NFL Executives Still Believe Baker Mayfield Could Land with Lions
As mandatory minicamps and organized team activities wind down, ESPN took a straw poll of league executives, coaches and agents to explore what they believe will happen with quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Jimmy Garappolo.
A factor likely holding up Mayfield moving on from the Cleveland Browns to his next team is his contract.
The Browns did decide to exercise the fifth-year option on his rookie contract.
As a result, they are on the hook for his $18.858 million salary in 2022, even if they decide to release him.
Teams are requesting the Browns pay a large chunk of his salary this upcoming season in order to make a deal.
The leverage that league general managers have is the longer this plays out with Mayfield on the Browns' roster, the more likely it is he will simply be released. Any team would then sign him to a reasonable contract.
The Seattle Seahawks are the team that most believe will make a run at Mayfield.
A name that continues to pop up among those polled as an "outside-the-box" location for Mayfield is the Detroit Lions.
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As writer Dan Graziano explains, "Former Browns general manager John Dorsey, who selected Mayfield at the top of the 2018 draft, is now part of the Detroit front office. He's not the GM, but if he were to stump on Mayfield's behalf, is it ridiculous to think Mayfield could come in and compete with Jared Goff? Or replace Goff after this year?"
Quarterback Jared Goff is earning north of $30 million this season, but could be on his way out of Motown after this season, if he does not live up to expectations.
The team is giving him the best opportunity to succeed, as it has added multiple offensive weapons and features an offensive line that is expected to perform at a high level.
If and when Mayfield is released, it will be quite intriguing to observe which teams make a play for his services.
