and it's unavoidable at this point,
fire sale for Baker Mayfield hot potato for the Browns.
They got to move on from the eighteen point eight million
dollar fully guaranteed salary. Everybody knows that. Sometimes
when you try to trade, someone your Leverage is. Well, if you
don't give us an offer we like we'll just keep him
and I don't think to Browns are going to play that game because
they are carrying an 18 point, eight million dollar cap
obligation, and
they owe him that money, unless they
unload him, or if they end up just cut.
Him, they own that money - whatever. He makes somewhere
else. I don't think they want to cut him because I think if
they do he makes a beeline to Pittsburgh.
But the goal while everyone is together
at The Breakers, Resort at Palm Beach is
for the Browns to find someone who will gladly take Baker,
Mayfield without the Browns having to pay any of the money.
And to that, I say
good freaking luck
because they're not going to find it.
I wouldn't think so. I'm with you, I guess, you know, you
look at the scenario to go. All right. Well, what's
the scenario? Maybe that they do find somebody. Well, they gotta
get,
you know, one of these teams that sitting here without
a quarterback and their musical chairs. Today. I got to get two
of them to get involved. Like we've talked about before.
I mean, it's a little like, any trade scenario
and I don't know. Mike D.
Do you have the feel that there's going to be more than
one involved and wanting Baker, Mayfield or one. That's going
to be so desperate, that's going to say, okay, we'll bid
against another
and start that, that's where I don't know if I really see it
in our lifetime. Like, all right. Let's just take the four
teams. I mean we got the Falcons. Do they want to jump
in the baker? Mayfield thing right now in a part where
they're trying to figure out their franchise for the future.
I'm for the draft, right? Exactly. Right? So there's
there's too many things right that they're building figuring
out like they're not going to jump in the baker, Mayfield
conversation.
You know, you talk about the Seattle Seahawks. Okay, maybe
that one, makes sense a little bit, right? I mean I can get
behind that Houston there is that
but again, it's a team that's going to rebuild. Their is
Davis Mills. We know Nikki. Ariel maybe had interest in
Baker, Mayfield, we heard those rumors and New England that
they liked him up there when he was coming out in the draft,
but are they gonna do that? And
kind of, you know, make a trade. I don't know about that
either, and then there's dependent part of the DeShaun
Watson. Exactly. But what if they run, they can have him.
Exactly. Right? So there that mean, then you get down to
the Panthers. And you go to
the Panthers, really? Going to go
from Bridgewater
to Sam, Donald to Baker, Mayfield. So, to your point
there, I look at really the only team that I really think
makes sense is Seattle and I don't think yes that there's
going to be a trade market for him and eventually
what you said will happen and he'll be free and he'll pick
the team he wants to play for.
Here's the thing that we can't lose sight of Baker made. It
has a ton of Leverage here because he's due to make 18.8
fully guaranteed. He doesn't have to agree to anything and
if a team comes sniffing around to trade for him,
all he has to say is
and I'm not so sure I want to play for you. Do you really think
anyone is going to give up
anything of significance to take on?
An 18 point, eight million dollar fully guaranteed
obligation for a guy who doesn't want to be there. Yeah.
Sorry, Seattle. I want to play for you. Sorry, Atlanta. I want
to play for you.
Sorry, Caroline. I will play for you. Who do you want to
believe? I want to play for Pittsburgh and I want you to
cut me. So I can go play for Pittsburgh mean and I haven't
heard that it just makes too much sense, to not happen.
If the Steelers could get Baker, Mayfield and stick it to
the Browns and manipulate the circumstances to get Baker,
Mayfield, sufficiently fired up
to go play as well as Ever has in his life for the Steelers in
that division against the Browns twice a year, and he's
clearly better than mr. Biscuit, some
Steelers fans, when I introduced the topic the other
day on PFT were like, oh we don't want him. Well, you've
got Mitchell to Biscay. I'm sorry all due respect.
But Baker Mayfield is better than Mitchell. True Biscay
Baker, Mayfield has had four season the NFL to we're good to
weren't.
That's
good enough. When your options are Mitchell, Drew Pinsky,
Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins to say, if we could get
this guy for 1.0 35 million a year.
And the Browns have to pay the rest of it. The Browns are
going to be paying him 17. Plus millionaire. I'm sorry. I can't
do the math. That fast
and we're getting the benefit of his Services. Yes. We're
going to do that in a heartbeat. And that's
the Browns are trying to avoid the question is, how far to
the Browns? Push it before they
just cut the cord?
Do they let it get awkward. Do they let it get as awkward as
Will Smith and Chris Rock. Did they let him show up? Does he
want to show up?
I don't think he will sure on the undersurface. Why would he
show up for anything? The Other side of it is. Yeah, you show
up. You deal with me. Steve McNair
in Tennessee, when they were trying to trade him to
the Ravens back in 2000, right? Six ish, 2008 ish,
where they didn't want to let him in the building. There was
a grievance. There was a big brouhaha over yet. Let him in
the building, got a little workout, got to take the risk,
if he gets injured. Nobody else wants him and you're stuck with
this cap number. I mean, if Baker Mayfield wants a
push, this, he can. So
I love a good story
and the best story. Could be the Browns don't do anything
and Mayfield decides to create as much chaos as he can to get
his Out and all of this is happening Under the Umbrella of
him possibly going to Pittsburgh. It's a great
story that kind of fell out of the sky in the aftermath of
the DeShaun Watson tray. No it is. I mean, it's going to be
interesting to see how it plays out because we got, you know,
the thing is to, we course, we know, going to spot for them
in Seattle. Okay. I mean it makes sense there
and then I think we can, you know, we kind of mentioned
the other teams Carolina. You're like, do they really have
the guts to do that part 3? That's art, that's, you know, sort of
move the Falcons. I don't. Think they're gonna go that
way, you know, the Pittsburgh thing you
bring up, Mike. It's interesting.
I haven't heard anything like tangible or
any rumor to think that, but I will agree with you at a base
level. Yes. He is. Better than Mitchell trip, whiskey. No, no
question about that. I'm not going to argue that. Now, you
know it from everything you hear and Pittsburgh and what we
even heard towards the end of the year. It did seem like
they were
interested intrigued by a quarterback that could move
a little bit and do some of the quarterback design runs and
the rpos and the read Shins and
not that Baker. Mayfield can't do that. But Runnings not like
his, you know his go-to or his calling card. True Biscay has
a little bit more of that element. So I you know again,
I don't know if there's really anything there with Pittsburgh
Mike. I don't I'm sure they're going to look at all options to
but there's
probably a part of them that's going.
Wait. I mean, you know what we do. We really do we want to get
stuck with Baker, Mayfield. Maybe we have a different
vision of the way our teams going
to play. You know, with one of these quarterback sets, we
fancy in the dryer. If that you brought up already kind of with
that conversation there,
so that to me was I don't see it happening. I guess is what
I'm saying.
But Baker Mayfield is a starting quarterback in
the NFL, a handful of pain in the butt. And there's limited seats
here
and it's kind of crazy that we're sitting here now going.
Wait, who is Baker going to start? Is he definitely going
to start for somebody? And when is this all going to happen?
And I think really, when you just lay it all down,
it is going to ultimately be a release. Nobody's going to
trade more. Mm.
He's going to have his team and I'm going to bet I would bet
money right now. That it will be the Seattle Seahawks. That
would be my choice.
I think that we hit the nail on the head as it relates to
the timing because at this point we're close enough to the draft
roughly a month away.
It may make sense to wait and see what happens if teams that
are targeting, quarterbacks get the guy they want, or they
don't get why they write.
Because, why would you rush into a deal for Baker?
Mayfield. Now when there's a chance you may get the guy you
want. Yeah. Why would you take on it? Salary. Now, why would
you give the Browns anything of value now? They may have to do
a Brock Osweiler, Hot Potato trade, and
it would be fitting because it was five years ago that they got
Osweiler. What was at the time of 15 of 16 million dollar
contract and a second-round pick.
They kept him through training camp because if you're
preparing, we may as well keep them around. They eventually
cut him, he goes back to Denver on a one-year deal in is a back
up there in 2017,
but
the bottom line is right. Now, the Browns aren't going to get
anything close to, what they would hope for. Maybe something
happens, later, maybe something transpires, later.
Whether it's you don't get the guy you want in the draft, your
starter gets injured, and some fluke accident. Because really,
it
could, I mean, I know we can count on quarterbacks getting
know. We count on other players getting injured.
Like if we just kind of assume it's going to happen.
Whether it's in the offseason program, training camp, pre
season, regular season, whatever. Quarterbacks it
doesn't happen as often because they're Protected Their bubble
wrap right in practice
in regular season game.
Games and preseason games. I mean the rules protect them and
they're less likely to have a serious injury. Of course. As
I say that, I guarantee that someone's going to slip in
the shower today and tear an ACL. And there goes the market here.
It is
for Baker. Mayfield, but, you know, Christine extent that
it's Seattle, because I think I saw yesterday. There was
an article from Eric, a cabin of the Cleveland Plain Dealer
addressing issues that will get to about Baker, Mayfield, but
she mentioned, Seattle and Carolina. Well, it's already
been reported. Carolina's, not interested. And why would they
be interested? They, they need to get away from the frog
kissing via talking about. Last week. Good way to be just can't
keep going around from God. I got a guy and hoping that one
of them is
going to come a franchise quarterback. When he hasn't
been anywhere else. You need something better than that. The
only way you're going to get him in the draft because all
the franchise quarterbacks that we know about, don't want to go
to Carolina.
So I think they're going to draft somebody.
I can't see them taking on Baker, Mayfield, but
you need to set it up as
Seattle versus Carolina. Yeah, to get Seattle,
to come to the table with something more than you can
give us a sixth-round pick if you want
and pay five million dollar.
Hours of his salary and we'll take them off your hands or
maybe even driving a harder. Bargain than that
mean, you know anything at this point for the Browns
as long as you can send him to a team
other than the Steelers.
That's a partial Victory.
So I could see a team. Say
yeah, we'll give you a conditional seventh-round pick,
if we sign and do an extension, you can have our seventh-round
pick in 2023, but you're paying 17 million of this. We're not
paying it,
you're paying him. Anyway,
you're stuck. Hey and It's,
you know, it's the cost of doing business with a franchise
quarterback. They need to view it that way when they throw 230
million fully guaranteed at the Sean Watson.
There's another 18 point, eight million
liability. That is part of it and they just need to accept
that and I think that, you know, if I'm negotiating with
the Browns, that's what I say. You just need to put it on your
tab
for what you paid to DeShaun Watson because once you did that,
it lost. Also how Hast? Yeah. Baker Mayfield. Yep. That's
right. They lost all power. Your right. And then their only
hope is That two teams you get involved. And yeah, that's
just, it doesn't seem likely for the scenarios. We kind of
threw out there.
It doesn't. So they're stuck. You know. Again, I think it
goes back to a little bit with this situation where I know I
add the day after we heard some of the rumors you and I mean of
course says I talk to people around the NFL.
It's just when they talked the DeShaun Watson,
I thought for sure
they had a plan already in set for like weight of Baker
Mayfield. Doesn't work. We got something here to trade them,
get rid of them. They had a deal already set up in case
Watson sign.
I mean, that to me was one of the more shocking things in
the last few weeks was, Oh, wait, we're going to go for it with
Watson. Oh, wait, you're mad. Wait, chippy
Baker, Mayfield's mad way. We didn't read that, right. Of
course. He was going to be mad. Why don't mean come on, it's
Baker. Mayfield. He walks off? Press conferences for questions
that are, you know, just tough football questions. And so,
yes, he was gonna get upset.
What, what, what do they expect that to me is
Where they're in this problem. Now, I just can't believe they
forwarded with a guy and didn't think that their wife that
they're married to here. Was just going to be like, oh, it's
okay. No worries, honey.
You keep forwarding, and it's all good. I'll be here waiting
for you at home. That's where that I'm shocked by that.
And then we'll Smith comes up and slap. Somebody
wife's F. And that's the third time. You've brought it up
today now. Good job. So well, if it if it doesn't might fit
a let's see how much we can fit it today. Yeah.
So,
yeah, look, they blew this. And
I go back to January 9th, the final Sunday, the regular
season. When they were putting the word out to reporters that
they're going to go forward Baker, Mayfield this year and
then out of nowhere, they flirt with DeShaun Watson, then
the report as well. Well, we told bigger Mayfield's camp that
if we could get like a really good quarterback,
which Baker isn't then we were going to make that move but
since it didn't work, everything's fine, right?
Baker. You're fine. You're right. You've we wanted. Dolt
at quarterback. Here's your chance to prove. You're
an adult. All right,
the whole thing's a joke, and they just have to accept it. And
now they're trying to play
chess with people who
who already have put you in check. You're already in Checkmate
and and they know it. These people are smart enough. They
understand it. They see through it. They saw through it and
you're just going to have to bite the bullet. You're just
going to have to move on unless you're willing to keep Baker,
Mayfield on the payroll on the cross. That's all I got. He's
got The right to show up, if he wants to be there, like Brett
Favre in 2008 when he rolls in Late July, when they
didn't want him there.
I mean, that's the thing. Baker, Mayfield was going to
hold out. That was the report he was going to hold out. He
was pissed off. He was going to stay away from everything. Now
that
now that the Browns can unload him. I think Baker Mayfield's
attitude needs to be, I'll be there for everything. I'll be
there with bells on. I'll be your sixth game replacement,
for Deshaun Watson me
think of all, the pr stuff is going on. We haven't talked
about the DeShaun Watson press conference, which was anything
but a Celebration of DeShaun Watson survival to Cleveland on
Friday
while Simmons. And I spent the whole hour of PFT p.m. Breaking
that thing down, but there's a weird Cloud hanging over
Cleveland right now. There is and if Baker Mayfield shows up
in Berea for the offseason program
that that just it's just going to be weird and the Browns need
to cut the cord sooner rather than later really write very
well be. They have to cut him
that to me it just it seems the kind of blatant like you're
screwed. I mean, he's he has all the power to it doesn't
even matter, you know.
The point you brought up earlier in the show, my could just
okay, you know, so what they get to, or teeth, two or three
teams involved in a bidding war,
back to your point. If he just goes, wait. I don't want to
play for Carolina. I'm not gonna play.
There's no way. There's no future. Okay, that's over with.
Oh, wait. What, now? What's the other team? I mean, he really
they've put themselves in the spot where they don't have
much, say here, and they would have to have two teams that are
truly desperate that Baker Mayfield want to go do. So,
that's another
Either, you know, factor of this where I just again,
I think you're right there. Writing is on the wall here.
It's just a matter of time, cut them,
let them sign with his team and figure it out and
and, you know, figure out your books that way from there, on
out.
The bottom line is, in order to thread this needle, the Browns
need Baker, Mayfield to cooperate. Why
in the hell would Baker, Mayfield? Cooperate, right. The
Browns right now,
I think that he should be uncooperative just to prove a point.
You threw me. Bored. You kick me to the curb. You lied to me.
You told me that I'm your guy. What a shock.
I mean, I'm sure that that's a lie that gets tall very often
in the NFL. You're my guy. You're my guy. You're my guy
until you're not my guy. But when you're the guy that's been
here in your my God, you get pissed off Force when they lie
to you. You you've been there. Yeah, you were there. We grew
it and you're my guy. You're my guy. You're my guy. Who are
you?
Yeah. No, it's again. It hurts your heart and hurt your soul.
You think there's more
of a deep connection or meaning there is that times
and that's where pliers.
As you know, can be hurt a little bit, you know, because
you just go wait. I thought this was
a little bit more than just our normal
normal business connection and I'm sure Baker Mayfield, feels
that way. Of course, he does. He's a number one, pick of
the draft and, you know, for their organization and he was their
starting quarterback
and not only did they like
flirt with a guy and again a guy that we know, she's got,
you know, a checkered history here, fordable them
and then went the extra mile to go down and meet with them and
really go. Oh, that way that to me is, when you start to go,
whoa, like they're really
begging this guy to come here. They're really want them. They
really don't want me. And that's where it does get
personal, and you start to go. All right, maybe I need, you
know, a different. We all need
a different start in a different energy somewhere else.
But I've got no compulsion in any way, shape, or form to
cooperate with the Browns as they try to
turn this chicken bleep situation into anything but
what it is, yeah.