Bowl selection
These triggers, obviously, hinge heavily on Mayfield’s playing time and team performance. The former of those two factors shouldn’t be too much of an obstacle considering he’s the clear favorite to beat out both Sam Darnold and Matt Corral for the starting job.
It’s the latter, though, that will likely keep much of that money away from Mayfield. While the Panthers are coming out of this offseason with a much improved roster, hitting 10 wins and/or making a run in the playoffs is still a tall order for this young team.
Additionally, the fifth-year passer hasn’t finished in the top 20 amongst completion percentage leaders in any of his four prior campaigns. He settled in at 24th in 2018, 31st in 2019 and 2020 and 29th in 2021.
Well, hey, maybe enough quarterbacks will drop out of the Pro Bowl festivities so he can at least take back $500,000.
