Gotta figure the calculus here. How many franchises are going to part with (per Cleveland's demands) a first round pick for a guy with 1-year left on his deal who may not want to play long-term on the stopgap team that was available for his final year of a rookie deal? Consider all the teams with worse projected starters than Baker Mayfield: Tanking (or nearing rebuild) Miami - Tua Tagovailoa Houston - Davis Mills Detroit - Jared Goff Carolina - Sam Darnold Atlanta - Marcus Mariota Young at the Position (looking to develop talent) New York Jets - Zach Wilson Pittsburgh - Mitchell Trubisky / Kenny Pickett Jacksonville - Trevor Lawrence Chicago - Justin Fields San Franisco - Trey Lance Already Made 2022 Plans Indianapolis - Matt Ryan New Orleans - Jameis Winston Washington - Carson Wentz Overconfident in the Incumbent (too stubborn) Las Vegas - Derek Carr Philadelphia - Jalen Hurts New York Giants - Daniel Jones Minnesota - Kirk Cousins Arizona - Kyler Murray None of the Above (aka -- the 'Goldilocks Teams') Seattle - Drew Lock That's it. So it becomes a who-blinks-first contest between Cleveland, who absolutely will not carry Baker into the regular season and the only sensible landing spot (Seattle) who knows they can scoop him up for pennies on the dollar if and when he's cut by the Browns. Why would they be in a rush to turn over first or second round picks when they know what the inevitable outcome is going to be?
I think that is a fair assessment. This was the point of my selective quotation of 'could be'. I'm not sure there is anything to be gained by a current player by going on record besmirching their passer, especially since he plays at a position that is dependent to the arms of the league. We do know that some of the players didn't like him putting Duke Johnson on blast. We know that Baker couldn't get it right with OBJ for whatever reason, and that when all of that went down there was no rush to his defense from the locker room. What we don't know is how some of the inner workings of personality shaped during his tenure as the starter. It could be the reason there was not enough chemistry with pro bowl receiving options to play well enough to get them back into pro bowls was that Baker simply doesn't mesh well with professionals. The very same chip at the college level that was a useful tool may seem narcissistic to guys that are trying to keep themselves fed and increase their contracts. This lack of movement from the Browns is only concerning in that there is no development of additional suitors for Mayfield's services (coupled with reporting that the two primary teams are still saying they want more money taken off the contract) going into the preseason. We're at the point where, if the Panthers were sure that Baker would be an improvement over Sam, that $4.5mil should be an easy pill to swallow.
I'm not disagreeing when I ask - Are you replying to what Irish posted when you quoted me here? I'm just trying to mesh your point with where we were in that conversation as it relates to my post.
Even though no player(s) came out and said Mayfield was bad or not good in the locker room... at the same time nobody had his back at all. When the shit hit the fan, Baker stood alone. This to me, says something. If my QB/friend/leader was in hot water, I would come to his aid... no one did.
If Watson gets the entire year . . . Is Mayfield better than Brissett ? - Yes Is Mayfield still under contract ? - Yes Is the turmoil surrounding Watson greater than the turmoil surrounding Mayfield ? - Yes Never say never.
Mayfield will be traded to Seattle or Carolina soon enough... He will never play for Cleveland again.
Agreed, the Colts, a team in win now mode, a team in need of a franchise QB said No Thank You to Mayfield and instead gave up a 3rd round pick and 20M for 37 year old Matt Ryan. The Saints weren't interested. Chose Jameis instead. The Texans could have had him for a ham sandwich in the Watson trade. Didn't want him. If Baker was a franchise QB he would have been on his next team months ago. I should have started the paragraph with 'I agree, the Browns aren't...
One could argue 7 head coaches in 9 years says otherwise. The good news for stefanski is this year will get him a freebie. As for mayfield imho there is no way he plays for the browns this season and if no one trades for him they will cut him. I know the popular opinon among browns fans is they will not cut him but im stickingmto he will be cut. Yes it doesnt make lot of business sense to cut him but niether did trading for watson and giving him all that money.
So the NFL has made it clear. They want Watson out for the year. I don't know how much leverage the NFLPA has, but I don't get the sense that arguing on behalf of DW is going to go well with this judge (or any)....Hopefully I'm wrong.
I think the NFL purposely picked a woman judge because it would be a lot more leaning in the favor of women when they had to suspend a player involved in some kind of sexual or domestic abuse case with women as the other party in the matter.When a woman decides the case there can’t be the men just don’t care or understand. She might be much more strict or possibly lenient than Goodell, whom I am sure he is glad that he isn’t deciding this suspicion. Either way it turns out he comes out smelling like a rose.
Gid, You made two points and missed the mark on both of them. One does not become a Federal Judge by demonstrating a propensity to issue verdicts based on race, gender, religion. Goodell is only out of the suspension picture if Sue Robinson decides Watson did not violate the Personal Conduct Policy (zero games suspended) or if neither side decides to appeal whatever suspension she does hand out.
You missed the point. If she gives him a small amount of games or none at all, Goodell can just wash his hands and say he had nothing to do with the decision. And the part about her being a woman just means that decision made that involved women would be better perceived by women in general because it wasn’t a man deciding the punishment. Not her actual decision.
I'll type s l o w l y for you. Goodell is only out of the suspension picture if Sue Robinson decides Watson did not violate the Personal Conduct Policy (zero games suspended) -or- if neither side decides to appeal whatever suspension she does hand out. After (reportedly) asking for a 1 year / Indefinite suspension, do you really think the NFL is going to roll over for a minimal number of games?
