Rumor: Seattle Seahawks were never interested in Baker Mayfield

Where Baker Mayfield lands after a trade is still up in the air but according to NFL analyst Ian Rapoport, it won’t be the Seattle Seahawks

On Tuesday, NFL analyst Ian Rapaport stated on the Pat McAfee Show that Cleveland Browns lame-duck quarterback Baker Mayfield would not be traded to the Seattle Seahawks as some in the social media world have been suggesting was close to happening at this point in the offseason.

Mayfield is due close to $19 million this next season and the Browns have been working behind the scenes on finding a team to make a trade with. Will Cleveland have to bite the bullet and pay some of that salary? In all likelihood yes — they may have to pay for all of it.

Can they get some compensation in regard to future draft picks? Hopefully, they can and if the Browns agree to pay much or all of Mayfield’s salary then maybe they can get a few higher-valued picks.

In the interview, Rapoport shared that he hasn’t heard anything from Seattle to suggest they are working on a deal behind the scenes either.

"“Believe me, I always check, and I have heard nothing to corroborate Baker to the Seahawks at all. And like, I don’t know what’s going to happen at the end of all of this… but like, it seems crazy to me but they have never really been that interested in Baker.” — Rapoport on the Pat McAfee Show"

From there, Rapoport went on to share the Carolina Panthers have continued to show interest. The Browns and the Panthers are scheduled to play in Week 1 of the season down in Charlotte. If Cleveland were to make a deal with Carolina, then Mayfield could potentially be squaring off against his old team — perhaps even with Deshaun Watson.

The issue for Cleveland and Watson right now is that everyone in the world is waiting for a decision on if and how long of a suspension he might receive from the NFL for his off-the-field issues.

Some to this day, still are speculating that the Browns would be wise to keep Mayfield and have him play out his last season with the team, but that ship has sailed. Mayfield will never play another down for Cleveland.

Rapoport generally has had a good and reliable reputation when making predictions so the fact that he hasn’t heard much of anything going on between the Seahawks and the Browns speaks volumes to the current state of affairs. He did mention the Panthers again so my money would be on them taking Mayfield in the end.