Rest easy, Seahawks fans who have been trying to talk yourselves into liking Baker Mayfield these last few weeks without success. According to a report by USA Today’s Josina Anderson, the team is “not chasing” the Browns quarterback under current pretenses.
Mayfield finds himself in a bit of a pickle. Cleveland has clearly moved on at quarterback after trading for Deshaun Watson and signing Jacoby Brissett to back him up. However, the Browns put themselves and their former franchise quarterback in an awkward situation by not dealing him first. Now, other teams around the league that might be interested in Mayfield have no incentive to make a move. For now, he’s under contract for one more year and has a fully-guaranteed salary over $18.5 million.
At the moment, Mayfield seems more into Seattle than they are into him. On a recent podcast he suggested that’s his most-likely destination. However, the truth is he has very few options and it doesn’t really make sense to trade for him when the Browns will likely be forced to release him, anyway.
In any case, this team already has a veteran QB who’s projected to start and has proven he can do it at a respectable level. After the Seahawks re-signed Geno Smith, the Panthers may be the only team remaining that would consider adding a veteran QB.
The latest reporting suggests that the Carolina job will come down to either Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo, who the 49ers don’t seem to be in a big hurry to trade but almost certainly will. The Steelers are also a wild card, assuming this whole starting Mitch Trubisky thing is misdirection and not an actual idea they’re considering.
Back to Seattle – with Smith returning to the top of the depth chart in Russell Wilson’s absence, there isn’t much room left. Drew Lock projects as the No. 2 option, followed by Jacob Eason. It’s possible they’ll use a draft pick on a QB prospect if one they like falls, but we’re willing to bet that Smith and Lock will be the only quarterbacks on the game day roster come Week 1.
