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Baker Mayfield called out the Cleveland Browns during a recent podcast appearance for not being transparent during their pursuit of quarterback Deshaun Watson, and now general manager Andrew Berry wants to set the record straight.
Berry disputed Mayfield’s claim that the Browns didn’t do what they told him they would.
“We were very transparent with his reps,” Berry told reporters during a pre-draft press conference April 22. “We can all understand how Baker feels. … Baker is a competitive and driven young man. he’s had success as a quarterback and will continue to have success as a quarterback.”
On the April 13 episode of “YNK: you know what I mean?,” Mayfield said he felt disrespected by the franchise that took him No. 1 overall in the 2018 draft.
“I have no regrets of my time in Cleveland, of what I tried to give to that place,” Mayfield said. “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.”
As head coach Kevin Stefanski did earlier in the week, Berry did not provide clarity on where the Browns currently stand with Mayfield.
“Quite honestly, my focus has been on the draft next week,” Berry said. “I’ll shift my focus after that.”
Berry Previously Said He Had Regrets Over QB Pursuit
Berry previously said he did have some regrets about how the news of their initial in-person meeting with Watson unfolded.
“Quite honestly, if there’s probably one thing that I would regret or kind of go back [and do] differently, when he had been notified that we were one of the teams that Deshaun wanted to meet with, late that Monday night, we set up the visit. I had set up a call for Baker’s representation the following morning. The news got out before I was able to make that call,” Berry told reporters during the NFL league meetings in March.
“You always hate those type of situations because it kind of gives off an appearance of – that’s never how you want someone to find out about that situation. That’s the one thing I wish I had done a little bit differently.”
Publicly, the Browns had backed Mayfield as their starter heading into the coming season and were eager to see what he could do while healthy after an injury-riddled year.
Browns Expected to Trade Mayfield Around the Draft
Some have speculated that the Browns would trade Mayfield before the draft, which starts April 28, with former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum saying he expects a trade to happen sooner than later.
“My sense is that it can be as early as Friday during the day. So, let’s just take Carolina, a very likely landing spot for Baker Mayfield,” Tannenbaum said on Thursday’s edition of “Get Up.” “I could see on Friday a trade being made, let’s say for a fifth-round pick in 2023. And then the negotiation really brings this over: How much does Cleveland eat of that $18 million?”
Mayfield’s salary has been a sticking point in negotiations, with the QB making a big chunk of change on his fifth-year option. There’s also the fact that the Browns hold very little leverage to get a deal done, so the assumption is the team will have to eat part of his salary or give up draft compensation to get him off the books.
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