The Cleveland Browns have been a huge topic of the NFL offseason after trading with the Houston Texans for Deshaun Watson. This move obviously puts quarterback Baker Mayfield in a frustrating situation as it is clear that the team intends for Watson to be their starting quarterback in 2022.
Mayfield requested a trade from the Browns back in March and he’s still waiting for that request to be honored. A number of teams have been rumored to have interest in Mayfield, but with the NFL Draft come and gone, there simply aren’t a ton of landing spots that make sense for the quarterback.
One team that keeps coming up in talks is the Seattle Seahawks. They notably did not draft a quarterback in the NFL Draft this weekend, which came to the shock of many around the NFL world. While it looks clear that Mayfield’s best chance to start in 2021 would be in Seattle, sources around the NFL say that the team does not want to take on too much of the 27-year-old’s contract.
NFL insider Jeremy Fowler discussed the matter on Sunday, where he explained how he thinks Mayfield could end up in Seattle or with another team.
“Now, here’s the deal: The Browns are willing to pay some of Baker Mayfield’s $18.8 million guaranteed, but not all of it,” Fowler said. “Teams are waiting that out, slow-playing it and they don’t really want to pay much of the money at all. I know some teams like Seattle, if he’s released, they would explore it, potentially get involved.”
It makes sense that Seattle doesn’t want to pay Mayfield’s contract. At this point, it seems unlikely that any team would be willing to pay too much in a trade for Mayfield.
That gives the Browns two options, either release Mayfield or keep a disgruntled player on their roster the entire season. The latter of these two options could be more trouble than it’s worth for Cleveland, and they may decide it is easier just to release him.
Even if Seattle is interested in Mayfield. they are doing the right thing in not showing their hand publicly because there are simply very few options that the Browns have at the moment to deal with the situation.
[NESN]
