Baker Mayfield: Cleveland Browns played games; former Sooner paying price

The Cleveland Browns have had communication with a handful of suitors for former Oklahoma star Baker Mayfield.

The list of interested parties has included the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts, and Seattle Seahawks. Both Mayfield and Carolina reportedly marked each other off their list, and the Colts went ahead and went with former league MVP Matt Ryan, who was traded by Atlanta after 14-years with the Falcons.

Mayfield, a Heisman winning quarterback and former No. 1 overall NFL draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2018, has been the Browns’ starting quarterback the past four seasons and in the 2020 season led them to their first NFL playoff appearance since 2002.

The Browns, early in the process, were asking for a first-round draft pick for Mayfield and have been unwilling to eat a part of his $19 million guaranteed salary despite having no leverage in talks with other franchises. This allowed other teams in the meantime acquire other quarterback options that were available.

The Atlanta Falcons ate $41 million in dead money and accepted just a third-round pick in letting Ryan go. It was a deal the Colts simply could not pass on, despite their inquiries for Mayfield. A pretty good reason for the Colts, who don’t have a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft to be “lukewarm” on a deal to land Mayfield.

In addition, Mayfield is coming off of shoulder surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. He fully tore his left labrum in Week 2, then aggravated it in and added a fractured shoulder after Arizona Cardinal defensive end J.J Watt laid a brutal hit on him in Week 6.

The Cleveland Browns have put on an absolute clinic on how not to handle a trade asset. A member of the Browns’ front office told ESPN’s Chris Mortenson they were looking for an adult in the room at quarterback. A report they would later deny.

There have been rumors of locker room issues in Cleveland, a situation sources have expressed is not truly the fault of the quarterback. As one Cleveland Browns’ player put it:

"“Baker Mayfield is the toughest guy I have ever played with. He is a warrior and competitor; he wouldn’t give up if he had no arms.“The guys love that about Baker, we wanted him out there, we knew he probably should not have been playing, but we wanted him to.”"

While it is possible that others felt differently, Mayfield was rarely available to spend time with the team like he had in the past. He spent a majority of his time doing treatment and rehab to give him a chance to play. A player sodedicated to winning that they would put their body on the line despite risking his second contract is the epitome of selfless. Baker Mayfield prioritized winning above all.

Unfortunately, Mayfield played awful for much of the 2021 campaign, particularly after suffering a deep bone bruise in his plant heel, which appeared to be the dagger in his ability to play through the injuries. The Browns’ QB had thrown only five interceptions in his previous 20 starts, including the playoffs. Over the final six games, however, he threw 10.

He simply could not consistently make the throws required of an NFL quarterback and surprisingly the Browns continued to allow Mayfield to jog out there and play.

The former Sooner star’s mechanics were clearly a mess, he was unable to plant or rotate his body with the bulky harness used to keep his arm connected to his shoulder. He should have shut it down but elected to deal with the pain and discomfort because the Browns were not eliminated from playoff contention until the conclusion of Week 17.

The Browns had high expectations after the Mayfield led them to the playoffs the year before and a round one win, their first playoff win since 1994. Mayfield was viewed as a top-10 quarterback in 2020 and was playing some of the best football of his NFL career before suffering injury.

While Mayfield has been heavily criticized for not living up to his high expectations coming into the NFL. it is important to point out that he has also had four different offensive coordinators in his four seasons in Cleveland.

An NFL scout described Mayfield as “hamstrung” in Kevin Stefanski’s run first offense, which prevented Mayfield from being his usual playmaking self like he had been able to do earlier in his Browns career and at Oklahoma.