5 Baker Mayfield landing spots after the 2022 NFL Draft
By John Suchan
Where will Baker Mayfield land this offseason? Chances are still high that the former Heisman Trophy winner will get traded but to whom?
The NFL Draft has come and gone, and we still don’t know where Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is going to land after a trade. Will he be traded, or will the team have to simply release him after we’ve already had two months of no real solid movement on a potential deal?
Both sides seem pretty stubborn at his point. Mayfield stated he was “feeling disrespected” and the Browns organization doesn’t seem to want to let go of the idea of trading Mayfield and getting his current contract off their books.
I still am in the camp that believes the Browns will not release him but still strike a deal where they’ll pay a good chunk of the salary while making the trade.
Who are the teams that fit this scenario still? I’ve come up with five teams that are still in play. I’ll start with the least likely team and finish with the best fit.
No. 5 landing spot for Baker Mayfield: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Here’s a team in the Buccaneers who currently have Tom Brady as their quarterback. Brady retired for a couple of months and then decided to return. So, if Mayfield lands here, he’d be the backup quarterback.
With Brady retiring again in the next year or two, Mayfield could sit behind Brady and at any moment take over command of the Bucs.
Former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians has said in the past that he wanted to be the Browns head coach publicly. He’s now a senior football consultant for the Buccaneers. Arians and the rest of the Buccaneers front office have to be considering a player like Mayfield being a potential backup to Tom Brady. The organization knows he’ll retire again soon, and Mayfield would be there ready to take over.