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In 2017, the Browns were traded for Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler. The Browns received a second-round pick for their issues as they took a $16 million guaranteed salary from Houston’s books.
Five years later, the Browns may have to apply the same creativity to the $18.8 million guaranteed salary owed to quarterback Baker Mayfield. Even then, it might not be enough to keep them from having to just cut it.
It was recently revealed that the Browns don’t want to pick Mayfield in the first round. I hope they don’t want a second, a third, or a fourth. With few teams in the running for the 2018 No. 1 pick, the Browns may have to settle for a low-round pick at best to get rid of his salary.
At some point, the Browns may have to pick a low pick to get away from Mayfield and most, if not all, of his contract. (The Browns may have to pay most of the $18.8 million to make this happen.)
Everyone knows the Browns are done with Mayfield. And the only place he wanted to go – the Colts – didn’t want him. Even if, say, the Seahawks, Lions, or Falcon show interest, Mayfield can make it clear he’s not interested in playing for either team.
He has a hammer in this situation. He makes $18.8 million no matter what. He can force the Browns to eventually release him if he makes it clear that he will ultimately refuse to accept the new team.
The Browns certainly don’t want to do that. For starters, he would rush to Pittsburgh, where he would be paid the minimum annual salary of $1.035 million and the Browns would be left with a balance of $17.765 million. He instantly became the top option on the Steelers’ depth table.
He would be humiliated. He would be motivated. He will be coached by Mike Tomlin, who has a gift for pointing difficult people in the right direction.
For the Browns, the challenge is to find a team that would trade for Mayfield and a team that Mayfield would happily accept the trade for. Even without a no-trade clause, teams will not be inclined to trade a quarterback who doesn’t want to be there.
Ultimately, the Browns may have no choice but to cut Mayfield. They may have to admit that this is one of the associated costs of the trade for Deshawn Watson before deciding on Mayfield’s status.
These can be very expensive associated costs. In what would become Mayfield’s last game for the Browns, he witnessed Pittsburgh take on Ben Roethlisberger in his last game for the Steelers. With that kind of defensive play, running and coaching staff, Mayfield could have ended a 10-year career with Pittsburgh with the same penalty.