Where will Baker Mayfield end up during this already crazy offseason?
Mayfield is still a member of the Cleveland Browns, but the team has already moved on from him after they traded for QB Deshaun Watson. However, the team seems to be finding it rather hard finding a trade partner for their former franchise QB.
On his podcast with ex-Cleveland wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, former Browns star Joe Thomas had a lot to say about the situation.
Speaking on. his “The Thom & Hawk Football Show,” the 10-time Pro Bowler laid out where Baker screwed everything up for himself this offseason.
“Baker said ‘I’m not playing for you guys anymore, I’m not coming back,’” Thomas explained. “Which the interesting thing is that to me, it seemed like Baker overplayed his hand a little bit… At that moment, the Browns were out of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes.”
Thomas believes Mayfield should’ve worked with the team to try and fix their relationship instead of asking out.
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“He was their quarterback and he could’ve said ‘Hey, I realize you guys went after Deshaun Watson, it didn’t sit well with me, but make it up to me, I need to do something with this contract, you need to commit to me so I can commit to you, right? Let’s bring this relationship back together.”
Cleveland wasn’t going to accommodate Mayfield’s trade request.
“He got a little sensitive about it, he got a little emotional,” Thomas said. “He went radio silence on the Cleveland Browns and said ‘You have to trade me to the Indianapolis Colts,’ thinking he was perceived as a franchise quarterback in the NFL and that he could kind of dictate the terms of where he was gonna be traded.”
Indianapolis chose to trade for Matt Ryan instead.
One of the biggest issues is Mayfield’s salary and the other team’s unwillingness to trade for him because of it.
“It doesn’t seem like anyone is interested at this salary,” Rapoport said. “The at this salary part is key because Baker Mayfield is unlikely to be traded at $18 million. If the Browns are able to eat some money, or the agent and new team can come up with an answer to split or deal with his salary, I believe he’ll be traded. I don’t get the sense the Browns will release him.”
