Dianna Russini recently returned to ESPN airwaves following maternity leave and the outspoken NFL host and reporter has wasted little time getting back into the hot-take saddle.
Thursday, Russini, who recently signed. a multi-year extension with ESPN, was on Get Up to discuss Baker Mayfield’s struggles and what the Cleveland Browns should do about the situation. According to her, the situation finds itself in a “grey area” and likened it to a bad relationship where you waste a lot of time before you have to make the inevitable dissolution.
.@diannaESPN thinks it's time for the Browns to move on from Baker Mayfield.
"I've really held off on my opinion about this until I saw him play against the younger guys. … They're going to have to pull the plug here." pic.twitter.com/qfsgbSbKSk
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 18, 2021
“I’ve really held off on my opinion about this until I saw him play against the younger guys,” said Russini. “Against Justin Herbert. Against Mac Jones. He’s o-2 against them, right? So we’re seeing the differences here.
“This is the problem with what they have to do with him. He’s in the grey area. And there’s no worse place in life to be than the grey area. I use the comparison of a relationship, right. When you’re in love with someone and things are happy, it’s easy. It’s yes, I’m in. When the guy’s cheating on me, doesn’t call you, doesn’t text you back, and is missing all the time, it’s no. But when you’re dating somebody in that grey area, you’re not really sure what to do cause you’ve seen the good, you’ve seen the bad, you wind up just wasting years. Trust me, lots of years. And the reality is, deep down, deep in the soul, you know. You know. And Cleveland knows.
“So they’re gonna have to pull the plug here. Because at this point, as tough as Baker is, and I have always given him credit. He is a tough quarterback, I love his spirit, he’s competitive. But when it comes down to it, he needs too many good pieces around him for him to flourish. He needs these running backs, a tight end, a great defense, a coach of the year. All this in order for it to work.”
The 26-year-old who is dealing with some nagging injury issues is in his fourth season with the Browns. The team put together a great season last year, finishing 11-5 and making the playoffs. So far this season the team is 5-5 and Mayfield has been decent but not the stellar leader that the Browns might have hoped for at this point. There are certainly plenty of reasons for Cleveland to stay committed to Mayfield and build around him, but there are also some lingering doubts like Russini’s that could cause the franchise to consider looking elsewhere for the future. Mayfield’s contract runs through next season but the fact that the two sides have yet to have substantive talks about an extension certainly implies there are questions about how it might go.
[Get Up]
