Could be. But we while they haven't come out in droves to stick up for Baker (we have heard several talk about his drive and competitiveness), we also haven't heard of any substantive issues he has ever caused in the locker room besides the whole OBJ debacle. His Oklahoma teammates speak publicly about him.. The Oklahoma fanbase will fight anyone that says a bad word about him. His former coaches speak very highly of him. I'm not sure where the element came into play that he was a bad locker room guy. The OBJ thing ran over and spiraled out of control. Was that the only incident? Could that have been avoided from within through the coaching staff and front office? Some blame Mayfield for OBJ's demise, but other than that one incident, I can't find any other issues throughout his professional and college career. Does that make him a locker room cancer?
What team in their right mind would trade for a player with 20+ sexual allegations pending civil court? Oh wait..... If anything, it helps the team in the fact that while on the list he doesn't count against their 53 man roster.
The same team that gave up a ton to get him then gave him a gaurenteed contract. Likely the other 3 teams that were interested in him prior to the browns snagging him. Why would any ream want to aquire him during this mess? Its not like the texans gave a discount. Think about it a player in this mess and the texans actually seemed to be dealing from a position of strength rather than desperation to unload him.
Or maybe - just maybe - I was sick of tired of rooting for and supporting a team that in my matured football-consuming years gave me two post-season appearances and one post-season win, continually shot itself in the foot with awful decisions, showed an almost pathological inclination towards ineptitude, and pulled off one of the worst-calculated moves in NFL history for an absolute scumbag of a person and some things, like sexual assault, are more important than some dumb allegiance to a team that has done nothing but go out of its way to hurt the fans and the overall product of the game; and as a result, I made the concious decision to stop rooting for that team. If you were half as intelligent as you feigned to be on here, you'd know full well that I was highly critical of the teams' defense and its coordinator not only during the season, but after - and before they replaced my 'man crush' with the human equivalent of a colostomy bag. Joe Woods is a very poor defensive coordinator. The success in 2021 came against the poverty franchises and - inexplicably - the Bengals (once). They got worse in the offseason and are facing a tougher schedule in 2022. They'll be starting a combination of Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs through 2023, meaning the defense will be on the field a lot more than they were in 2021. So yeah, I expect them to be worse than last season when they were not good. Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
I think Jimmy Haslem spent too much time drooling over the Lombardis in the Steelers case when he was a minority owner there . You can’t buy them you have to put a team together that can win it. Only one team can win it each year. Haslem needs to be patient, don’t destroy the team you bought trying to speed up the process.
Haslem may be worse than the baby Jerry Jones and Dan Snyder would make if it were physically possible...
This is an absolute fact. Here's a simple, honest answer from one of the best in the business. I'm sure Jimmy was like Steve in relationship to his business -- dialed in to every aspect of the organization and its efforts. You know... minus his board and Presidents running the multi-million dollar rebate scam. But he knows two things about the NFL: jack, and s**t. Unfortunately, he's meddled in every decision the team has made since he took over - up to and including this most recent and most disasterous one - and the fanbase has to pay the price for that devastating combination of arrogance and ignorance.
That kind of sums it up... We don’t know, but the idea that it may be a concern or one of the factors that have him essentially unemployed shouldn’t be tossed aside. The Browns appear to have felt strongly enough about moving on from Baker that they were willing to pay guaranteed cash for a PR nightmare. It’s just my opinion (and one I can expand on again when I have a minute) that there could be an interpersonal element that helped him find the exit in Cleveland and is helping keep his market extremely icy.
Baker Mayfield is hosting a kids football camp in Oklahoma today. The guy who replaced him is sitting for another deposition on his repeated sexual assault behavior and facing an indefinite suspension from the League with a year long as the best case.
Supposing we mend fences. Baker starts for the Browns this year and lets just say he goes 11-6. Browns make the playoffs but exit in divisional round.... Then what? The #1 pick of the 2018 draft flips his middle finger to the Browns and walks. Five years after selecting Baker with the #1 overall pick the Browns will have absolutely nothing to show for it. Berry has gotta get a trade done and redeem something. The decision has been made to move on....
We tanked for two fuckin consecutive seasons gid. How much more patience can we show? Have the Browns been on the fast track in your eyes or something? The relationship with Baker has been deteriorating for some time, and the Browns made the move to upgrade. Your judgement along with many others is noted, but don't try to spin it into something it isn't. This team has been built methodically, and the process has been anything but speedy.
Does that Two Word answer sum it up for you? Pretty simplistic... Not tossing it aside, but you use two examples, Panthers and Seahawks, that his locker room issues are a reason he is still unemployed. First off, Baker is gainfully employed. He is under contract with the Cleveland Browns for $18.9M in 2022. If the Panthers/Seahawks were worried about THAT, they wouldn't be talking to the Browns about a potential trade. They are in trade talks, neither team is denying it, despite what it might mean to morale to their current QB room. The compensation for a guy on a one year deal is what is holding any trade up at this point. The Seahawks look like they would make the trade if Baker would agree to an extension, which is probably below market value for a 4 year starting QB one year removed from a playoff win to his resume. Baker would be happy if the Browns paid 95% of his salary and let him move on, both the Seahawks and Panthers would be happy if the Browns would pay 70% of his salary and only request a 6th round pick in return. The Browns know that he is more of a commodity than that and are sticking to their guns. It may come to pass that the Browns cannot get a better offer and at that point, may tuck tail and reach out to Baker about playing in 2022 in Orange and Brown. I am sure if they tried hard enough, they could talk him into understanding how that is best for his career long term. We are certainly not to that point yet. Training camp is still over 4 weeks away. But, to give up $12M or more and not get a decent compensation in return, Berry isn't willing to give Baker away. That is why Baker is not listed as a starting QB currently. Every team in the NFL is looking to upgrade the QB position unless they have a perennial top ten guy... Top Ten, that leaves out about 25 teams, because most of the top ten aren't there perennially. What the Browns stated quite frankly was, they were looking to upgrade the position and Deshaun Watson was an available commodity they could acquire to upgrade the position on the field. Taking all of the outside issues out of the equation, the football side of this deal makes sense to everyone. Not just Browns fans, or Baker haters, everyone... It is Watson's issues that make the move a controversial one. When it seemed like Watson wasn't going to be an option, even after they flew out there and Baker got all pissy, they still stated quite frankly, Baker Mayfield is our QB. They weren't moving on simply because they needed to move on from Mayfield, they moved on when they acquired Watson. Now the situation has gotten to a boiling point where it seems impossible to mend any working relationship based on how it was handled, but I would venture to say Andrew Berry wishes now that he had handled Baker with kids gloves rather than pushing him aside assuming Watson would be available in 2022 at some point. They were not moving on, until Watson accepted their trade offer.
Not simplistic at all, unless you have your mind closed to any other possibility than the one you have yourself convinced of. Again, I'm saying it is a possibility, based on the information we have available. If he is the arm and talent that some claim believe to be, he should be on the radar for several teams. The fact that only two real suitors have emerged, and that one is reportedly out over a total of $4.5mil in contract difference, lends to the idea that there could be more than on field production as a primary issue. Throw in the reporting that the Panthers and Seahawks were researching Baker's character and it leaves that door open. He is employed by a team that doesn't want him, that won't be putting him on the field in 2022. My statement that he is essentially unemployed is accurate, regardless of if he is collecting a check or not. Which contradicts the Browns belief in his 'value' as seen around the league. If Baker were viewed as a better option than 25 passers in the league, then there would be more than two teams in for his services, regardless of contract situation. This circles back to the original point that there may be an issue outside the lines that has teams concerned. So there could be interest in an extension, but there could be concerns that roll with it. Could be. This is something that we can speculate on, but do we know for sure that Baker would have gotten an extension offer that he would have signed? Were the Browns definitely in on making Mayfield a franchise passer at the end of his 5th year option? If you go back to the time before Watson coming in, I don't see how you can come to that conclusion with any kind of certainty. The Browns were willing to take on this disaster with Watson in order to answer the question at passer for the next 5 years (likely plus). We don't know the level of desire to move on from Baker that played into this hard move for Deshaun (so over-the-top that it changed his mind about not wanting to come to CLE), but to close off any possibility of Cleveland having impetus that derived from Mayfield's persona is something that shouldn't be done, IMO.
And for the record - I never said he was or wasn't. What I'm saying should be an obvious point for those that are looking at this without a slant. There is a possibility, based on the information that we have available, that Mayfield's behavior within the locker room/off the field in regards to player/coaching/front office interaction is an issue that is helping to keep his trade value low.
My point was you were simplifying my answer.. not someone else' viewpoint. You took two words "could be" and answered sums it up, meaning everything that came after that was meaningless.
That was not my intent, so I apologize if you took offense to that. I was responding from my iPhone, so the ability to elaborate beyond my basic point wasn't available. Basically, I was pointing to the idea that there are possibilities involved that I do not see being discussed when it comes to Baker and the Browns.
I don't know if it is just me, but it seems like what I write is not well received by many around here anymore. That isn't what I wrote at all. Please point out the confusion where you think I said Baker was better than 25 passers in the league. Baker's career thus far puts him in line with about 15 other QBs, who are also gainfully employed. It doesn't mean a team wants to take that person that they are evaluating out of their starting lineup to add another one who is in the same boat. Right now, Seattle and Carolina are the two teams that do not have a player on their team that could be argued that Baker is an absolute upgrade. You can make any unsubstantiated statement about Sam Darnold, Matt Corral, Geno Smith or Drew Lock, but none of them are on the same level as Baker... for that matter, neither is Jacoby Brissett. All other teams at the very least have a player they are evaluating that could be on the same level, or even end up better. I would probably throw in Davis Mills also, but some saw enough in him in 2021 that the evaluation on him is valid. Imho, I think the Texans are set up to fail and they are looking to be in the QB lottery for 2023. There are others, that I personally don't have a chance to be better, but evaluating them without bringing in another QB that needs to be evaluated makes sense. We have to be realistic when we are talking about potential landing spots.
I honestly think Haslem believed it wouldn't be the disaster that it turned into. I think he expected a 4 game suspension, a media circus in training camp, a dust up when he returned after suspension, then the winning would cure all else. I highly doubt the outcome of all this would have yielded the same offer, had they had a crystal ball. That being said, obviously I can't say with any certainty whatsoever that Baker's attitude or something else upset the locker room. I haven't heard any player come out and hint at it.. Even Jarvis Landry, who it was reported said wouldn't return to the team if Baker was the QB. He has never said a negative thing about Baker or even the OBJ situation. I'm sure it rubbed some players the wrong way when Baker was upset about OBJ's dad, but I don't think anything was said or done by Baker to cause that big of a rift or OBJ would have brought it up after his release. If there was a underlying rift between Baker and OBJ, that was the extent of it. He had no issue with any other player to my knowledge.
It came off like you were intimating that this was the case with the top quote, and part of my making that assumption would be the countless discussions we have had on Baker since before he was drafted to Cleveland. I think that is accurate enough that, with the leeway for varying opinions, you could baseline around that. The most pushback you would get from that list would be those that believe Darnold could have had the same amount of success in Cleveland as Baker. It's not too far from a reasonable take, considering how it went down in their draft class and what has transpired for both up until this point. Corral has to be left out because he is simply an unknown, Davis Mills should at least get a season more before passing judgement, but Geno and Lock have shown enough that Baker should be considered an upgrade over either. Brissett is a career back-up. That's obviously my opinion on it, but I'm not seeing your's as some kind of 'swing and miss'.
Might be guilt by association (me). I still have Baker Mayfield as a Top 10 quarterback. I don't think most other folks around here are as high on him.
