The Cleveland Browns have some real hope for the 2022 National Football League season.
They have, at the very least, a near-elite quarterback in Deshaun Watson, a new wide receiver in Amari Cooper and the continued services of one of the league’s more underrated players, Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb.
The Browns, when healthy, also have one of the best offensive lines in the game.
But the dark cloud that continues to hang over the team is Baker Mayfield.
Mayfield is done with the Browns, and apparently, the team is done with him.
But they haven’t traded him yet, and according to NFL insider Ian Rapaport, Cleveland may not make any type of move regarding Mayfield until June at the earliest.
"I don't get the sense that anything will happen with Baker Mayfield until June at the earliest" ~@RapSheet#PMSLive pic.twitter.com/8MPisZU33b
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) May 4, 2022
Needless to say, Browns fans are growing impatient.
Reactions From Browns Fans Across Social Media
On Twitter, Browns fans aren’t exactly backing Mayfield.
He showed plenty of promise as a rookie, setting a league record for most touchdown passes by a first-year player, and he even led the team to its first postseason win since the 1990s.
But Mayfield hasn’t shown consistency, and many feel he probably isn’t as mature as a star QB in the NFL should be.
Now comes news that the Browns don’t want to pay Mayfield the nearly $19 million he is owed for this coming season.
“The Cleveland Browns do not want to take on that contract,” said Diana Russini on ESPN’s The Ryen Russillo Podcast on Tuesday. “They don’t want to pay for that. I don’t know the number they’re willing to go to—but the last I checked, which was about a week-and-a-half ago—they want nothing to do with that deal. If you want Baker Mayfield, you’re going to pay that money. Cleveland’s not going to try to split it up with you.”
Browns fans seem to want to be done with Mayfield ASAP.
What happened to the baker trades. ?? @bakermayfield make them pay you to sit 🤣 😂. Eat up thay cap space and don’t give them a break when they cut you !!! Make them pay all of it !! 🤣 😂 😂.
— chunk420 (@ediddy1978) May 5, 2022
The fact that nobody wants to trade for him is nuts. He's a top 20ish QB imo
— Michael and 57 others (@cashmoneyfork) May 4, 2022
Trade for @bakermayfield @HoustonTexans NOW #freebaker
— Bachelor Barakat (@dylanbarakat) May 4, 2022
I don’t know who’s gonna break this news to Andrew Berry, but unless you’re gonna take on a chunk of Baker Mayfield’s guaranteed money that YOU put YOURSELF on the hook for, you’re not gonna find a suitor for a Baker trade
— Mark Kreutzer 🌸 (@markkreutzer42) May 4, 2022
@Browns should give the @Giants a call and ask if they have any interest in a trade.
QB Baker Mayfield
FOR
WR Darius Slayton@Browns pay $7 mil. of Bakers contract. @Browns better hurry, rumors flying that the @AZCardinals might be interested in Slayton.— Steven Diemert (@NorCalBrownsNut) May 4, 2022
Nobody wants baker mayfield he’s so bad nobody would even trade for him 😭😭😭
— Jaire2024 (@JaireSZN2023) May 4, 2022
Is There Any Interest In Mayfield Around The League?
The Seattle Seahawks have replaced the departed Russell Wilson with the disappointing Drew Lock, and some thought they may be interested in someone who would be an upgrade over Lock.
Seattle may have kicked the tires on the thought of trading for Mayfield, but it looks like the team is out of the race for him.
“The Seahawks have been telling me from Day 1 they have no interest in Baker Mayfield,” Russini said. “They’re riding Drew Lock, which we can talk about that another time. That’s their choice.”
It is well-known that the Carolina Panthers need help under center and a respite from the awful Sam Darnold.
They were rumored to be in talks with the Browns over a potential Mayfield deal, but nothing materialized, apparently because of Cleveland’s refusal to take care of any part of Mayfield’s contract.
I’m told the Baker Mayfield talks between the #Panthers and #Browns are halted. The two teams have not been able to come to terms on dividing up Mayfield’s $18.8 million in guaranteed money next season.
— Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) April 30, 2022
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah had another suggestion recently.
“The team I thought of was the Giants,” Jeremiah said on The Rich Eisen Show. “It’s like, okay, you don’t pick up the fifth-year option on Daniel Jones. I just think, if you want to have a competition, maybe that gets the best out of Daniel Jones or maybe Baker Mayfield comes in there, flat out beats him out, and off you go. I know they have Tyrod Taylor there as well, but I would say based off accomplishments at their best in the league, Baker Mayfield has played at a higher level than those two guys have. That was the one team that stood out to me. Now, maybe Brian Daboll and first-year GM Joe Schoen don’t want to deal with a quarterback controversy, so to speak, but you could make a strong case he could win that job.”
Hopefully, Mayfield won’t cause any more problems as long as he is still officially a member of the Browns.
NEXT: Browns Nation News And Notes (5/5/22)
I can’t believe no club would take Mayfield, he is a great QB
Poor Baker… Too many commercials made him into an idiot. Take the money and run. Then meet up with Johnny Football and have some good laughs.
WOW, have been a closet Brown’s fan for years. But you got to feel for the fans, the team gets some traction, and they seem to find a way to regress. Coaches, QB’s, Receivers, Paying huge money to a QB you don’t know when he can play, and how good he can be. They just seem to find a way to seld destruct