Cleveland Browns: Could Scot McCloughan hire lead to Baker Mayfield?

Could the addition of Scot McCloughan as a personnel consultant in advance of the 2018 NFL Draft help bring Baker Mayfield to the Cleveland Browns?

With 12 picks in the 2018 NFL Draft — five of which come in the first two rounds — the Cleveland Browns can seriously alter their fortunes moving forward. However, that change only becomes for the better if they hit on enough of those picks. At least we can see that they’re doing all they can to ensure that’s the case.

After already hiring John Dorsey as general manager and Elliott Wolf as his assistant the Browns continued to bring in respected names. According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the team has also added former Washington Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan. Mortensen reports that the long-time executive will serve as a personnel consultant for the 2018 NFL Draft.

The question now becomes how that will help the Browns who own the No. 1 and No. 4 overall pick. McCloughan is a well respected talent evaluator and when he was a guest on Doug Gottlieb’s show on FOX Sports Radio he raved about Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield.

"“He reminds me of a shorter version of Brett Favre. Tough guy. Oh yeah, he can throw it,” McCloughan said in response to a question of how Mayfield’s arm compares to Favre. “And he’s very confident and he’s not afraid whatsoever, whatsoever. He’s a battler. And I know saying Brett Favre is a big name and I was around him for a while, but he’s … this guy has talent.”"

Mayfield has also said he would enjoy playing for the Browns and really there’s not too many reasons for the move not to happen. While some cite his prior arrest in the past, Mayfield is hardly the first college kid to make a dumb mistake. The good news is, he didn’t let it define him and has been clean off the field outside of that.

Mayfield completed 68.5 percent of his passes during his collegiate career which began at Texas Tech before he transferred to Oklahoma. He also amassed 14,607 yards through the air with 131 touchdown passes and just 30 picks. The talented signal caller added another 1,083 yards on the ground and 21 touchdowns.

The addition of Mayfield would come with some critics, however he is arguably the best talent in the 2018 quarterback class. He’s also a true competitor that will do all he can to make Cleveland a winner. Perhaps bringing in McCloughan is what it will take to make that happen.