Baker Mayfield didn’t take a trip with the rest of the Cleveland Browns offense to the Bahamas, but the displaced quarterback was still on the move this week. Mayfield and the Browns have been at odds this offseason, with the franchise deciding to acquire Deshaun Watson as his replacement. Mayfield has been clear that he felt disrespected by the process and how the Browns handled the situation.
Meanwhile, the majority of the offense – without Mayfield – headed to the Bahamas on a Watson-funded work vacation this week.
While Mayfield did not attend the team retreat, he was still on the move, with his wife, Emily, disclosing in a May 22 Instagram post that she and her quarterback husband were on an impromptu road trip.
The SnoTown Brewery sticker on the chair in the background left some fans with the impression that Mayfield was in Washington, where the brewery is located 40 minutes north of the home of the Seattle Seahawks. Meanwhile, about 1,700 miles away in Omaha, Nebraska, the Facebook account of Backlot Taphouse posted on May 23 the same photo, with the caption: “We had some special visitors over the weekend at Backlot Taphouse! Thank you to Baker Mayfield (Cleveland Browns…for now) and his wife Emily for coming out to visit us! Hope you enjoyed your drinks and got some of our delicious Detroit-Style pizza.”
The Seahawks have been one of the teams prominently in the mix for Mayfield, along with the Panthers. Both team have been taking a wait-and-see approach when it comes to Mayfield, according to a May 20 story by Jeff Howe of The Athletic.
“The Panthers and Seahawks still haven’t ruled out acquiring Mayfield, but they’ll need the Browns to take on a much greater portion of his contract than they’ve offered so far,” Howe wrote. “It’s unclear how far apart the sides have been, but the Browns want their contractual intake to be commensurate with the asset they receive in return.”
Mayfield Looking for Stabilization Amid Drama
Mayfield is now in limbo as the Browns look for a viable trade partner. However, there haven’t been many, mostly because of his contract which will pay him near $19 million for next season — as Howe referenced.
Mayfield hasn’t talked much about his situation but did break his silence on the April 13 episode of the April 13 podcast episode of “YNK: you know what I mean?”
“The respect thing is all going to be a personal opinion. I feel disrespected, 100%. I was told one thing, and they completely did another.
“That’s what I’m in the middle of right now. And you know what? I got my taste of it because I’ve had four different head coaches in four years. 2021 was miserable – bunch of different coordinators. I’m just looking for stabilization right now.”
Geno Smith Leading Candidate for Seahawks QB Job
Seattle certainly seems like a likely destination for Mayfield, although the Seahawks have seemingly shot down the idea of adding the former top pick. In fact, ESPN’s Diana Russini said the Seahawks have never had interest in trading for Mayfield.
“The Seahawks have been telling me from Day 1 they have no interest in Baker Mayfield,” Russini said on the May 3 episode of “The Ryen Russillo Podcast.” “They’re riding Drew Lock, which we can talk about that another time. That’s their choice.”
Interestingly enough, it might not be Lock who ends up drawing the Week 1 start for Seattle. That honor looks — at the moment — like it could go to veteran Geno Smith, per offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.
“Right now, Geno has done such a good job of carrying over [from 2021]. He already had a head start over Drew right there,” Waldron said on 93.3 KJR radio Thursday. “We have a long time to go. We are just in T-shirts and shorts right now, going against air. We have a long way to go to see where this competition goes.”
Is it all just a bluff by the Seahawks or do they truly have no interested in adding Mayfield as a solution for their quarterback conundrum? Only time will tell as the offseason rolls along.