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The Cleveland Browns still have Baker Mayfield on their roster and are taking things day by day as they look for a trade partner for the displaced quarterback.
Mayfield’s future has been in limbo since the Browns acquired Deshaun Watson via a blockbuster trade in March to be his replacement. Teams around the league have been unwilling to take on Mayfield’s $18.8 million salary for next season and the Browns have stuck by their guns, unwilling to fold for a bad deal. The team has also put it out there that there’s very little chance they would cut Mayfield, eating his salary for nothing in return.
Mayfield has stayed away from OTAs due to his standing with the team and the fact that he’s rehabbing from offseason surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder. But with mandatory minicamp right around the corner, Mayfield’s presence in Berea at the Browns’ facilities will become a more pressing issue. However, head coach Kevin Stefanski said that there’s nothing new to report on Mayfield or his immediate future.
“Again, with all of those type of questions, it is really just take information day by day,” Stefanski said on Wednesday, June 1.
Stefanski on Backup QB Plans: ‘They Have to Be Ready’
Stefanski was asked specifically about how Mayfield could play into the Browns’ backup plans with a suspension looming, but chose to answer more generally.
“We will see how all of it plays out. For us, we just try and take information as it comes. When it comes to backup quarterback it is really, really helpful having a coordinator who has been a backup quarterback in the NFL. He understands the quarterback position of course but really understands backup quarterbacks and how they operate,” Stefanski said of offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who played a decade in the NFL with the Steelers, Chiefs and Bills. “We will see how it plays out, but with backups, they have to be ready to play with zero reps. Sometimes you get zero reps, and that is the name of the game.”
At the moment, the Browns are relying on veteran Jacoby Brissett and Joshua Dobbs to fill the gaps if Watson misses time.
When the Browns traded for Watson, they were well aware that he could miss time due to a suspension. A new plaintiff filing a civil case against QB this week has created additional uncertainty about the timing of a decision from the NFL, but the Browns are letting the proceedings play out.
“I think it goes back to the work we did prior to this,” Stefanski said. “We have covered that, but I will just continue to let the proceedings play out.”
Browns star pass-rusher Myles Garrett was also asked about Watson and his character but called it none of his business.
“I don’t know what happened,” Garrett told reporters. “You don’t know what happened. No one in this room really knows what happened, other than the people that were involved. I can’t move one way or another based on hearsay. So I just move with the character and the man I know from day to day. And that’s a good guy from what I’ve seen.”
Panthers, Seahawks Still in Mix for Baker Mayfield Trade
The situation between Mayfield and the Browns is not pretty, with the QB making it clear that he felt disrespected by what went down this offseason.
“I was told one thing and they completely did another,” Mayfield said on an episode of the “Ya Never Know” podcast in April. “That’s what I’m in the middle of right now.”
The Seahawks and Panthers have been the two teams most prominently linked to Mayfield, although they are in a “holding pattern” for now, per Jeff Howe of The Athletic. For a trade to happen, it all comes down to the numbers, which have been the sticking point in negotiations from the outset.
Mayfield is coming off an inconsistent season where he passed for just 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. While his stock is low, Mayfield has shown his upside as a starter, helping the Browns to a playoff berth — and win — in 2021.
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