5 reasons the Cleveland Browns will have to trade Baker Mayfield before the season
By Chad Porto
Losing teams would have no reason to give up draft capital for Baker Mayfield mid-season
We addressed what a playoff-caliber team usually does when they lose a quarterback to injury. It’s not trading for a starter. So if winning teams are out of the equation, what about the losing teams? There are two who are interested in Mayfield, Seattle, and Carolina with a third, Houston, making a lot of sense.
All three teams had losing records and aren’t expected to compete for the playoffs in 2022. Now, if a deal is done before training camp, that’s one thing. That’s what this whole thing is about, not that a trade isn’t possible, but that the window on the trade being realistic is closing fast. The Browns have about two months, maybe seven weeks if we’re being honest, to get a trade done. Anything beyond that is too hard to sell, because Mayfield needs to learn the system of whatever team he goes to, and few teams would be hard-pressed to accept possibly renting Mayfield for just a handful of weeks, considering his cost.
Why take a player who won’t be ready to contribute? It makes very little sense if you are coming off a losing season and looking at another one right after.
So when the season starts if the Browns still hadn’t traded Mayfield by then, there’s not going to be a market left for him. Let’s look at Jimmy Garoppolo. He didn’t arrive in San Francisco until Week 9 and wasn’t ready until Week 11. The 49ers acquired him for a 2nd round pick because they thought he was the quarterback of the future but he also only cost less than $400k against their cap. They knew they weren’t a playoff team and they didn’t rush Garoppolo out there when he arrived.
He was also highly in demand, because his limitations, which he has, hadn’t been exposed on tape yet. There was going to be a bidding war for him in free agency, and the 49ers wanted to make sure they got him before anyone else.
Mayfield isn’t coming in with the same level of hype as Garoppolo. So there’s no reason for a team to think they can’t land him as a free agent in 2023 instead. Why give up a draft pick to get a guy you can probably get for a relatively cheap deal as a free agent?