Shannon Sharpe explains why Browns' failure to move on Baker Mayfield is all on them
Shannon Sharpe believes Baker Mayfield's continued presence with the Cleveland Browns is the fault of the franchise and the franchise alone. Mayfield was replaced as the starter this offseason by Deshaun Watson, who received a guaranteed $230 million contract from the Browns.
According to Sharpe, teams were never going to fork up much value knowing the Browns had no leverage in the situation:
"Would you rather pay $13 million for something or would you want $18.9 million something? Because that's it, Cleveland. They know you have a quarterback that you gave $230 million guaranteed. They also know you signed a backup quarterback that you pay guaranteed money to."
He went on:
"So why would someone say you know what knowing that you got to get rid of said item? I'm gonna give you all my credit for it. They want someone to pay. No, they're not."
The Undisputed host feels that the best Cleveland could have expected was a team paying a quarter of his contract to take it on their books:
"The best you can hope for is somebody to take 25-30% of this contract, and you foot the bill. You're probably gonna get a sixth round draft pick. Someone's gonna take over $5 million on the contract. That's the best you can hope for, Cleveland."
He went on:
"No one's gonna give you what the Commander's got or what Atlanta got for Matt Ryan. That's not gonna happen. Because those other teams needed quarterbacks."
Shannon Sharpe claims Browns players prefer Deshaun Watson over Baker Mayfield as QB1 dlvr.it/SR6yMx
Baker Mayfield has a potential suitor in the Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks could be back in on Baker Mayfield based on recent reports from Cleveland.com's Mary Kay Cabot, who said they're highly interested in adding him but not at full price:
"As for the Seahawks, one of Mayfield’s biggest advocates in the building, former Browns personnel exec Alonzo Highsmith, left Seattle last week to take over as General Manager of Football Operations for the University of Miami, his alma mater."
She continued:
"It doesn’t necessarily mean the Seahawks will be less interested in Mayfield, but they also don’t want to pay much of the $18.86 million. One source told cleveland.com that the Seahawks, who have Geno Smith and Drew Lock on their roster, would sign Mayfield if the Browns cut him."
NFL Rumors: Seahawks ready to sign Browns wantaway star Baker Mayfield under one condition dlvr.it/SRK3kd
The Baker Mayfield saga still has no end in sight, but Seattle is a possible end destination if the Browns are willing to negotiate.