Ken Blaze / USA TODAY Sports
Baker Mayfield is anything but a lock to leave the Browns before the NFL 2022 season. Or is he? All indications are that the former No. 1 overall pick is playing elsewhere after Cleveland’s polarizing blockbuster acquisition of Deshaun Watson. Both Mayfield and Brown spoke publicly about the inevitable separation. Still, with no obvious trading partner on the horizon, the team is currently “reluctant to negotiate Mayfield’s release,” according to ESPN, leaving the veteran in the dark.
After committing a record $ 230 million guaranteed to Watson and signing a new reserve for Jacob Brissett for a $ 4.65 million deal, Brown is now ready to open 2022 without Mayfield in the QB room. However, releasing him directly will not save the team any of the $ 18.58 million that Mayfield owes for its guaranteed option for the fifth year.
Cleveland pledged to the Panthers over the weekend in a potential trade draft for Mayfield, but failed to get Carolina to take over “a significant portion” of that weekend, according to ESPN’s Jake Trotter. This helps explain why Brown is unwilling to reduce QB; they want to avoid paying the full price of the Mayfield fifth-year option they previously guaranteed.
It is possible, but unlikely, that if trade opportunities do not materialize, Mayfield will accept a pay cut to facilitate his release. Cleveland is more likely to either eventually find a trading partner or continue launching, albeit without any savings. Interested teams, remember, may be ready to take on a small part of QB’s success in 2022 – just not necessarily the “significant” part that the Browns tried to land on the Panthers.
The bigger hurdle is probably focusing on finding suitors to begin with. Trade talks with Carolina stalled as soon as the Panthers drafted in the third round of Mississippi QB Matt Coral, according to Trotter, and all indications are that the Seahawks, another team with supposedly free space for QB, have a slight interest, at best. in the former Browns Honors.
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