MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Baker is a whiner, but is also the type that believes he can prove anyone wrong with that giant chip on his shoulder. He would probably love to get the opportunity to play in this new system for 4-6 games, just so he could flip this front office off on social media the day he signs a new contract with the team that trades for him.

Before everyone jumps me, I’m not saying he would succeed so well that teams are going to be calling off the hook, but I absolutely believe Baker believes it in his mind.

As for the Browns, everyone keeps using the excuse that they just need to win, that’s why they traded for Watson despite his baggage… well, they have a higher probability of winning with a healthy Baker than a healthy Brissett. If they don’t have a decent offer, absolutely no reason to trade Mayfield. This is a PROFESSIONAL league. Starting QBs get competition every year and the former is asked to be professional and do his job. Despite Baker being immature, why wouldn’t they ask him to do the same. His agent will be telling him to do the same as well. This isn’t college where he can transfer and take a year off. If he takes a year off, he doesn’t get paid and he still belongs to the Browns.

 

We're talking about the guy who released a statement to the public because he was nervous about his future with the team - something I'm not sure we've ever seen before. This is the guy who transferred out of Texas Tech because he believed he had won the starting job and any competition was "unfair".

I have no reason to believe that drama queen is going to handle being QB#2 well. I know Browns fans like him, but there's no evidence saying that he's going to show up, be a good teammate, etc as the backup. It's a fairy tale, right now.

 

Irish, slow down and read what I am posting.

Any GM that may consider adding Baker would now have to consider whether or not their franchise is on a list that Mayfield made himself of undesirable places.

Now you’re just being irrational.

There is nothing in any of what I posted that should be bringing out this kind of response from you.

 

I was posting that the Browns should not trade him before they are comfortable with the compensation back when you were posting they should trade him immediately.

Nothing has changed other than the added viewpoints of what may be affecting his market and how that could impact the decision making process.

 

He doesn't have to. If he is an issue, he gets suspended by the team without pay until he gets his shit together. Either he shows up in the right mindset, or he get sent home and they don't have to pay him. Either way, it is a better option than cutting him and guaranteeing they pay 95% of his salary to play on another team.

No matter what you all think about Baker Mayfield, if he was an available free agent right now, he would be courted by at least 7 teams... Steelers, Seahawks, Falcons, Panthers, Buccaneers, Dolphins and Giants. Most likely it doesn't stop there. Steelers, Seahawks, Falcons, Panthers would all have him competing to be the starter..Only having to pay him $1.05M to be a backup to whatever they have. It's a no lose situation for their team.

I can read just fine.

I said " I don't know that this is a factor as there is no no-trade clause in rookie contracts. It doesn't matter where he wants to go, if a team makes an offer worth considering, they take it. Otherwise, he is their QB, whether starting or backup. They owe him $18M+ this season and cutting him to save $1M isn't an option"

You said "It’s absolutely a factor if you are a rebuilding team.

It makes zero sense to give up high/mid draft capital for a player that doesn’t want to play for you, meaning he will be gone at the end of the year."

What I stated is information that the Browns would have, if he made it know he would not play for a certain team. What you stated is the thought that all teams would already have this information, thus not making an offer based on Baker's preferences. What list would these franchises have to help them make their decision?

I agree, my post was totally irrational. It was made to show my point of cutting Baker Mayfield is just as irrational. There is nothing to gain for the Browns to cut him. I don't know why this is even a conversation to have. The Browns have too many options to just cut him.

Yes, and I acknowledged as much the moment I did an about face on my early stance. I called you out by name when I changed my stance...

So are you debating me just to debate? Whatever stance I take, you have a differing opinion.


The ONE thing I stand by, this franchise cannot find (specifically Andrew Berry) merit in cutting Baker Mayfield. The Browns gain absolutely nothing in doing that. NOTHING. However, they have a lot to lose by making that move.

 

One thing about Andrew Berry and Paul DePodesta is that they aren't going to give away an asset. People may not like Baker Mayfield's commercials or whatever it is. He doesn't seem to be liked by the majority of sports fans, but he is an asset for Cleveland. GM's are aware that Baker did have a 20/2 TD to INT ratio in the final 8 games of 2020 to lead the Browns to the playoffs and a road playoff victory. He did set the rookie TD record in 2018 and was runner up to Saquon Barkley for rookie of the year, in spite of missing the first two and a half games because we had an incompetent HC. In fact, he hasn't seen much coaching stability at all in his career. GM's are trying to play the waiting game. It's not ideal, but it is what it is and we gotta be patient..... Admittedly Baker has been up and down, but there's plenty of tape to indicate he's a starting level QB in this league. Eventually an offer is going to come. Plenty of things can and will change. It could take an injury, or simply a team realizing they made a mistake and need help, but an offer will come for Baker. I don't see any scenario where it makes sense for the Browns to cut him. Even if CLE has to pay him to stay home, which I believe it could come to that, they don't give him away.

 

I think they will give Baker's management team freedom to seek a trade. This will set in motion options for teams interested in Baker. On draft day, someone is going to take a look at this draft class and realize, damn, I either spend a first rounder on this guy who I have doubts about or spend a 2nd rounder on a guy that has at least shown he belongs in this league. One of those GMs that need a QB will pull the trigger... It might be a 3rd rounder, not a 2nd, but Mayfield will eventually be traded with the Browns eating less than half of this years salary. If a long term contract is worked out, they get a 2nd rounder.. if the contract is an issue, they eat about $8M of the contract and get a 3rd or 4th rounder.. That's what I think Mayfield is worth currently to remove the obstacle in the locker room.

 

My opinion on what the Browns should do has not changed. What I posted (and you responded to) was a set of potential variables on why the market for Baker may be at a point that drags this out to the furthest extent, which includes the possibility that Cleveland is jammed up with a player that no one is willing to take a chance on for reasonable compensation.

Nowhere did I post that all teams would have Baker’s list, but it becomes a factor that GMs have to consider and it has the potential to further depress an already cool market.

 

My hangup with this is, why would a team assume Mayfield wouldn't play for them, thus holding up an offer?

Hell, if that's all it took was the impression a guy didn't want to play for you Deshaun Watson wouldn't be a Brown. He made it abundantly clear he didn't want to play for us, yet here we are.

 

Which is a fair assessment, but I would throw in the chance that Haslam, Berry and Stefanski were all in the room with Deshaun so it’s possible they knew his reasoning for his decision and factored in the idea that he contacted them to let them know he had a preference for at least one other team. That reasoning could have been financial or other, but it didn’t come in the form of a list on the heels of some added drama.

With Baker, I think we have to start assuming that the market was never as high for him as what the media/fans assumed and that other variables have helped depress that market.

Throw in the idea that he may not even want to play for you and it’s just a further odds stretch on the dice roll.

 

First, I'm not taking a stance on what the Browns should do with Baker. I'm just calling out your take on the reality of the situation, which I think is frankly divorced from reality.

When was the last time an NFL team successfully suspended without pay a player for conduct (meaning, it wasn't a complete blowup situation that saw the player on a new team shortly thereafter, or performing so poorly that the team cuts them anyway, etc)? Let's be realistic about what you're proposing.

Your original idea is that Baker is a professional, the NFL is business, and he'll show up and be #2. I used evidence to point to why that's highly unlikely. I'm not saying the Browns need to cut the guy, but I do want you to start being honest about the situation, if you're going to keep talking about it.

 

I'm as being as honest as it gets, I don't think I am the one being unrealistic. Players get upgraded all the time, it is their job to still be available in what ever capacity their employer needs. Even the immature ones. Brett Favre was asked to keep playing when Aaron Rodgers was drafted, it continued for 3 seasons. Joe Montana was asked to continue to play when the 49ers traded for Steve Young, that continued for 4 seasons. Baker Mayfield obviously can't be spoken in the same sentence as any of those 4 players, yet you are saying I am unrealistic in asking a QB that isn't even ranked in the top ten to show up to work and be professional?

As far as suspending a player, it doesn't take much to do so. It could be REAL easy if Mayfield doesn't show up. It is actually automatic, as it is written into the CBA. If he shows up and is disruptive, they can send him home with pay. Bring him back, if it continues send him home without pay, then eventually suspend him indefinitely under the conduct detrimental to the team policy. He can appeal the latter, but while the suspension is in place, the team doesn't even lose a roster spot.

If Baker Mayfield made it impossible to have him in the locker room, it is not only realistic, but very easy to "shelve" him into compliance.

Your "evidence" means nothing. It doesn't in any way justify cutting a player of value, which is what the discussion is based off of.

 

I think you are missing the bigger point here... Baker Mayfield is in a contract season. He not only wants to play to earn that contract, he NEEDS to play to earn that contract. It doesn't matter if it's for the Browns or traded to another team. He needs to show his professionalism or he won't have another opportunity to be a QB in this league. As immature as every one makes him out to be, I don't think he is that bad of a businessman to interfere with playing for a contract.

 

In none of those cases did another QB get paid a fully guaranteed, top of the market contract to come in and play as the starter, despite the incumbent being a young, healthy player. None of those other QB's released a public statement prior to that, talking about how they're not sure what the future holds, but they're ready to leave and be somewhere else. None of those QB's told press that the relationship with the team is too far gone to mend, and they want to be traded.

Genuinely, I don't think you're living in reality. Maybe your own, but certainly not the one the rest of us share.

I didn't ask how it could happen, I asked you to cite when it happened - especially as simply as you seem to indicate it is. Not excluding that prior question, but additional - didn't the Browns just have a WR force his way off the team? Why didn't they use your method?

First, that's not the conversation I'm having. You can complain all you want with Tim and that conversation, but I'm pointing out some of the absolutely ludicrous logic you're trying to use to justify your position. I'm not saying the Browns will or should cut Mayfield - I don't care. I'm trying to make sure that we all agree on the reality of the current situation before we try prognosticating what's going to happen next. And you clearly see a different universe than the rest of us.

The evidence (it's hysterical that you use quotation marks like it's not real, tangible evidence we can Google in seconds) all points to Baker not being the person you're assuming he will be. You're giving him character traits that he has proven, time and time again, that he simply DOES NOT have. I get that you like the guy. But you can admit that the things he's done up to this point are in fact the things he's done, and that they say more about him than your imagination... right?

 

Veteran backup quarterback Josh Dobbs has agreed to a one-year deal with the Browns, his agent, Mike McCartney, tweeted.

Dobbs, 27, had received several tryouts this offseason, including with the Ravens and Patriots.

The Browns have Deshaun Watson, Jacoby Brissett and Baker Mayfield on their depth chart, with Mayfield expected to be elsewhere before next season.

The Steelers made Dobbs a fourth-round choice in 2017, and he spent most of his career with Pittsburgh. The Jaguars traded for him in 2019, but he did not appear in a game for the franchise.

Dobbs went back to the Steelers when they claimed him off waivers in September 2020.

Dobbs has appeared in only six regular-season games — five in 2018 and one in 2020 — and he’s completed 10 of 17 career passes for 45 yards with an interception.

PFT

 

RIP Dwayne Haskins

very sad

 

Only 24. Such a shame. Heartfelt condolences to his loved ones.

 

RIP

 

Apparently he ran out of gas on the highway and crossed it on foot to get to the gas station and got hit by a dump truck.

 

Tragic and sad... rip