BEREA, Ohio – Andrew Berry has more important things to do than engage in a war of words with Baker Mayfield.
But the message is clear: any assertion Berry and the Browns were not honest with Mayfield and his camp this offseason are not true.
“We were transparent with our intentions with his reps,” Berry said Friday during his pre-draft media availability. “That being said, I think we can all understand how Baker feels and sometimes things in the NFL whether it’s team related, coach related, player related. They may not work out and Baker is a competitive and driven young man who’s had success as a quarterback and will continue to have success as a quarterback. So [I] definitely understand it.”
Mayfield’s assertion on a webcast that he was told one thing and the Browns did another calls into question Berry’s integrity as an executive. It should be noted that Berry has an impeccable record of fair dealing with players and agents – look no further than how he handled Odell Beckham Jr. last year.
When asked about Mayfield’s comments, Berry didn’t take the bait.
“In terms of comments or anything, I really don’t pay a ton of attention to noise or outside narratives, so that’s kind of a non-factor,” Berry said. “We try and stay in communication with all of our player reps, especially with sensitive or unique situations, and this is no different.”
Following the trade for Deshaun Watson, Berry traded Case Keenum to Buffalo and also signed Jacoby Brissett and Josh Dobbs as free agents completing a total overhaul of the quarterback room.
Mayfield is all who remains, and his days are numbered.
Berry just doesn’t know how many.
“That’s nothing I could speculate or predict at this point,” Berry said. “Circumstances in the NFL change.”
The market for Mayfield, selected first overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, is as dry as the desert it seems.
Mayfield’s guaranteed $18.858 million salary for this year probably doesn’t help Berry’s efforts to move Mayfield but the quarterback’s comments on that webcast did little to help attract teams to him.
Berry wouldn’t speculate if Mayfield could conceivably be on the roster at the start of training camp.
“Anything regarding speculation on a few months out, that’s probably unfair because we realize circumstances in the NFL change,” Berry said. “And quite honestly, my focus has been on the draft next week just because we’re inside of a week and all of those kind of larger roster issues are things that may surface over the next five, six, seven months. [I’ll] shift my focus after that.”