Baker to Carolina

[Orion]

@berniesuperbowl2 said:

Yeah, I heard this earlier today.   The Colts let us down, and then everyone started scrambling to sign the remaining veteran QB's not named Baker.  He's just about worthless now.

[bbedward]

I'm guessing Seattle is going to roll with Drew Lock.

People like Baker because of his energy, has a visible passion for the game.

But the reality is he sucks, teams don't view him as a starter because he isn't. Camp Baker will need to stop looking for places he can be a starter and find someone who'll take a very expensive backup for 1 year.

Guessing it won't be an osweiler situation, but don't see the browns getting much more than a 4th.

[gumby73]

@atom said:

well since other teams are getting different q.b's it is looking like #2 or #3  or just flat out cut him

I don't know who Baker's agent is? but he needed to shut Bakers social media accounts down weeks ago ?..

Matt Ryan was the next in line..Done.. Next up? Jimmy G or Trey Lance 49er's?

There is only one Jimmy G & 3 teams still need a starter... Carolina/Atlanta/Seattle... Baker is still better than what they have for 1 year.. I keep looking at the extra pick the Watson deal took.. Should Berry consider taking a deal for a 2023 3rd rounder to get back? or maybe the 2024 4th rounder to get back? We may also, need to eat 8.8M in cap & dump Bake at 10M on traded teams cap.. 

I'll trust Berry's FO to get a deal done/ even if it's on draft night 

[hoorta]

@ibleedbrown said:

Once upon a time Belichick was pretty fond of Baker. Not sure l see the Pats offering a first, but if Baker’s price drops to maybe a 2nd or 3rd, it wouldn’t shock me if they sprang for him.

Nah, Bill doesn't make stupid mistakes.  Baker's trade value is now hovering in the sack of seeds range.  

@atom said:

this part i am not sure about is baker due any kind of roster bonus ? and if not could we just keep him on the team and gamble that another teams qb gets hurt in training  camp or the pre season ? 

Nope, no roster bonus... We can't afford his $18 million guaranteed dead cap hit and stay under the cap. Ask yourself in all honesty... Right now would you rather have Baker, or Landry & Clowney with the same amount of money. I thought so.    

@bbedward said:

I'm guessing Seattle is going to roll with Drew Lock.

People like Baker because of his energy, has a visible passion for the game.

But the reality is he sucks, teams don't view him as a starter because he isn't. Camp Baker will need to stop looking for places he can be a starter and find someone who'll take a very expensive backup for 1 year.

Guessing it won't be an osweiler situation, but don't see the browns getting much more than a 4th.

Hey BB, welcome back, long time no see... It's being tossed around... it could get to the point the Browns might have to give up a draft pick in an Osweiler scenario just to get Baker's contract off the books...  

[ballpeen]

No doubt the trade market for Baker is drying up.  Trading a guy on a 5th year 19 mil contract, a guy you need to pawn off, is a tough sell.  I don't underestimate Berry and the FO but from my perspective,  we might have to take on 8 mil of his salary and be lucky to get a 6th round pick.

At this point it may not be about worth as much as it is about having no leverage on our side.  We may end up having to keep him on the books and keep him sitting at home.  Heck, we might have to send Baker and a 5th rounder to get some team to take him on.  

Berry is going to have to work some magic to come out even close on this one.

It is what it is.

[darren15]

Someone mentioned the 49rs as a possibility if they get rid of Jimmy G ....one of the hacks with a tick next to his name

[Dutch Oven]

By the way, it appears the final compensation to get Watson is (3) first rounders, (2) fourth rounders and (1) third rounder. I think we get a sixth rounder back. 

So having to throw in a draft pick just to get rid of Baker is just super duper. Who likes to watch the Draft, anyways? ?

[tiamat63]

@dutch-oven said:

By the way, it appears the final compensation to get Watson is (3) first rounders, (2) fourth rounders and (1) third rounder. I think we get a sixth rounder back. 

So having to throw in a draft pick just to get rid of Baker is just super duper. Who likes to watch the Draft, anyways? ?

The real $ is made 2nd - 4th round. Especially when you have a QB who is a 10 year piece.   

[MDDawg]

@dutch-oven said:

It's almost like no one is really that interested in Baker Mayfield. 

And with Indianapolis off the market, and their penchant for making stupid trades and giving away high picks to do it, that was the Browns chance to get something of value for him. There's speculation the Browns might have to just release him.

Doesn't the rest of the NFL know that the only thing holding him back was the Browns drafting a WR for him? 

Yeah, we were villified for suggesting OBJ's lack of production was due to poor QB play. Glad the front office realized that a rookie WR wasn't going to fix that and traded for a better QB before our window closes

[7moses7]

Nobody wants that punkass  bitch 

[hoorta]

@osiris said:

Atlanta signing Mariotta. Probably just Carolina and Seattle at this point. I'd rather have Goff than Baker at this point, so don't see why Detroit makes that deal. 

As Atom pointed out, and I did in another thread, Carolina has an $18 million Sam Darnold problem. I (sort of) follow the Lions because the brother in laws are fans, ditto the above. Detroit isn't going to view Baker as much of- if any- as an upgrade over Goff. 

[nickers]

@hoorta said:

As Atom pointed out, and I did in another thread, Carolina has an $18 million Sam Darnold problem. I (sort of) follow the Lions because the brother in laws are fans, ditto the above. Detroit isn't going to view Baker as much of- if any- as an upgrade over Goff. 

Word is Carolina is gonna ride it out w/Darnold...

[hoorta]

@nickers said:

Word is Carolina is gonna ride it out w/Darnold...

That won't surprise me...  He was horrible last year.. The Panthers are in the same boat as the Browns are with Baker. Darnold's 5th year  $18 million is fully guaranteed.  So they can't exactly dump Darnold and then take on Baker's $18 million.  I suppose they can put Darnold out there and do a tank-a-thon for the 2023 QB draft class...  

[Dutch Oven]

@tiamat63 said:

The real $ is made 2nd - 4th round. Especially when you have a QB who is a 10 year piece.   

10 year piece?

I fully expect Watson to get out of Cleveland the second this contract is up, if he doesn't demand to be traded before. 

[tiamat63]

@dutch-oven said:

10 year piece?

I fully expect Watson to get out of Cleveland the second this contract is up, if he doesn't demand to be traded before. 

Don't ruin my high. 

[Orion]

what to do with Baker ?

...from what I've seen on tv, he's pretty good with building maintenance.   

If it were me, and I couldn't get anything for him...I'd keep him on the books, at home, and wait for the team(s) whose QB goes down and needs a starting QB.

[jbluhm86]

I saw this posted over on the Browns subreddit ( Link to OP post ) that I think is an excellent summation of Baker Mayfield and Browns fans:

"From a fan perspective, the Baker QB situation on the Browns is like your very first girlfriend...You'd never had a girlfriend (QB) before, so the first one that shows any promise you obsess over and think "Finally! This is the one I waited for!"

The more you get to know her, you realize you put up with strange behavior and she really doesn't seem to get along with some of your friends (OBJ). But again, it's whatever because you finally have a girlfriend! Maybe this is how it goes sometimes? They're wrong, you're right.

Then you realize that she doesn't get along with any of your friends (Browns teammates). You try and tell yourself they're just jealous, but then even your parents (Haslams, FO, Stefanski) say how much they dislike her.

You show a picture of her to kids on the bus and they say "gross, I'd date Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariota, or even Jameis Winston before I'd date her." You realize that this whole time, you had been sticking around in the hopes she got better and friendlier. Instead she got worse and meaner.

Your friends don't like her, your parents don't like her, other kids on the bus make fun of you, she's stubborn and refuses to listen to you, and you realize that outside of you, no one else even wants her. Because she showed you interest for the first time and you got laid ONCE. TWO YEARS AGO (2020 playoffs).

Suddenly the glasses are off and you realize you don't like her anymore. You have that epiphany/cringe moment (weeks, months, decades later) of "holy shit why did I stick around with her so long? She really wasnt that great at all. Of course no one else liked her, I was just blinded by my first love and wanted it to work so bad. Moving on was the right move"

[ATOM]

@hoorta said:

Nah, Bill doesn't make stupid mistakes.  Baker's trade value is now hovering in the sack of seeds range.  

Nope, no roster bonus... We can't afford his $18 million guaranteed dead cap hit and stay under the cap. Ask yourself in all honesty... Right now would you rather have Baker, or Landry & Clowney with the same amount of money. I thought so.    

Hey BB, welcome back, long time no see... It's being tossed around... it could get to the point the Browns might have to give up a draft pick in an Osweiler scenario just to get Baker's contract off the books...  

think i mentioned all of this  but now its looking more and more they were gonna have to go the brock osweiller route sucks for us

[SdBacker80]

Can everyone take a moment and understand that we don’t have to move Baker at this moment?

A starting QB may go down between now and camp or during camp.

A team may miss out on these “C” level QBs in the draft and decide to roll with a Baker Mayfield type. 
 

Don’t deal out of a state of panic.  I’m confident Princeton and UPenn and every other Ivy in the building understands this. 

[Vambo]

Browns can Afford to Play Waiting Game in Trading Baker Mayfield

https://www.si.com/nfl/browns/news/browns-can-play-waiting-game

As much as the Cleveland Browns might want to trade Baker Mayfield quickly, they are in a position to wait for a price they want.

• Pete Smith
• 23 hours ago

Baker Mayfield's tenure with the Cleveland Browns was all but over before the team acquired Deshaun Watson in a trade with the Houston Texans. With Watson on the team, it seemed as if the Browns would want to deal Mayfield quickly, so both sides could move on from what has been an ugly week of back and forth, but the Browns are comfortable waiting to make a deal, even if that means waiting until August.

There are 18.8 million reasons to get Mayfield off the salary cap. But if a team was never intending to spend that money in the first place, carrying that cap charge doesn't impede the team from operating.

The Browns are only slated to pay Watson a hair over $10 million in 2022. The reason for that isn't because the team is trying to go all in for the sake of a Super Bowl run this season. That doesn't mean they aren't going to try, but with Watson likely to be suspended, leaving newly signed backup Jacoby Brissett to play quarterback those games in his stead, the postseason isn't guaranteed.

The reason the Browns are giving Watson a low salary now is likely because they want to create a significant amount of rollover cap for next season and going forward. It will not only help pay for the $54 million Watson is scheduled to earn in 2023, but allow them some added flexibility.

So whenever the Browns trade Mayfield, which could drag on into July even August unless they get the deal they want, they would the then have the ability to rollover the $18.8 million Mayfield was set to earn, giving them $37.6 million in 2023; the original $18.8 million plus another $18.8 million in rollover.

The Browns want to create wiggle room, so they can maintain their viability over several years rather than just trying to make a play in a single season. Watson isn't on a rookie contract, so there's no sense building the team like he is.

Watson and Myles Garrett are on the same schedule, both under contract for five years. The Browns want to make five worthwhile attempts at a Super Bowl rather than just one. That window could extend further if the team extends those two contracts. The only reason the Browns should feel the need to borrow money against the future would be if those players are going to leave or are simply at the end of their careers, which is what happened with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints with their respective quarterbacks.

The recovery from Mayfield's shoulder can also play into this, since he can't do much at this point, which is also impacting the timeline for the San Francisco 49ers to make a deal with Jimmy Garoppolo. The healthier Mayfield gets and the longer some of these teams go without addressing their quarterback positions, pressure will increase. The Browns are counting on it.

The only scenario that is unacceptable for the Browns is cutting Mayfield. His salary is guaranteed and they are simply not going to carry that cost, even if it means giving Mayfield away for a seventh-round pick in two years. That gives them options and leverage to get far more.

The Browns are going to continue building their roster within the salary cap constraints Mayfield presents, waiting for an offer that they deem acceptable. Mayfield, at this point, is a vehicle to recover some of the resources given up to acquire Watson. The Browns will rollover a sizable amount of money, potentially over $25 million this year to help them compete in future seasons, maintaining their ability to operate above the traditional limits of the salary cap.

 

By

Pete Smith