Lacking sponsorship, Charlie's dropped not fired (7)

I believe the answer is:

unbaked

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'lacking sponsorship charlie's dropped' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'not fired' is the wordplay.
'not' becomes 'un' (prefix meaning 'not').
'fired' becomes 'baked' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'un'+'baked'='UNBAKED'

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.