The End Of The Baker Mayfield Era In Cleveland? Browns Feilding Calls For Him

By Jordan Long

The Cleveland Browns are looking at their options which could include trading quarterback Baker Mayfield.  They have not committed to the quarterback for the 2022 season and beyond.  They are taking calls but who knows if they will decide to deal him to another team.

                Mayfield has been the Browns’ starting quarterback since his rookie year in 2018.  His overall record with the Browns is 29-30.  The Browns were expecting a bigger year from Mayfield last season.  In 2020, he went 11-5 as the starter, earning the Browns their first playoff appearance since 2002.  They even knocked off the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Wild Card round 48-37 before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs 22-17.

                This past season, unfortunately, Cleveland dropped their record to 8-9 missing the playoffs. Question swirled about Mayfield’s future with the franchise.  Mayfield passed for 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns, and was picked off 13 times.  The Browns could be looking to upgrade the position somehow and a Mayfield trade might be the way to do it.

                The Browns are just fielding calls about him at this point.  No word on if they are going to move on from him.  Mayfield’s cap hit might hurt the trade value.  His cap hit is around $18.86 million which is on the higher end for a quarterback.  It is also the end of his rookie deal, meaning after 2022 he is a free agent.

                Teams may shy away from Mayfield due to the cap number which would be a lot for a rental player for a year.  The Browns may just keep Mayfield for this season and move on next year depending on how he plays.

                Let’s just say the Browns trade Mayfield, what are their options at quarterback?  On the current roster Case Keenum is their only quarterback after Mayfield.  Keenum’s career record at quarterback is worse than Mayfield at 29-35 but it hasn’t been all his fault because the teams he has been on haven’t had a defense to keep Keenum in games.  Keenum passed for 14,876 yards and 78 touchdowns.  He is careful with the football with 48 interceptions.

                Of course, they would then have to add another quarterback to the roster.  This could come from the draft. The Browns select 13^th in the first round.   The other option is to look at free agency.  Free agent quarterbacks include  Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Jacoby Brissett, and Teddy Bridgewater among others.

 The Browns will do what is best for the team.  They need to decide if these quarterbacks are better than Mayfield if they move on.  It just seems keeping Mayfield for one more year makes sense.  He would be in a contract year to prove himself.