Baker Mayfield

Baker Mayfield will have another NFL team in 2022 and beyond. Here's how that team can turn Mayfield back into a top-tier quarterback.

Smith was in a bind, Beckham beat Dantzler… and Mayfield underthrew the ball. What that takes in an inherent understanding of what Beckham does well, and how he can take the top off a defense in so many ways. He drew coverage his way, which helps us in a lot of different ways in the run game and in the pass game, as well. In 2020, Mayfield was effective on designed rollouts, but he was also very good when plays broke down and he had to get on the move. “Odell came in and caught the balls that were thrown to him his way,” Van Pelt said a few days after the Bears game. On this touchdown against the Colts in Week 5 of the 2020 season, Mayfield rolls to his right as he doesn’t see what he wants, and then hits running back Kareem Hunt for a two-yard touchdown as two defenders. His ANY/A of 7.5 out of 13 personnel tied for eighth in the league with Derek Carr, his passer rating of 89.1 ranked 10th, his EPA of -1.20 ranked 13th, and his Positive Play Rate of 46.6% ranked 10th. On this 43-yard touchdown pass to Odell Beckham Jr. in Week 2 of the 2020 season, the tight end motion gives Mayfield a man indicator for the Bengals’ Cover-1 shell. He also had a bruised heel, a bruised knee, and a groin injury, and he dealt with COVID in mid-December as part of a team outbreak. Setting aside the mess the Browns have put themselves in with Watson and his new, fully-guaranteed, $230 million contract that goes through the 2026 season, there’s the specific issue of Mayfield’s future as a starting quarterback, and where he fits best. Mayfield is set to make a guaranteed $18.858 million in 2022, the final year of his rookie contract, and he’ll obviously want a new contract in his new home. In the interim, the Browns have completely alienated Baker Mayfield, the quarterback they selected with the first overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Oklahoma. The likelihood of Mayfield playing for the Browns in 2022 and beyond is somewhere between zero and none; should Watson be out of the equation, backup Jacoby Brissett is the likely starter.

The idea of Baker Mayfield playing for the Browns in 2022 should Deshaun Watson be suspended for a full year is a fairy tale — and not a good one.

For that reason alone, he won’t suit up again for the orange and brown — even with a higher payday. The problem with this theory is that it would go against everything that makes Mayfield who he is. Florio is receiving a lot of kickback from Browns fans for this take, which really isn’t terrible — on the surface.

Going out on the proverbial limb and predicting that the Seattle Seahawks will add Baker Mayfield to the roster and when they will.

And they will probably try to hold on to Mayfield until the last possible minute in hopes of getting the best offer. Mayfield is still under the terms of his rookie contract and has no veto power over a trade. There have been rumors lately that one thing potentially holding up a trade for Mayfield right now is Seattle thinking of adding Mayfield and then working out a longer deal than the one year Mayfield currently has on his contract.

Unfortunately, the Baker Mayfield saga is seemingly never going to end. All offseason long, the Cleveland Browns have been seeking a trade partner.

There is little chance to believe that Mayfield can be the leader of a team. Yes, Mayfield did help the Browns win a playoff game over the Pittsburgh Steelers. Mayfield underwent surgery this offseason and is expected to be ready for the beginning of the season. The Browns won a total of six games with Mayfield at quarterback and it’s uncertain why they didn’t decide to shut him down earlier in the season. The expectation was that Mayfield would lead the Browns further into the postseason in 2021. “There is a sense around the league, that Baker Mayfield is still a really immature guy.”