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The Cleveland Browns have yet to find a trade partner for Baker Mayfield but safety John Johnson III says the team is mentally prepared to not see their former quarterback around Berea as the offseason workouts kick into full gear.
The Browns announced this week that Mayfield will be excused from mandatory minicamp, which is slated for June 14-16. With Mayfield’s future up in the air, the Browns players are trying to move on and avoid what has been one of the most prominent topics of conversation around the league since a blockbuster trade brought Deshaun Watson to Cleveland in March.
“Obviously you look at the roster and he’s still there. He’s not present here, but I think it’s just a business. I think we all understand that now more than ever,” Johnson told reporters on Wednesday from OTAs. “We’ve got three quarterbacks here now, so it’s kind of leaning towards him not being here, so I wouldn’t say we mentally separated, but we are kind of preparing for him to not be here.”
Those three quarterbacks are Joshua Dobbs, Jacoby Brissett and — of course — Watson, who is dealing with serious lawsuits and accusations alleging sexual misconduct.
“In the locker room I’m around him, in the sauna I’m around him. We talk. We chop it up about everything,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it’s really getting in the way. I think he’s a professional. Once he comes to work it’s about work.”
Browns Not Entertaining Idea of Mayfield Starting
There has been some scuttlebutt that the Browns are hanging on to Mayfield so he can play if Watson is handed a hefty suspension by the league. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski would not entertain the idea of Mayfield starting again for the team and gave his basic canned answer.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Stefanski said. “Just going to make sure that I deal with everything that we’re dealing with football. Anything that’s outside the building just deal with it day to day.”
Right now, it’s Watson taking all the first-team reps, with Brissett lining up with the second team. At the moment, it would be Brissett — who is 14-23 as a starter — who would replace Watson if a suspension comes down from the NFL.
“We’re repping the quarterbacks appropriately and as more information becomes available you may modify and adapt what you do,” Stefanski said.
Johnson has faith in Brissett to hold down the fort if Watson is out.
“I think Jacoby Brissett, he’s been a starter on teams, and even as a backup when the starter went down, he stepped right in and did a pretty good job,” Johnson said. “I think we’re prepared on paper for it. We’ve just got to see throughout training camp, keep competing with each other, make each other better. So all three of those guys can end up stepping up and playing a role.”
Baker Mayfield Sitting Tight as Trade Talks Continue
The trade market has been pretty lukewarm for Mayfield, with the majority of that stemming from the $18.9 million he’s due for next season thanks to his fifth-year option, which the Brown picked up last offseason.
But with minicamps around the league kicking into gear, it could trigger more urgent trade talks so Mayfield can get into his new team before training camp. Panthers insider Joseph Person of The Athletic reported this week that trade talks between Carolina and Cleveland could reignite shortly with mandatory minicamp approaching later this month.
The sides were deep into trade talks during the draft but could not come to an agreement on how Mayfield’s salary would be distributed. The Panthers wanted the Browns to pay more than $13 million of Mayfield’s contract, according to The Charlotte Observer.
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