A very short list exists of teams who have the interest and financial wherewithal to trade for Baker Mayfield. One of the teams on that list is the Seahawks, who have recently been reported to have significant interest in acquiring the Browns QB. 
[RELATED: Mayfield Quells Talk Of Browns Reconciliation]
Seattle represented one of the most logical trade destinations once Mayfield’s trade request went public. He would bring more pedigree than Drew Lock, and more upside than Geno Smith, the two incumbents currently set to begin the post-Russell Wilson era. The fact that a Jimmy Garoppolo addition would require an intra-division trade further pointed to the former No. 1 overall pick ending up in the Emerald City.
Speculation continued when it came out that Mayfield himself was also interested in Seattle as a destination, echoing thoughts he made public earlier in the offseason once his trade request become known. However, the sense that a deal could be coming soon (or at any point) could be unfounded.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport threw cold water on the perceived connection between the Seahawks and Mayfield. When appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, he said that he has heard “nothing to corroborate Baker to the Seahawks at all” (video link). He added that the Seahawks “have never really been that interested in him.”
There is a difference, of course, between teams like the Seahawks (or his other most-predicted destination, the Panthers) trading for Mayfield – and therefore absorbing at least some of his $18.9MM cap hit – and signing him as a free agent upon his release, or the expiration of his contract next year. If Seattle remains committed to their current QB room, though, as head coach Pete Carrol has indicated they will do, attention will again be turned towards Carolina.
The most important next step is the Browns’ decision on how to handle Mayfield vis-à-vis Deshaun Watson. They will presumably wait until a final ruling is made on the latter’s eligibility to play in 2022 before trading the former Heisman winner, which will likely happen before training camp, Rapoport adds. Until then, this will remain a storyline worth watching for all parties involved.
Why trade for an average QB when you have below average QB’s in the roster and want high draft picks?
Because losing sucks?
Because it’s hard to evaluate other offensive players with a bad QB?
Only if you are terrible at your job.
Hard to evaluate other offensive weapons when your qb is really good too lol.
Seattle chose to trade a HoF QB for backup QB’s for a reason. And the reason wasn’t Mayfield can be had. They’re throwing the season.
They have an old team and are getting ready for a rebuild. They obviously think their window has closed if they traded away Wilson. They aren’t going to give up picks and pay all that money for somebody on a 1 year deal that they’ll either lose or have to pay up major $ for if he turns out to be any good for them.
Exactly.
Yea but if he’s good they’d be getting their QB of the future for a middle round pick and like 9m. Seems like a better bet to me than waiting until next year to draft a complete unknown. At the end of the day though if they don’t see Baker as anything more than an average player and are ok with full tank mode then I get not making a move but young decent QB’s don’t hit the market very often and I’m going to bet wherever Baker goes he’s going to play like a man possessed to prove the Browns messed up… Well more so than they did just replacing him with a sex pest.
If Baker had any real value he would have a new team well before July. FA tampering period is infamous.
And yes, I would rather try an unknown rookie QB vs a known pain in the butt, average QB.
He’s got value, but unfortunately the teams that could have used him already moved on. Carolina and Seattle don’t actually need him and also don’t want that big contract.
I wouldn’t give up more than a 6th for Mayfield
Nobody cares what you would do.
well i was right as usual
they only got a conditional 5th for him aka a 6th
They are likely a 5 win team with baker, and a 3 win team without. If the goal is one of the top two qbs next year…that’s why you don’t add baker. You want to pick in the top 3, not #’s 6-7. By standing pat you accomplish your long term goal.
And Baker will likely be available next summer as well.
QB of the future, eh?
Signed to a one year deal and due a massive pay raise for a guy that is new to your system and may just be a flash in the pan.
Or you can draft a rookie, pay him peanuts, and bring him through your systems your own way.
Seattle needs to make a decision – muck around at 4 or 5 wins in a strong division or try to compete for 8 or 9 win respectability. This off season seems to indicate they are aiming for the former, which just might make sense in the long run given the QB situation in their division (i.e., the 49ers are likely to crash and burn with their unproven QB, Arizona has a QB that hates football, and the Rams have only about 2 good years left with Stafford’s oft-injured body).
You misspelled “Arizona has a good QB with a terrible head coach.”
Arizona can have a bad head coach and a QB who hates football, they’re not mutually exclusive.
I don’t know if I would say that Murray hates the sport, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone who does it.
Stafford’s often injured body? How many games as he missed due to injury minus 2019 when he was on one of the longest active streaks without missing a game…
Seattle should get baker and d’ernest
Also makes sense for falcons to trade for both too I think.
I don’t think the Falcons can afford to do much given their $40 million Matt Ryan dead cap situation.
Ohh, gotcha. Thanks
If the Browns got the deal they want for Baker, they’d trade him in a heartbeat. They already have Jacoby Brisset in house.
The issue is the $ left on Mayfield’s contract. Nobody wants to give up high draft picks and take on all of that salary.
Carolina and Seattle should wait it out. There is no way Mayfield plays for the Browns this year. Neither the Panthers or Hawks will be playoff teams regardless, so they have nothing to lose by waiting.
Exactly. They can wait for the Browns to finally realize they aren’t in the driver’s seat and pony up to make a deal that makes sense, or they can wait until the Browns cut him and sign him on the cheap in FA.
Browns will not cut Mayfield. They will keep him on the roster and have him stay at home for the season.
Might as well take a 7th rounder from someone, rather than get nothing. Tom Brady was drafted in the 7th round!
Brady was drafted in the 6th round.
Copy. The 199th pick in the sixth round. The point stands, I guess. Take your late round draft choice and move on!
Brilliant plan. Sounds about right for the Browns.
Yep. Seahawks are only interested if he gets cut or Browns pay nearly the entire salary and are willing to take a late round draft choice… A Fifth rounder and Browns pay 16 million.
Seattle is more than likely not trading for the child in the room and SF is not trading with us. The only way to make a trade with the Brownies is it is a 5th rounder and they give a 6th in return. They also need to eat his salary down to vet min to make it work.
I believe they are more interested in the guy who dates porn stars. He will clean up his dating preferences because Seattle has no porn stars. They all congregate between SF and LA.
Their best bet is to wait and until SF cuts Jimmy G and sign him to a vet min salary and offer him an extension with a lot of prove it money in it and no money after the second year or have multiple option years. That way they can draft their QB and have him sit for part of the year until he is ready. Then Jimmy G can be his backup or get released or traded.
One of the people saying Seattle is trading for Baker is Josina Anderson. Would you believe her or Ian Rappaport? I know who my choice is he seems to be way ahead of the news of the league than she is.
Browns fans need to let go of the “just keep Baker on the roster” fantasy. You can’t break up with your GF and keep her “on the roster” for a season, just in case it doesn’t go well with the new GF. Baker can’t be around your creepy new GF, and he will be a problem at home too. Talking to the media and doing everything he can to force a trade. The 19 million is sunk cost. Let it go. You and Baker broke up. Let it go. Take what you can get and move on with super creep.
Baker: Hey, here you’re interested in some other guy
Browns: Noooooooooo….don’t be silly. You are the only guy for me.
Baker: okay, cool, see ya tomorrow.
Browns: K.
Deshaun: Heeeeeeeeyaaaaaayyyyy!
Baker: Who the heck is this?
Browns: Oh, he’s a guy we met in a chatroom and…well, I am just not that into you anymore.
Baker: Fine, give me a divorce and all my money
Browns: What? No!
Deshaun: Hey, I gotta go see a guy about a thing, BBL!
Browns: Wait, what?
Baker: Ha ha ha!
Browns: Um…hey boo…would you please come keep me company tonight…just as friends?
The posturing by Pete on the massive upside of both Lock and Smith has to be just that.
Get the Brownies to absorb at least $10 MM of Mayfield’s contract and send Smith and some marginal players and/or low level draft choices in return.
Otherwise, if Pete is serious, it may be time for him to step away before he embarrasses himself.
What do you want him to say? “Neither of these guys are good, but our goal is to get a Top 5 pick next draft, so…”
If you don’t want Baker you simply say, “I am confident in the guy(s) we already have.” Simple.
Agree. While the Browns have plenty of cap room, they could still recoup another 9-10 mill and get another draft pick instead of dealing with the drama all season long. Knowing the Browns, they’ll opt for the drama (of course, that train left the station with the trade for the deviant).
They’re not going to get anyone to pay half or more of Mayfield’s salary. Same with Garapollo. The Browns will get a conditional draft pick when Mayfield leaves in free agency next year. The Browns have to weigh the options of paying most of Mayfield’s salary and possibly getting a 6th or 7th round draft pick or hanging on to him the whole year and telling him to stay away (much like what the Texans did with Watson last year) and getting possibly a 3rd or 4th round conditional pick. Getting Watson will turn out to be a good move in the upcoming years. Baker just isn’t good enough right now
If they tell him to stay home though…wouldn’t he still be in the stadium? *ba dum tssss*
In all seriousness though, I actually could see that playing out if Baker plays ball. Browns just have so little incentive to cut him.
The problem is, if Baker refuses to go along with that like Watson did…then what? Can they MAKE him stay at home? Watson knew he was getting a fat deal eventually, so he was willing to be patient. Baker needs to play to rebuild his value coming off a rough 2021. Hard to do that getting fat(ter?) on the couch…
Ideally you’d like to trade him, but if you can’t, your options are cutting him to save 1.1 million while he plays for another team or you can make him inactive and get a compensatory pick that may be a 3rd or 4th. Baker would have to play along otherwise he’d prove what the FO reportedly said about the adult in the room. Baker’s immaturity has contributed to him not being traded by now. I like Baker but he was always in a Twitter war with somebody. Cowherd, Rex Ryan and others. Just play football.
Thats an interesting point. I suppose that could be motivation enough. Then similar to Watson, you still may get teams sniffing around throughout the season to see what it’d take to get him.
The Browns have to do what is good for them. Right now, a possible compensatory of a 3rd or 4th rounder is better than 1.1 million. I’d like to see a trade where the Browns get a 6th and pay 12 million. That seems fair for everyone
Well so much for you saying that the Browns won’t take whatever terrible offer they get for Mayfield and move on. They got a conditional draft choice alright! Man it feels good for you to be wrong!!
How was I wrong? I said they won’t release him. They saved 8.8 million dollars and got a draft pick of a 4th or 5th. I would have been ok with a 6th and the Browns paying 12 million. I almost nailed it on the head. This is a decent deal for both teams, considering the fact that Carolina was the only team interested in Mayfield and the Browns really didn’t want him.
My goodness, this “report” is absolutely nothing of substance and a complete and utter waste of bandwidth. Your writers need something better to do, like mop the floors at HQ.
Exactly! They’ve run basically the same report at least three times now. There is no new news about Mayfield and the Seahawks
Oops
Baker and a Browns 1st for a Hawks 2nd.
I doubt Seattle will wait until 2025. Browns don’t “need” to trade or release Mayfield. They can afford him. They’re not giving up a 1st to save some cash
Seahawks need to trade for Gardner Minshew
Totally. I would love to watch him play in Seattle. I lived there for two years and Minshew is very 12th Man material. He’s also used to playing 2nd string and would add healthy competition with Lock and Smith.
Baker to Seattle is a bad idea given the circumstances and asterisks. If it were a Matt Ryan trade without a lot of backstory, fine. Baker needs to make a statement with a different clubhouse. Carolina, New Orleans, even D.C. makes more sense.
While I don’t think that Mayfield to Seattle is necessary, I do think that schematically they are a much better fit than Carolina. The Panthers have a questionable roster, no organizational security, and no team identity.
Seattle is not at a place where any of those concerns are completely absent, but they have much better answers than Carolina. Plus, they do have an established preference for run and play-action passing, which is where Baker excels. Otherwise, I do agree.
Yeah, I’m with you on scheme/organization. I think Seattle has more on the ball than others mentioned. One lingering question that hangs outside his injuries though is that he was given one heck of a roster in Cleveland and things didn’t work out. That needs to be sorted out with some sort of guess in order for people to look past stuff that’s not on paper.
I think he’s still a solid player, but with what’s in the air it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.
Agreed.
Watson will never play in the NFL again.
If the Seahawks or Panthers were as interested in acquiring Mayfield as the bloggers have been in brokering the trade on behalf of the Browns, he’d have already been traded and these same bloggers could have published their “what a foolish trade” stories.
If I were Mayfield, I’d be interested in Seattle too. Why? Stability. An owner who doesn’t meddle in the football decision making of the franchise (wow, she trusted the GM and HC to part ways with their box office hit QB.) GM and HC with team for over a decade. True, turnover at OC, (but doesn’t every team!) but Waldren (sp?) seems to have pedigree to carry on with previous OCs successes?
Geez, after 4 years of trying to perform under management chaos, to get a chance to play for the hawks, I’d even sign over half the 18 mil to maybe help keep DK around. “Give me a shot Pete! if I perform well in 2022 and you wanna keep me, I’d be happy to talk extension then”.
He’s a panther. Let’s move on.