4 big questions about Baker Mayfield and what’s next

Question No. 4: Will Baker Mayfield be traded or released?

I’ve been sold on this idea that the Browns know more about all of this Baker Mayfield saga and will eventually trade him to help save themselves some money. But then you hear various speculation that teams are staying away from Mayfield because they are upset with the huge guaranteed money deal they gave their new quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Others are speculating that Mayfield isn’t a very good teammate and teams recognize that and don’t want to trade for a player that would potentially cause a divide in a locker room.

So, Cleveland waits and the public waits too and it’s become a daily talking point on most sports networks this spring.

There has been a feeling before the draft that some type of deal would get done around then — or shortly after. It’s been a week and still no news. The old saying “no news is good news” isn’t exactly accurate in this story.

Releasing Mayfield at any point in the future would certainly look like a win for Mayfield and a loss for the Browns.

I will say that if Mayfield had done more for the Browns over the length of his four years, then I don’t believe the Browns or Mayfield would be here today. The reason Cleveland chose to go get Deshaun Watson was that they saw that Mayfield, while able to get the team to a playoff spot in one season couldn’t in the other three.

Some supporters of Mayfield’s accomplishments will point to the injury-plagued season a year ago as the reason for all the negativity on the situation now. While the injuries certainly had some factor, they didn’t affect Mayfield’s poor decision-making on the field. In the end, the team saw that too and wanted to move on.