As we enter the 2022 NFL Draft, one thing remains the same — teams aren’t battling over a trade for Baker Mayfield.
The disgruntled Cleveland Browns quarterback remains in the same situation as he was more than a month ago when Cleveland made waves around the league by acquiring three-time Pro Bowl QB Deshaun Watson.
While the Browns and Mayfield have made it clear they want to head in different directions, a quarterback-dominant league still hasn’t seen a potential favorite emerge for Mayfield’s services.
In the latest bad news for the 27-year-old quarterback, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports that the Carolina Panthers — one of the perceived favorites, along with the Seattle Seahawks — will not make a move for Mayfield prior to the NFL draft.
“The Panthers are not expected to trade for Browns QB Baker Mayfield prior to the first round of the NFL Draft, sources say, if they do it at all,” says Rapoport. “Thursday has to play out first, before any other options are considered. Carolina picks No. 6.”
The fact that there has been no significant movement for a quarterback in his prime just a year removed from leading a team to a playoff berth is an absolute concern.
We can spin it anyway we want. Whether it’s Mayfield’s $18.9 million salary or the idea that teams are waiting until the Browns release him so they can simply sign the veteran quarterback, the lack of interest in a young starting quarterback is unheard of.
This is the same league that had teams eagerly waiting in anticipation to sign Mitch Trubisky — a No. 2 overall draft pick bust who spent last season as a backup for the Buffalo Bills — back in March. Trubisky ended up signing a two-year, $14.3 million deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers and could very well enter the season as the team’s starting QB.
So if Trubisky — who has never won a playoff game and was widely criticized throughout his tenure with the Chicago Bears — can garner interest for being a young, talented QB, why can’t Mayfield?
Fox Sports analyst and “Undisputed” host Shannon Sharpe went into full detail on why teams don’t covet the former No. 1 overall draft pick.
Via Troy L. Smith of Cleveland.com:
“Baker Mayfield would still be the quarterback if what a lot of people said Baker Mayfield was going be [was true], which is a franchise-altering quarterback,” said Sharpe. “In the NFL, you play well you have a job, you keep a job. Baker Mayfield didn’t play well.”
“Nobody willing to trade a fifth-round pick?” asked Sharpe. “You won’t give up a fifth, sixth or seventh-rounder? Don’t nobody want [Baker Mayfield]. It’s hard, but it’s true. Sad, but fair.”
Even while most NFL quarterback starting spots have been filled, the idea of possibly adding a 27-year-old starting quarterback to your roster would usually have teams frothing at the mouth. Take for instance, a team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Theoretically, the Buccaneers could groom a player such as Mayfield to take over once the 44-year-old Tom Brady calls it a career. Tampa Bay has been rumored as a potential destination, but it’s not concrete that they’re interested for sure.
Former NFL general manager Mike Tannenbaum suggested the Buccaneers send a fourth-round draft pick for Mayfield. In this scenario, Mayfield would sit a year behind Brady as an “investment,” similar to how Trubisky boosted his value by spending a year as a backup to Josh Allen with the Bills.
“Let Baker sit for a year and learn as much wisdom from Tom Brady and Byron Leftwich as possible,” said Tannebaum. “Let him use this season as an investment in his future and take in all the gifts that Tom has to give in terms of professionalism and preparation. This would be very similar to what Mitch Trubisky did this past season with Buffalo.”
Many NFL teams could take this route; instead, seemingly every team is passing on this idea.
Despite being a former No. 1 overall pick with some track record of success, Mayfield doesn’t excel in any category.
He’s a small quarterback at 6-foot-1 coming off of a torn labrum with average athletic ability, pedestrian arm talent and an inability to make players better around him — the true measuring stick for great quarterbacks.
While playing with two Pro Bowl wide receivers in Cleveland for the past three seasons in Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, both of his receivers somehow regressed.
In Beckham’s case, playing with Mayfield resulted in the worst production of his career. His chemistry with Mayfield was so bad to the point he demanded his release. Promptly after signing with the Los Angeles Rams, Beckham played a key role in leading them to a win in the Super Bowl.
As ESPN’s Jake Trotter noted back in November, Mayfield had overthrown or underthrown Beckham on 27% of his attempts — the third-highest of any quarterback-receiver duo during that time frame.
“Over their time together, Mayfield underthrew or overthrew Beckham on 27% of his attempts, according to ESPN Stats & Information, the third-highest rate of any quarterback-receiving duo in the league,” says Trotter.
Through four seasons as a starter, Mayfield has never ranked in the top 10 in any major passing category.
Mayfield will eventually land somewhere as the Browns look to quickly end their partnership. But the lack of interest in a young starting quarterback one year removed from a playoff win is simply unheard of.
It’s also an indication that Mayfield just isn’t that good.
