Baker Mayfield is entering the final season of his contract with the Cleveland Browns in which he’s owed $18,858,000. As it stands, the Browns are essentially going to be paying him that money to stay off the field, considering they’ve traded for Deshaun Watson to be their new starting quarterback. That won’t be an easy decision as Mayfield’s contract is carrying a cap hit of $18,858,000 and a dead cap value of $18,858,000.
Thanks to that massive contract number, coupled with the fact that Mayfield hasn’t quite lived up to expectations, there are no takers for the quarterback on the trade market. Most of the potential suitors either looked elsewhere to solve their quarterback problems or are willing to wait things out rather than take on the risks, financial or otherwise, that comes with Baker.
Some have wondered if the Browns might just decide to cut Mayfield given that they have no plans to play him anyway. However, if they did so, they’d still be on the hook for his salary and he might end up signing with one of their rivals, which has been rumored.
All of which is to say that while it might sound like “the right thing to do” for the Browns to just cut Mayfield, it’s a pretty dumb business decision. And while Cleveland’s decision-making process isn’t exactly sound these days, you can understand why they’d rather wait it out and see if any other team eventually gets desperate enough to trade for him instead.
PFT’s Mike Florio disagrees with that notion and he wrote a post on Monday arguing that “the right thing to do in this specific case is to cut Mayfield and move on. It’s in his best interests, and it’s in the team’s best interests.”
That notion received a lot of pushback from the NFL world, with many saying that it sounds like it was co-written by Mayfield’s agent.
Looks like Baker’s agent is writing Florio’s articles now. This is so off base.
They can pay him $18 million to stay home and it won’t cause a single distraction in the building because he won’t be there. The only one panicking is Mayfield. https://t.co/4jkkNDCWev
— Tim Spencer (@BumpnRun30) May 9, 2022
Cutting him wont help do that either.
I feel like another NFL team paid PFT to write this. LOL
The Browns benefit in no way by cutting him.
They could easily benefit by keeping him on the roster (Comp. Pick Or Trade Market change)
This whole story is just an opinion. https://t.co/dXUlmcXCYt
— Joshua Catalano (@CatalanoJoshua) May 9, 2022
It's May 9th. https://t.co/zcCg6TGbMR
— Pete Smith (@_PeteSmith_) May 9, 2022
Clearly agitated by the pushback, the PFT Twitter account followed that up later in the day.
The Baker Mayfield situation is the latest litmus test for separating those who view pro football players as human beings from those who view pro football players as property.
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 9, 2022
“The Baker Mayfield situation is the latest litmus test for separating those who view pro football players as human beings from those who view pro football players as property,” said PFT.
Naturally, that received a similar reaction.
The Baker takes from @ProFootballTalk are getting hotter by the day. Baker is a human being who has a contract for employment with the #Browns that is set to pay him $18M in 2022. It's not inhumane for the Browns to attempt to recoup some of the value of that contract. https://t.co/LAXIIG1jwG
— Adam Copeland (@exiledclevelndr) May 9, 2022
What have they done that's inhumane? https://t.co/JuD65HmjjL
— Greg Vorse TV (@GregVorse) May 9, 2022
A human signed the contract. A human was well aware of what being a professional athlete means. A human decided to criticize medical staff, coaching staff, throw shade at reporters and former players, and go on a podcast. https://t.co/zS1kBZ7Iv3
— Land Locked (@Land__Locked) May 9, 2022
There’s still a long way to go between now and the NFL season and a lot of different things can happen, let alone what happens once the season begins and injuries occur. The chances that Baker Mayfield is still with the Browns by October are pretty low, it’s just a question of waiting for the deal or situation to materialize. While it might seem like Cleveland is stringing Mayfield along, they’re really just trying to do what most businesses would do in this situation. Meanwhile, Baker will cash his check no matter what.
Maybe it’s not “fair” but like so many aspects of our world, it’s business.
[PFT]