Baker Mayfield Won’t Attend Browns OTAs, Awaiting Trade
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The days continue to pass by and Baker Mayfield is still a member of the Cleveland Browns.
Now, Mayfield has no plans to attend voluntary OTAs when they kick off on Tuesday in Berea. Before this off-season, Mayfield had been a normal attendee for OTAs, but that will no longer be the case as he awaits a trade from the team that drafted him No. 1 overall out of Oklahoma.
Rumors are out there that the Browns could keep Mayfield for any duration that Deshaun Watson may be suspended, but that is not likely to happen. Cleveland signed Jacoby Brissett for a reason, and that reason is to step in and play if Watson is indeed suspended. There is no reason to try to repair the relationship with Mayfield. He is as good as gone.
Finding a trade partner continues to be the problem. The partner may be there in either the Seattle Seahawks or Carolina Panthers, but the money continues to be an issue. Mayfield is due roughly $19 million this coming season, no team wants to pay that number for a guy who may not start for them.
Cleveland may have to eat up to half of that dollar amount, but it will allow them to potentially roll over whatever they do not have to pay him. When Mayfield is gone, it will be best for both sides, as well as a long time coming. For the time being, Mayfield will continue to be a story until he is traded, the latest being his decision to stay away from the team.
Brandon Little is a writer for Sports Illustrated’s Browns Digest website and you can follow him on Twitter here. You can follow Browns Digest on Twitter as well here.
