Shortly after the draft, Pete Carroll said he does not envision the Seahawks trading for a quarterback. Of course, the 13th-year Seahawks HC said at the Combine the team had no intention of trading Russell Wilson. Plans change. The Seahawks are now pitting two 2021 backups (Drew Lock and Geno Smith) against one another to succeed Wilson.
On that note, the team has not closed the door on Baker Mayfield, Jeff Howe of The Athletic notes (subscription required). The Panthers remain open to trading for the disgruntled Browns QB as well, but a familiar refrain continues to interrupt a potential deal. Both teams are not satisfied with where the Browns are regarding Mayfield’s fifth-year option salary.
[RELATED: Which Team Will Acquire Mayfield?]
Browns-Panthers talks progressed ahead of the draft’s second night, but Cleveland was not willing to pay enough of Mayfield’s salary ($18.9MM) for Carolina’s liking. The Panthers drafted Ole Miss’ Matt Corral that night, but the Ole Miss product would likely not deter a healthy Mayfield from taking the Panthers’ reins.
Both NFC teams connected to Mayfield want the Browns to pay most of that salary, per Howe, who adds the Browns are essentially daring each franchise to move forward with their present quarterback plans. Cleveland is betting both teams would pay Mayfield more than the veteran minimum ($1.1MM), which factors into this standstill. While Corral-Sam Darnold and Lock-Smith competitions do not exactly inspire, the Panthers and Seahawks are making the reverse bet — that the Browns will cut bait rather than let this drag deep into the summer. A free agency pursuit would certainly be interesting, but we are not there yet.
The surgery Mayfield underwent on his non-throwing shoulder would prevent him from practicing at this point; this also limits the former playoff starter’s trade value. The 49ers are in a similar situation with Jimmy Garoppolo, whose availability also impacts Mayfield. An NFC in which Mayfield and Garoppolo are in Seattle and Carolina, with the 49ers presumably preferring to deal Garoppolo out of the NFC West, would be more appealing than where those QB competitions currently stand. And rumors connecting the two veterans to these teams likely will not subside until each returns to full strength at some point this summer.
These situations seemed so rare and yet here we are giving them the most epic drag out….
I know he won’t….but it’d be hilarious if we went on D Wats trip to Bermuda.
“Sup y’all….in no way is this awkward at all.”
Even further, if he’s still on the brownies once mandatory camp starts….no way he passing up that 5th year pay.
Nobody is trading for this dufous. They wait till he is released or sit back and get popcorn and watch the show. Baker is not mature enough to keep his mouth shut and try and keep his job. The Browns are paying all but league min the smartest thing is to keep him until they find out what happens to the alleged pervert. He could be out the whole year who knows. With Baker at least they will win some games. The Browns could be jerks and keep Baker until after the day for final cutdowns. Not sure many FAs would be impressed and want to come there though.
Watson and Brissett could lose both of their arms tomorrow and Baker still wouldn’t play another snap for them. I honestly think Baker would rather not play at all than play for them again.
Yes, Baker Mayfield is the guy with the character issue. Him being a rah-rah guy is so bad unlike the man accused of two dozen sexual assault allegations.
I never said Watson was a high character guy. I just couldn’t stand watching Baker stand there and whine after a loss. You have to wonder what he was like in the locker room. Let’s not forget the part about an adult in the locker room. All the dumb things they did that one is at or near the top.
Yeah…just crappy how he helped changed that losing culture in Cleveland….I get it….you’re used to 37 QBs over 25 years who all were terrible and were like Johnny Football and Baker wasn’t that.
Regardless of what you think Mayfield’s floor or ceiling is, the Browns have no leverage here. Not sure what they’re thinking. When they mortgaged their future on Watson, they completely undercut Mayfield’s supposed value. Them believing any team will pay down what he’s owed is crazy. They’re gonna wish they’d taken what was already offered if the day ever comes they have to release him.
But on the flip side, if they waited this long for someone to offer something slightly better for Baker (maybe a 5th instead of a 6th), they would have robbed themselves of the chance to get Watson.
I’m a Browns fan and the moral aspect of it all is a different conversation, but I’m sure they’d rather go all in for a franchise QB and worry about the value of their incumbent starter (who didn’t have much value to begin with), than to posture with other teams to turn a late rounder into a mid rounder.
I am a Browns fan too and oven never been a blind Baker supporter, but I still can’t understand why they didn’t just let him have this year healthy and see if the two good years he did have is what he really was, and I believe it is. He’s a well above avg qb who I believe was a better option than a clearly more talented Watson who’ll cost too much to field a competitive team in the coming years.
Michael… The Watson deal is one thing. I’m just talking about Mayfield. According to the article, the sticking point was that the Browns balked at paying down the money. It doesn’t mention draft picks being the issue. Either way I think they may have overplayed their hand.
I do agree with your point about Baker, but they’re still connected. Trading Baker without having a replacement would have left them with nothing, so they *did* lose leverage with Baker but that’s the cost of doing business. They might have overplayed their hand but if they were set on getting Watson then this was the only way to go about it. The Texans wouldn’t have kept quiet and waited for the Browns to move Baker before making the Watson; they just wanted to get picks and move on.
The Browns never would have traded Baker unless they knew they were getting Watson, so their only options were waiting to trade Baker until after acquiring Watson, and just keeping Baker. If they had moved him (when they still had a little more leverage, which still wasn’t much to begin with), they’d be stuck with no one. They basically hedged their bet, and the on-field cost of a franchise QB drastically outweighs whatever slight increase in compensation they could have gotten if they moved Baker sooner.
Burn your bridges with your recent #1 overall pick “franchise” quarterback WITH NO REPLACEMENT IN HAND.
DESPERATELY OVERPAY for a guy facing 22 sexual assault allegations who had already spurned you after burning said bridge.
Then somehow STILL think you have leverage in a trade for a guy everyone knows you HAVE to move…unless you want to poison your losing culture even more with a three ring circus all season…which, they might.
So, so, so Browns.
Mayfield is valueless from a trade perspective given his contract situation and the Browns’ investment in Watson.
Jimmy G will never be traded to the Shehawks. Never! Unless the deal is mind blowing it won’t happen.
Why does no one talk about the third round compensatory pick the browns will get if he is in the roster at the end of next year. They are not cutting him . The question is, is an end of the third round pick worth 18.9 million?