Extra Points: Browns, Mayfield, Pats, Cards

New Browns general manager John Dorsey still has more than five months to formulate plans for the 2018 draft, but he’s watched six games of Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield and come away impressed, according to Peter King of TheMMQB.com. “I want to be able to project and articulate my opinion when the time comes and it matters,” Dorsey said. “I saw [Mayfield] at Kansas this year, in the OU-Kansas game. You’re darn right he’s a good quarterback, no matter how tall he is. Some would say he’s too short, but I would ask you: How tall is Russell Wilson? How tall is Chase Daniel?” Cleveland appears to be lock to boast two top-10 selections in next year’s draft, meaning the club will have a chance at finding a franchise signal-caller.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

• Wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell is not expected to return to the Patriots‘ active roster this year, tweets Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald, which could have led to New England signing free agent pass-catcher Kenny Britt, opines Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Mitchell, a fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, has been on injured reserve for the duration of this season while dealing with a knee injury. Britt, meanwhile, stands 6’3″, 223 pounds, meaning he’ll give the Patriots a larger presence on the outside. As Reiss notes, New England made a similar late-season addition a year ago, claiming physical wideout Michael Floyd off waivers for the stretch run.
• Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians admitted he has “no idea” if Adrian Peterson will recover from his neck injury in time to play again this season, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Peterson, 32, has been up and down since being dealt to Arizona, as he’s topped 75 yards in half his six games as a Cardinal but failed to top two yards per carry in the other three contests. With a 6-7 record in a stacked NFC playoff picture, Arizona doesn’t have much to play for down the stretch, so it could conceivably shut Peterson down. He’s under contract for 2018 at a cost of $3.5MM, a figure that could be untenable given the return of David Johnson in 2018.
• Rival teams are showing interest in Raiders practice squad defensive lineman Fadol Brown, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). On Wednesday, the Raiders opted to promote Darius Latham to provide depth up front, meaning other clubs still have a chance to pounce on the Ole Miss product. Brown, an undrafted rookie, has spent the entirety of the 2017 campaign on Oakland’s practice squad. In a predraft profile, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com said Brown “sets a strong edge” in the run game but is a poor pass rusher due to “lazy” hands.
• Former general manager Scot McCloughan‘s grievance against the Redskins could cause problems for the club’s scouting staff (every member of which could be asked to testify), a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. If Washington’s personnel members favor McCloughan, they could potentially face retribution from current ream president Bruce Allen, but if the scouts speak in favor of the Redskins, they fear other teams — who possibly enjoy a relationship with McCloughan — may not hire them in the future, per Florio. The hearing for McCloughan’s grievance is set to begin next Monday, December 18.