When the news broke that the Cleveland Browns were considering trading for quarterback Deshaun Watson, Baker Mayfield took that as a sign that his time with the NFL franchise was over. He penned a “goodbye” statement and released it on Twitter.
Afterward, it was thought that the Browns were out of the running for Watson and that they would work to mend fences with their quarterback. However, after Mayfield made it clear that he did not want to return to Cleveland, that may have ironically been the impetus for the team to double its efforts to acquire Watson in some kind of self-fulfilling prophecy.
According to Cleveland.com’s Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns actually did intend to keep Mayfield on after missing out on Watson initially. However, she reports that Mayfield reached his “breaking point” when the Browns sent a delegation to Houston to meet with Watson. There’s also the matter of Chris Mortensen’s report that Cleveland wanted “an adult” at quarterback, which Mayfield assumed came from the Browns organization. So while Cleveland was willing to go another round with him, Mayfield decided he was done. And since the Browns had to assume that he would skip offseason programs and minicamp, he “probably” would have also held out of training camp.
Hence, they circled back and did what they had to do to acquire Watson in spite of the extensive accusations against him.
While you can certainly understand why Mayfield would be upset with the Browns, especially after they spent so much time publicly saying he was their guy, it’s interesting to think that if he hadn’t publicly said “goodbye” like that, he might still be the Browns quarterback next season.
But the Browns have also demonstrated some dubious decision-making along the way, alienating their current quarterback before they even knew they’d have a legit shot with their new one. And had they not gotten Watson, they’d probably be in a desperate situation to find a taker for Mayfield.
Of course, there’s still the possibility that Watson could face extensive punishment from the NFL over his situation, and Mayfield will suddenly have a lot of leverage back. But for now, it appears that despite their best efforts the Browns have gotten what they wanted, for better or worse.
