Baker Mayfield can be a little bit of a handful. In many ways, the good parts of that characteristic made him the No. 1 pick in the draft four years ago.
But that act seems to have run thin, and apparently it's not just the Cleveland Browns who are taking issue with it.
Mayfield is stuck in limbo. The Browns traded for Deshaun Watson, and the relationship between the team and Mayfield is completely fractured. Cutting him does basically nothing since his salary is fully guaranteed, but most other teams have sorted out their quarterback situation so there are few legit suitors for Mayfield.
But as he discussed the possibility of Mayfield staying in the AFC North and going to the Steelers, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio indicated on 92.3 The Fan in Cleveland that Mayfield getting cut instead of traded could come to the delight of some around the league.
"The Browns are in a very tough spot with this," Florio said on "Baskin and Phelps". "The other side of it is if the Steelers want him, I think the Browns' attitude is they can have him. Although I don't think they view it as a trojan horse thing where Mayfield can go there and destroy Pittsburgh from the inside.
"If he gets cut and he gets the humble pie that I think many in the league believe he needs and he gets to work with Mike Tomlin and Mike Tomlin gets him pointed in the right direction, then that may come back to haunt the Browns for years to come. That's why I think they need to seriously consider attaching a draft pick if they have to to get him to Seattle or Detroit or somewhere in the NFC."
Mayfield looked really sharp in 2020, but a shoulder injury derailed his 2021 campaign. It would be a doomsday scenario for the Browns if they cut Mayfield, he signs for cheap with the Steelers and wins the starting job – only to terrorize the Browns while they basically pay his salary. That's not totally out of the realm of possibility considering a suspension for Watson very much is on the table.
At a certain point though, the Browns can't really worry about where Mayfield goes. After all, if they were out on him enough to go all-in on Watson, then surely that can't be fretting that getting rid of Mayfield will come back to haunt them.
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