Will Baker Mayfield get the last laugh on his trade?
By Greg Newland
Even though the Cleveland Browns ended up with Deshaun Watson this offseason, Baker Mayfield may have ended up the biggest winner of that trade.
Although things didn’t go exactly as planned for Baker Mayfield on Monday Night Football, it’s beginning to look like he may be the winner of the trade that took him away from the Cleveland Browns this offseason.
Not that anybody has forgotten, but the Browns traded the former No. 1 overall pick to the Carolina Panthers this offseason. Cleveland got a late-round pick in return and still had to pay a huge chunk of the fifth-year fully guaranteed rookie deal.
Let me set the story straight here, I’m not saying the Browns lost in this deal. Mayfield was a good player here and won a playoff game, but anyone that argues Deshaun Watson isn’t an upgrade is crazy to me. But at the end of the day, Mayfield landed in a solid situation.
How Things Changed for Baker Mayfield:
I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for Mayfield after he completely badmouthed the Browns on the way out, but landing in Carolina under Matt Rhule was his worst nightmare. The organization was more dysfunctional than the Browns and Rhule ended up getting fired just five weeks into the 2022 season.
Then just three weeks ago Mayfield finds himself on the waiver wire, and the reigning Super Bowl champions who have struggled mightily in 2022 are in desperate need of a starting quarterback.
I know the Rams are out of the playoffs this season and he’s just playing for a contract, but what better coach to due it under than Sean McVay? Kevin Stefanski may be the only other coach with a more quarterback-friendly system.
Mayfield has proven so far this year he’s never going to be an elite quarterback in the league. As the former No. 1 overall pick, that’s tough to shake, but Mayfield now has a real chance on a good team to earn another contract or be the backup for the Rams next season who should be competitors once again.
Guaranteed contract of more than $18 million and the chance to play for McVay who is thought to be one of the best minds in football, not a bad day if you are Baker Mayfield.
