@Campbell -- Mr. Timothy... any chance I can swap that Panthers logo for a Rams one? Let's keep SAS in LA.
To recap the news cycle this week: No one wants to sign Odell Beckham Browns are eliminated from playoffs and are looking at another losing season Baker Mayfield won offensive player of the week It's almost like he wasn't the problem in Cleveland in 2021...
1% is what I heard on 850am this morning... .4% sounds about right though. They can be eliminated as early as any week they play from here on out.
Well, huh... would you look at that. Just can't keep that Mayfield guy down, can they? Since joining the Rams and playing with a practice-squad group of receivers, Mayfield has completed 69.0 percent of his passes, has 4 TD (4.8 rate) to 1 INT (1.2 rate), and a 98.9 QB rating - one of those games, a 51-point decision, was against the #4 defense in the NFL. Before his non-throwing shoulder was torn to pieces in 2021, he was completing 67.1% of his passes, had 6 TD (3.4 rate), to 3 INT (1.7 rate), and a 97.8 QB rating. It's almost like he wasn't the problem...
I know you didn't ask me... but... Don't look now, he's winning his new contract interview at the moment. If he continues for two more games, the Rams won't be able to afford him. The Rams were 3-6 with Stafford.. Baker is 2-1 as their starter, with less playmakers than Stafford had. This is mostly in jest.. situational football and yes, a lot of luck are involved in going to a new team and winning games. But the Rams aren't asking him to carry the team and he is doing what they are asking of him...period. There is some GM out there that will look at him leading this team to victories and think to himself, this is the number 1 overall pick, the Browns and Panthers didn't know how to use him like the Rams did.. We want him as our starting QB. It's inevitable. Baker will hit the open market, because frankly, there will be at least two teams that don't want to play rookie roulette in the draft and will think that a $25M Baker Mayfield is a bargain that can save their career. It's actually ironic that Baker came in and is going to cost the Rams valuable draft positioning because he wants to win. McVay will wish he had that positioning in April, but right now, the guy hates losing, so he's good with it. Right now the Rams are eliminated.. The Chargers are in and the Seahawks are fighting.. If the Rams close out the last 3 games with wins, Baker will get a decent contract. He'll probably opt for a 3 year deal in the hopes of turning it into a big deal, but he'll be worth something on the open market. The Rams won't be able to afford him. Now, if he shits the bed like nearly everyone thinks he will... Then we can talk about a possible Rams role. The way Stafford is going, the Rams might be Baker's best option, even if it is at a discounted rate.
I would usually side with this argument, but the Rams were the only team that put in a waiver claim on him. Considering the landscape for passers presently, that's no small thing. I don't think he is going to get near $25mil because I don't think there will be any kind of leverage on his part to work with. My guess is that he will end up with something definitely short of $20mil, probably closer to what his current APY is. If I had to choose a number, I would go with $16mil, but that hinges on him getting an offer to start. If he returns to the Rams, I would wager a small amount that he makes less in a short term 2 year deal than what he is currently averaging, with it likely ending up in the $12-13mil range. Mayfield will need to not only guide the Rams through the rest of the season with some Ws, but he will also need to play out the last two weeks with some decent level stats to get some believers back on board. Right now, he's playing with house money for a team going nowhere in a situation that no one is going to give him an elevated status for simply winning with.
I can't speak for him, but I would think this whole experience (from his final moments in Cleveland through now) would be a bit humbling. I don't think he's "back" yet, either -- while it's fun to clown Browns fans for their franchise's awful series of moves, Baker still needs re-developed after what he's been through. Time with Sean McVey would be a terrific place to start, so while it may be tempting if a team with a massive need at the position comes asking, I think he should. Like McVey, who admittedly was a big fan of Baker's during the 2018 Draft process, there will be other coaches or GMs out there with the same thought process who can get a potential Top 10 quarterback at a discount. The other wildcard is what Stafford's future looks like. As @IrishDawg42 noted, Baker has out-performed Stafford with less ammunition at his disposal. If Stafford retires, then Baker would obviously assume starting duties. If Bake comes back on a short-term deal to rehabilitate under McVey, there's still the outside chance that Stafford struggles again in 2023 and they make a QB swap. Lastly, it would give him some stability -- he'd be learning a new system with new coaches for the fourth time in two years if he moves on. I see only positives to staying so we'll see if he feels the same way.
I agree 100%.. but this league has a short term memory. We are no longer talking about the hurt Mayfield that the Browns replaced with Watson, or the Mayfield that went to the Panthers the week before training camp started 5 games before an ankle injury sidelined him, with a shit storm of coaching decisions to follow involving a revolving door of Walker, Mayfield and the eventual reinstatement of Darnold as starter. The Panthers 3 headed monster sent Baker back to a request to be released which they granted to him. I didn't see anything that would have, as a GM, prompted me to disrupt my QB room in order to put in a waiver claim on a guy that is only available for 5 more games, then hits free agency. The Rams were the only team that was in a position of their starter recently going down and the QB room was going to be disrupted anyway. It was a timing thing. If Stafford hadn't have gone on IR, or I should say his injury was expected to be short term, I would venture a guess that the Rams also would not have put in a waiver claim. Then Baker could have signed any contract that was offered to him as a short term look. As above, the waiver process may have saved Baker's next contract value. If he beats two more borderline playoff teams in Chargers and Seahawks, I believe that will raise his value significantly. He took a team with less weapons than Stafford had and started winning, where they were losing prior to his arrival. They would have finished the season 4-1 under Mayfield. This would remind them (me) of what he did in 2020, the season prior to his injury. It would be more proof that he is a viable starting QB...whether it is true or not. If Brock Osweiler could get $18M per year in 2016 (at a time when the top paid QB was getting around $25M), in 2023 when the top paid QBs are getting $46-50M, Baker Mayfield should be able to get in the $25M range for 3 years on a team expecting him to be their starter. Again, as I stated before, if Baker shits the bed as expected... all of this is moot.
