Baker to Carolina

mjp28

June 11, 2022 heavy.com (who?)

The Cleveland Browns are still looking for a trade partner willing to take on quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Minnesota Vikings have been mentioned as a possible landing spot for the former top pick.

The Vikings have Kirk Cousins installed as their current starter but there’s a new regime in town in Minnesota and his play hasn’t exactly made him untouchable. Dan Graziano of ESPN mentioned the Vikings as a possible player in the Mayfield sweepstakes, although it’d be more of a long-term play for the NFC North squad.

They’re set this season with Kirk Cousins but could move on from him after the year. This is an example of a place where Mayfield or Garoppolo wouldn’t start right away but could position himself as the team’s starter in 2023, the way Winston did with the Saints in 2020. That could be possible elsewhere, including with the Buccaneers, Eagles, Cardinals, Titans and Raiders.

mjp28

Cousins is coming off a year where he was named to the Pro Bowl as a replacement. He completed 66.3% of his passes last season for 4,221 yards and 33 touchdowns to only seven interceptions. The Vikings extended Cousins for an additional year this offseason. He will make $40 million this season and $30 million in 2023.

Still, there are consistent questions about Cousins being a difference-maker, with the 33-year-old holding a career record of 59-59-2.

Other off the radar teams mentioned by Graziano as potential landing spots for Mayfield included the Lions and Saints.

Baker Mayfield Has Shown Potential as Starting Quarterback

Mayfield is coming off a down season but he’s shown his a potential starter in the NFL. He helped lead the Browns to their first playoff victory in 18 years back in 2020, passing for 3,563 yards, 26 touchdowns and just eight interceptions.

However, last year Mayfield took a step back, which could be attributed to a few different things including injuries and internal turmoil. He tossed 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions as the Browns stumbled to an 8-9 finish.

Mayfield’s play was ugly at times but the Oklahoma-product was playing through a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. He suffered the injury in Week 2 while attempting a tackle after an interception and wore a brace on his shoulder following the injury. He had surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready to roll for training camp.

What has prevented a Mayfield trade from happening is his fully guaranteed near $19 million salary for next season. The Browns hold little leverage in negotiations but are trying to take on as little of that as possible, although other teams around the league are not willing to help with that.

The closest the Browns got to a deal was with the Panthers during the draft. However, Carolina wanted the Browns to pay more than $13 million of Mayfield’s contract, according to The Charlotte Observer.

The Browns excused Mayfield from mandatory minicamp June 14-16, which means he’ll avoid some hefty fines. If he had sat out without the team’s consent, he would have owed $15,900 for Day 1, $31,961 for Day 2 and $47,936 for Day 3........more at heavy.com......

mjp28

Digging for more..... ️

“That was a decision made between our organization, Baker and Baker’s team. Felt like that was the best decision for both sides,”

told reporters during OTAs on June 8.

Meanwhile, the Browns are still waiting for a sense of clarity on what will happen with Watson, who is facing a likely suspension from the league. But even if Watson is suspended a significant amount of time, Mayfield will not be sticking around to hold down the starting spot.

“He’s done with them, and they’re done with him,” a source told Graziano. “That was true once he found out they were trying to trade for Deshaun.”

gumby73

@texasag1969 said:

I'm not a bar guy at all,

A&M first team to make it to the CWS... Congrats!

I was sorely tempted to become one in celebration.???

Ding/ding/ding! We have a Winner !

Question..What could cancel a 4 friendly neighborhood poker card weekend?

Answer... When all 4 can literally walk blocks, into a 3 day bar hop, into numerous college campus bars to the Greenville,NC CWS regional at ECU...

TV did no justice, to the football size team, that the loaded up Texas Longhorns team walked in here with.. Still had a great weekend ! (back to this thing called a job?)

Like any Browns fan...I'm use to all my off-season teams losing just in time for some Mandatory ? Camp week talk.... #LFG !

Canton Dawg

Jonathan Jones from CBS Sports. . .

Korsou Dawg

@canton-dawg said:

Jonathan Jones from CBS Sports. . .

Faker trade talk with "urgency" on Carolina's side? is it Christmas already?

Canton Dawg

@korsou-dawg said:

Faker trade talk with "urgency" on Carolina's side? is it Christmas already?

I just hope this whole trade Baker Mayfield scenario has a “Happy Ending”.

mjp28

@canton-dawg said:

I just hope this whole trade Baker Mayfield scenario has a “Happy Ending”.

Yes .... or at least not a crash landing.

gumby73

Joel Bitonio on Baker Mayfield and more...

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/06/joel-bitonio-reminds-everyone-that-baker-mayfield-did-a-lot-for-this-franchise-says-deshaun-watson-is-a-special-football-player.html

mjp28

@gumby73 said:

Joel Bitonio on Baker Mayfield and more...

https://www.cleveland.com/browns/2022/06/joel-bitonio-reminds-everyone-that-baker-mayfield-did-a-lot-for-this-franchise-says-deshaun-watson-is-a-special-football-player.html

A couple things Bitonio said were very true about Mayfield, Watson and quarterbacking in the NFL .... without going out too far on the limb.

......“He’s a tough guy and he played his heart out for us and I’ll always respect that. He’s still a friend of mine. We text occasionally and I think like everybody else, he’s kind of waiting it out to see where he’s going, but Baker did a lot for this franchise. He won a lot of games, he was a great player for us and I’ll always be a friend.”.....

..... “He’s always had that chip on his shoulder and I’m sure it’s continued to get bigger and bigger,’’ Bitonio said. “A team’s going to give him a chance. I know the contract situation is working itself out but he’ll get a chance to play. Quarterback is such a scarcity in the league that he’ll get a chance to play and perform again.’’ .....

...... Watson, who has 24 pending civil suits against him, is awaiting word from the NFL on a suspension. A league source said the Browns expect to hear something by the end of the month, and Bitonio confirmed an air of uncertainty over the team.

“[A suspension is] definitely a potential,’’ he said. “I can’t really control much with it, so I try not to worry about those things. And we’ll go into the season, I think we have really good quality backup quarterbacks that have played a lot of football in Jacoby [Brissett] and Josh [Dobbs]. It’s one of those things that it might happen, it might not, we don’t know. And we can’t truly worry about it, but if it does, I think we have the right character in the room to handle that adversity.’’

Bitonio, ever the optimist, believes this team can go the distance......

Westside Steve

That's where I'd like to see him go, I think the Carolina organization is s*** to begin with.

WSS

tiamat63

Baker for Poona Ford...

pipe dream ?

mjp28

@mjp28 said:

Baseball ? I thought we weren't supposed to mention baseball here.

But point made.

Baseball ? What a BOS/CLE game going on, 5th inning 2-2. That's my 2 cents there.

Now on Mayfield I guess someone writes a hot ? story about every 5 days or so.

Orion

Mayfield is fine where he's at right now. His value will not change until we get into training camp and beyond. Odds are someone will decide that they need to get him. I'd probably keep ownership of him at least until the trading deadline. It's a roster spot, I know...and they're valuable...but Baker represents a draft pick...and they're valuable too.

Neo

If Mayfield didn't try to play hero and make a shoulder tackle on a DB with a full head of steam off of an interception, we would not be talking about this. And the fact that he went on as long as he did with that injury.

PoeticG

I do not believe that Watson is a better QB than Baker.

Just when I believed things were going well we had to go and try to fix what wasn't broken.

QB was not the only problem last year. Chubb and Hunt both missed games and were hurt. Landry was hurt. OBJ and his daddy screwed us over...

On top of that Baker was injured. This reminds me of why Jim Brown left before his time. This reminds me why Kosar got a ring AFTER he left. I really believe that the Cleveland Media revel in the Browns losing or being bad. As soon as we climb out of the basement they chase off the #4 all time best QB that we've ever had for a headcase that is D. Watson.

I'll never understand.

Baker should get this season to finish what he started.

tiamat63

@poeticg said:

I do not believe that Watson is a better QB than Baker.

Fortunately, Watson being a better on-field player doesn't require your belief.

mjp28

@neo said:

If Mayfield didn't try to play hero and make a shoulder tackle on a DB with a full head of steam off of an interception, we would not be talking about this. And the fact that he went on as long as he did with that injury.

True. A quarterback macho move.

TexasAg1969

@neo said:

If Mayfield didn't try to play hero and make a shoulder tackle on a DB with a full head of steam off of an interception, we would not be talking about this. And the fact that he went on as long as he did with that injury.

So the Browns are wrong about cutting ties to a QB who made two really bad decisions? Ok, got it.

mjp28

@tiamat63 said:

Fortunately, Watson being a better on-field player doesn't require your belief.

I have to agree, DW is a top 5 QB.....on the playing field. His decision making elsewhere is kind of " questionable "..