The Browns are trading QB Baker Mayfield to the Panthers for a conditional 5th-round pick in 2024, NFL Network reports. The 2 teams "split the financials to make it happen," according to Ian Rapoport, so Carolina is presumably picking up about half of Mayfield's nearly $19 million 2022 cap hit. Mayfield is coming off a disappointing, injury-riddled 2021 season but played well the previous year, finishing 10th among 32 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. In fact, Mayfield earned higher PFF passing grades in each of his first 3 NFL seasons than QB Sam Darnold has managed in any of his 4 NFL seasons. So Mayfield is a tangible upgrade for D.J. Moore, Robby Anderson, Terrace Marshall and Christian McCaffrey. Mayfield himself looks like just a middling QB2, although those weapons give him some weekly upside. Check out the updated projections for the Panthers offense.
Update: Per NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, Mayfield agreed to shave about $3.5 million off his 2022 salary. The Browns will pay him $10.5 million this year; the Panthers around $5 million.
The Athletic's Joe Person doesn't expect the Panthers to scale back RB Christian McCaffrey's volume this season, despite the injuries he's dealt with the last 2 years. Instead, "The Panthers plan to change their practice approach with McCaffrey, taking a lot of the reps off him during the week in the hope that the lightened workload will help him get through the season." Sign us up for that! McCaffrey didn't miss a single game across his first 3 NFL seasons and turned just 26 earlier this month. He's the odds-on favorite to lead RBs in fantasy points per game this year.
CBS' Jonathan Jones reports that the Browns and Panthers are involved in trade talks "surrounding" QB Baker Mayfield. Jones reports that there's "urgency" for Carolina to make a move early enough to get Mayfield some minicamp reps with the team. He adds that the Panthers' offer is the best Cleveland has gotten and that the primary sticking point is how much of Mayfield's 2022 salary the Browns would pay. The QB is in the 5th and final year of his rookie contract and will likely face a "prove it" year, with unrestricted free agency ahead in March 2023. He makes obvious sense for Carolina, which currently sports Sam Darnold and Matt Corral as the top 2 options. And the relationship between Mayfield and the Browns looks finished. Mayfield hasn't proved to be a high-upside fantasy QB through 4 seasons, but the Panthers would set him up with nice pass-catching talent -- led by D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey. Stacking him with 1 or both players in best-ball tournament lineups now would be a low-risk, high-upside move.
Per beat writer Joseph Person, the Carolina coaching staff has “kicked around the idea” of giving Christian McCaffrey more slot snaps. During his injury-riddled 2021, McCaffrey played only 12 snaps out of the slot (4.6%). So there’s room for a bit more work inside. Regardless of where he lines up, however, the former All-Pro will remain busy as a pass-catcher. Current projections peg McCaffrey for over 100 targets.
The Panthers named Ben McAdoo their new OC. McAdoo flamed out after just 2 seasons as the Giants' HC. But that proceeded 2 mostly successful seasons as OC. New York finished top 13 in points, total yards and passing yards in both of those years. McAdoo was a balanced play caller, with the G-Men ranking 17th and 16th in situation-neutral pass rate in 2014 and 2015, respectively. He takes over a Panthers offense that has enough talent at the skill positions but needs to find a QB.
The Panthers have placed Christian McCaffrey on IR for the 2nd time this season, following his left-ankle injury in Sunday's loss to the Dolphins. That automatically knocks him out for the rest of the year, since it's his 2nd IR stint. It's a surprising development after NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported earlier Monday that the injury "doesn't seem major." We'll see about the specifics of the injury, but that won't really matter until we're evaluating McCaffrey for 2022 fantasy football drafts. For now, it's Chuba Hubbard back to the lead at the position in Carolina. He averaged 17.8 carries, 65.8 yards and 0.4 TDs per game rushing in 5 fill-in starts earlier this season, with another 2.6 receptions and 17.6 receiving yards per contest. The Panthers have since added RB Ameer Abdullah, who figures to steal some passing-down snaps from Hubbard the rest of the way. Abdullah has seen 4+ targets in 4 of the past 5 games, averaging 2.6 catches and 22.4 receiving yards per game over those 5 contests.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey's ankle injury "doesn't seem major," NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says. That's the vibe we've gotten since CMC exited in the 1st half of Sunday's blowout loss to the Dolphins. McCaffrey is scheduled for additional testing, so we should get another update on his status later today. He gets a well-timed Week 13 bye and seemingly has a chance to be ready for Week 14.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey rolled his left ankle near the end of the 1st half of Sunday's game vs. Miami. The team never officially announced an injury, but McCaffrey didn’t record a touch in the 2nd half. HC Matt Rhule said afterward that McCaffrey tried to re-enter but couldn’t get comfortable on the ankle. He now gets a Week 13 bye to heal up.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey "rolled his ankle" near the end of the 1st half of Sunday's game vs. Miami, according to Fox's Jen Hale. There's been no official announcement from the team yet, but CMC wasn't on the field to start the 2nd half. Stay tuned.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) is active for today’s game against the Patriots. It’ll be his first action since Week 3. HC Matt Rhule said earlier this week that it won’t “be a 40- to 50-play situation” for McCaffrey, so don’t expect the usual 20+ touches. But CMC is still probably a starter for most fantasy teams. See where he sits in the Week 9 RB Rankings.
ESPN's Adam Schefter included Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) in his list of players "expected to play" today. McCaffrey returned to practice this week and was placed on the active roster on Saturday. HC Matt Rhule said earlier in the week that "it would not be a 40- to 50-play situation" if CMC suits up. In other words, expect him to be limited to some extent vs. the Patriots today. See where McCaffrey sits in the Week 9 RB Rankings.
The Panthers have activated RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) from IR. Both Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network report that the team "hopes" McCaffrey will play Sunday against the Patriots. Make sure to check his game status Sunday morning if you're planning to play McCaffrey in your fantasy football lineup.
Panthers HC Matt Rhule is "hopeful" RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) can play vs. the Patriots this weekend. Rhule added that the team will wait until Saturday to make a final decision on CMC. He also said that if McCaffrey is active, "it would not be a 40- to 50-play situation," per The Athletic's Joe Person. Exactly how limited McCaffrey would be is unclear. We'll continue looking for updates on the situation.
Panthers HC Matt Rhule said RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) was "pretty limited" in Wednesday's practice. (Better than "extremely limited" Sam Darnold.). "We'll see how he looks tomorrow," Rhule added. At this point, CMC seems no better than 50/50 to return for this weekend's game vs. the Patriots.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) has been designated to return from IR. That makes him eligible to practice but doesn't guarantee that he'll be back for Sunday's game vs. the Patriots. ESPN's David Newton reported this past Sunday that McCaffrey is "on target" to return for that one, but we'll monitor his progress over the next few days.
Panthers HC Matt Rhule expects to get RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) back on the practice field on Wednesday. "Hopefully we can get Christian back soon. If it's not this week, hopefully it will be next week," Rhule said. We'll keep a close eye on McCaffrey's practice participation level this week. Don't go dropping RB Chuba Hubbard just yet, though.
ESPN's David Newton reports that Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) is "on target" to return for next weekend's game vs. the Patriots. Of course, we thought CMC was about to return multiple times since suffering this hamstring injury back in Week 3. We'll see how he fares in practice this coming week.
The Panthers have placed RB Christian McCaffrey on IR. He had already been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Vikings. This move means he'll miss at least 2 more beyond that with the hamstring injury that knocked him out of the Week 3 win at Houston. Rookie Chuba Hubbard should be the lead back this week against Minnesota and for upside matchups at the Giants and Falcons the next 2 weeks. We'll see whether McCaffrey is ready to return for the Week 9 game against New England.
Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (hamstring) is out for this weekend's game vs. the Vikings. It looks like he suffered a setback this week after missing practice on Thursday and Friday, but we'll look for further updates on his status. RB Chuba Hubbard gets another start on Sunday. He tallied 13 carries and 2 targets in negative game script in Week 4 and 24 carries and 6 targets with more positive script last week.
Update: HC Matt Rhule claimed Friday that McCaffrey didn't suffer a setback and added that he's "hopeful" McCaffrey will be back for Week 7. We'll see.
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