If the Indianapolis Colts had decided against trading for Matt Ryan, Baker Mayfield apparently would have gone there with a smile on his face.
Independent of the outcome to the Deshaun Watson bidding, Mayfield wanted to be traded by the Cleveland Browns. They planned to deny that request, but Watson changing course and choosing Cleveland means the Browns, unless they want an $18 million backup in Mayfield, will trade the 2018 first-round pick.
The Colts were the best destination for any quarterback. With a decent defense and an impressive collection of offensive weapons headlined by Jonathan Taylor, the Colts are good quarterback play away from being a legitimate postseason contender.
They elected to trade for Ryan as the solution to the failed Carson Wentz experiment. But before that news actually came down, NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero indicated on the "Rich Eisen Show" on Monday that Mayfield had his eye on Indy.
“Where does Baker end up? That’s to be determined, I know he would like to end up with the Colts,” Pelissero told Eisen.
Obviously, that desire went up in smoke for Mayfield with Wednesday’s Colts-Falcons trade. Further, with Ryan now in Indy and Marcus Mariota set to replace him in Atlanta, Mayfield is running out of potential options. There’s the possibility he could go to the Seattle Seahawks or Carolina Panthers, or maybe some team comes out of nowhere and trades for him thinking he could upgrade their quarterback situation.
Whatever the case, Mayfield is in something of a predicament, and he’s at the mercy of a team that just emphatically declared he’s not part of their future.
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