Cut Me! The Browns Will Not Cut Baker
It just seems like this quarterback Baker Mayfield ordeal will never end for the Browns. Like, why can’t this guy just go away and everyone can go their separate ways and move on? Well, that’s not going to happen and according to beat reporter Mary Kay Cabot…here’s why:
“With Mayfield under contract for a fully-guaranteed $18.86 million, it makes no sense for the Browns to cut him and take the entire hit. They’ll subtract whatever he makes from his next team from that amount, but it wouldn’t make much of a dent.”
However, there’s hope!
There were trade talks between Carolina and Cleveland over Mayfield. However, the Panthers wanted the Browns to pay between 13-14 million of his salary. What? That’s almost the entire check.
This Baker Mayfield situation never seems to end and the clock is ticking towards training camp and the season actually beginning in the fall. The Browns have a plethora of problems with the actual starting quarterback in Deshaun Watson. Read about those HERE.
Another theory is that the team can hold on to Mayfield for a certain amount of time moving forward, right?
Then, another team’s executives can look at their own quarterbacks and end up thinking, “Oh, our quarterbacks suck let’s bite the bullet and trade for Mayfield.” The odds of that happening are very slim, though. A quarterback would really have to start playing poorly.
Are the Browns being stubborn in this current situation? Well, yes. Does it also make sense? Well…yes. The team doesn’t want to pay that much money for nothing.
Look, the team has three quarterbacks on the roster (Watson, Brissett, Dobbs) and Mayfield would be a fourth. Doing the math and that’s too many quarterbacks on the roster.
The amount of drama that’s keeping Mayfield on the roster is a lot to think about. It’s like putting a kid in timeout. He’s not allowed to play for the Browns and he’s not allowed to play for another team because no one is interested in trading for him and the Browns will not cut him, either.
In 14 games for the Browns, last season Mayfield had a 60.5% completion percentage, 3010 yards passing, 13 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Mayfield is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and there is no way to know how he would respond to that this season.
The Browns have a huge opportunity with Deshaun Watson now as the starting quarterback. Despite the fact that Watson finds himself in some trouble, if everything works out, it could be a really exciting season.
Let’s see what happens in the coming months.
