SEATTLE — As the Russell Wilson trade was set to become official at 1 p.m. Wednesday, a new name emerged as a potential replacement — Baker Mayfield.
Actually, Mayfield's name has been thrown around as someone who might be available in trade from the day Wilson was dealt to Denver a week ago Tuesday.
But events over the last 24 hours added to the conjecture connecting Mayfield and the Seahawks.
First, it was reported that the Browns are among four teams meeting with Deshaun Watson, the others being the Saints, Panthers and Falcons. It's being reported Watson is meeting with Atlanta on Wednesday and then could make a decision on which team he would like to be traded to — since he has a no-trade clause, he can make his pick, and it's reported that Houston has already worked out trade terms with the teams involved.
If the Browns get Watson, then Mayfield is undoubtedly on his way out, though a report from the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported Wednesday he is not thought to be part of any possible trade with Houston for Watson.
But he might be anyway.
After news leaked of the Watson-Cleveland visit, Mayfield tweeted a thank you to the city of Cleveland. And while it wasn't exactly a goodbye note, it read that way to many.
And then on Wednesday, a report from Aaron Wilson of the The Pro Football Network stated: "Nothing developing, and will take time for Baker Mayfield trade market to shake out, but league sources predict Seahawks would be attractive option welcomed by Browns quarterback in addition to Colts as Browns, Mayfield work through expected divorce."
To be clear, that's hardly a report that there is anything going on, merely that Mayfield would apparently be just fine with coming to Seattle if that were to happen. Since he has no apparent leverage, it's hard to know how much that really matters.
Mayfield is entering the last year of his rookie contract — Cleveland having picked up the fifth-year option — and has a guaranteed base salary of $18.85 million for the 2022 season.
That'd be a pretty hefty chunk of change for the Seahawks to take on since they are already on the hook for $26 million in dead money on Wilson's contract.
But Seattle could restructure that deal to bring down the cap hit if it came to that, though that would also mean tying themselves to Mayfield into future years.
All doable, to be sure. And one possible reason the Seahawks have so far seemed to be slow-playing free agency could be that they are keeping some cap flexibility as the QB market sorts itself out to be ready just in case — the Seahawks still had more than $39 million in cap space as of Wednesday morning without accounting for Quandre Diggs' new deal.
There is also a thought that the Seahawks are higher on Drew Lock than might be perceived and view him as a legitimate candidate to start in 2022.
Conversely, the Seahawks don't have much invested in Lock other than that he was a piece of the Wilson trade. Lock has no guaranteed money remaining on his deal and just a $1.45 million cap hit, all of which can be saved if he were released.
So the acquisition of Lock isn't likely to deter the Seahawks from exploring other options.
Mayfield has become one of the more polarizing players in the NFL over the last few years.
He looked like he might fulfill all that No.-1-pick-in-the-draft hype in 2020 when he had a 26-to-8 touchdown-to-interception ratio and helped lead the Browns to the divisional round of the playoffs.
But after suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder in the second game of 2021 he regressed, with a 17-to-13 TD-to-INT ratio and the Browns going just 6-8 in his 14 starts.
Still, he could be an attractive option to take a chance on especially since the Browns may not be able to command that much for a player with just one year left on his contract.
Until the quarterback carousel stops, this is at least one worth watching.
