While the Cleveland Browns have backed Baker Mayfield as their starter for next season publicly, the team will still investigate their options this offseason and it’s not a “foregone conclusion” that the former top pick will be back next season atop the depth chart.
The latest report from Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network cast some doubt on Mayfield future in Cleveland and laid out some of the options the Browns have to improve at the quarterback position.
Here’s what Pauline had to say on the QB situation in Cleveland:
People close to the situation tell me it’s by no means a forgone conclusion that Baker Mayfield will be the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns next season. Among many things, Mayfield struggled with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder, which he had surgically repaired just a few weeks ago.
If the Browns choose to move on from Mayfield and his large salary cap number, it will come via trading for a proven veteran. The team won’t replace him with a rookie quarterback through the draft, as the franchise believes it is built to win now.
Mayfield is coming off an inconsistent year where he was bugged by that bum shoulder after getting injured in Week 2 while attempting to make a tackle on an interception. He passed for 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, with more than half of those coming in the final three games Mayfield played in.
Browns Expressed Confidence in Mayfield
The season ended with a thud for Mayfield, who was sacked nine times during the Browns’ Week 17 loss to the Steelers. He opted to sit out the Browns’ finale and focus on his recovery after playing through various injuries throughout the year.
While Mayfield’s slump of a season has sparked some rumors, Browns general manager Andrew Berry came out with a strong endorsement of his quarterback during his year-end presser on January 11.
“We fully expect Baker to be our starter and bounce back,” Berry told reporters. “Generally speaking, we are looking forward to Baker obviously getting healthy in the offseason and then putting good work into the spring and with his coaches for having the type of season we know he can have moving forward.”
Browns Have Limited Options to Improve QB Position
Even if the Browns wanted to trade Mayfield, it wouldn’t be easy. Mayfield will make nearly $19 million next season on his fifth-year option and is coming off the injury. A team would likely want the Browns to give up some other pieces of significant value to send a quarterback to Cleveland that’d be seen as an upgrade.
Names that have floated around as options for the Browns include Mitch Trubisky and Marcus Mariota, while a bigger name like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson or even Deshaun Watson seem more like a pipe dream.
Meanwhile, Mayfield is determined to look like the player he has shown glimpses of during his first four seasons.
“This is not the end of my story,” Mayfield said after surgery on January 19. “It’s just going to be one of those little things that I’ll look back and remember that’s one of those challenges and adversity that I’m going to try to take advantage of me, and it’ll make me a better person.”
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Baker Mayfield as Browns Starter Not ‘Foregone Conclusion’