Baker Mayfield formally requests a trade

[Tk3]

As for the "Baker took a 1-31 team to the playoffs" narrative, that may be true

But the fact is, it means literally nothing as far as decision making goes. 2018-2020 doesn't matter. What matters is 2022-20xx. If they don't think Baker is the guy to get them over the hump, they should work on moving on.

I feel like the same people defending Baker are the same people who slam QBs like Cousins, Jimmy, etc. and the contracts they received

[H2ThaIzzo]

3 hours ago, Techbert said:

1. I think the Browns have underperformed with the talent they have accumulated, and the quarterback always gets the credit and blame.

2. He tries for too many home run balls to be consistently successful, and the current coaches believe in taking what the defense gives you.

3. I have never been in a meeting room with either Baker or Deshaun, so I cannot comment either way about the truth of the adult comment. I will say there is a difference between football maturity and having a fetish you cannot control.

4. With that said, I would fire the person who leaked the adult comment if I could identify him or her, and I would not spend the trade capital needed in this case to acquire a quarterback with that big of a distraction looming over his head.

5. If the breakup was fiendishly planned by the coaching staff, they better have a draftable quarterback prospect they believe in.

we lost six games last year by one score or less. In two of them, we put up 29, and 42 points. Our horrible kicking game cost us in losses against Green Bay (missed PAT then a terrible coaching decision to go for 2 way too early in the game) LV (missed a FG and lost by 2) and Baltimore (missed FG, Landry fumble when we were driving inside Bal territory). There were so many mistakes made from coaching to kicking to pass catching to turnovers. YES, Baker absolutely didn't play good football, but the outcome of more than a third of our games could have been different if coaches coached better, or other players did their jobs better. This is all being placed on Baker unfairly. If he wasn't injured last year, do we really think he plays as bad as he did? He surely didn't start the season off playing that way. 

[seminoles1]

41 minutes ago, THE DUKE said:

The Darnold trade was a big whiff, and Wentz has played better than Baker.

He didn't play better than him in 2020, after which Wentz went for a 1st and a 3rd.

A young starting QB goes for a good bit more than a 5th rounder.

[Ray Reed]

35 minutes ago, H2ThaIzzo said:

we lost six games last year by one score or less. In two of them, we put up 29, and 42 points. Our horrible kicking game cost us in losses against Green Bay (missed PAT then a terrible coaching decision to go for 2 way too early in the game) LV (missed a FG and lost by 2) and Baltimore (missed FG, Landry fumble when we were driving inside Bal territory). There were so many mistakes made from coaching to kicking to pass catching to turnovers. YES, Baker absolutely didn't play good football, but the outcome of more than a third of our games could have been different if coaches coached better, or other players did their jobs better. This is all being placed on Baker unfairly. If he wasn't injured last year, do we really think he plays as bad as he did? He surely didn't start the season off playing that way. 

Bro we threw 4 INTs that game lol.

Ain't no way you're saying you should've won because you turned the ball over.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Ray Reed

[Dr LBC]

The biggest news here... you mean Baker doesn't live at Paul Brown Stadium?!

[AkronsWitness]

..............🤣

 

Edited March 18, 2022 by AkronsWitness

[iknowcool]

 If you think Mayfield is too immature, then why the Browns approach the situation as they did if they weren't going to be willing to trade him after the fact?  

I'm not his biggest fan, but you can't let the stuff that leaked about him get out to the public and also actively look to trade for another QB.  Not coincidentally, around that time, a bunch of reports came out about how the Browns were looking to move on from Mayfield.  So clearly they had no trouble trading him then.

I mean realistically, how did the Browns expect him to react?  What starting level QB in the NFL would have been okay with what the Browns did?  The Panthers relationship with Bridgewater soured the same way because the Panthers made it no secret they wanted to move on, and Bridgewater isn't even close to Mayfield in skill-level (and this is coming from someone who isn't necessarily his biggest fan).

I'm not blaming the Browns for pursuing Watson.  Watson is worth it from a football perspective.  But I do think they should be blamed for how they handled the situation and how clear it has been made that they (as of now) do not have a long-term commitment to Mayfield.  

[Slappy Mc]

Baker would win points with me if he released a statement saying that he will be the "Adult in this situation and walk away."

 

[Matts4313]

2 hours ago, MWil23 said:

 

You are smart and reasonable 99.95% of the time. You know I like you as a bro and fellow coach.

I am buttering you up to tell you that you are dead wrong. Browns are 100% in the fault on this one. And this isnt my bias because I have watched Baker since he was a wee lad, this is the fact that you dont show up to prom with girl A then ask girl B for the first dance. 

[MWil23]

3 minutes ago, Matts4313 said:

You are smart and reasonable 99.95% of the time. You know I like you as a bro and fellow coach.

I am buttering you up to tell you that you are dead wrong. Browns are 100% in the fault on this one. And this isnt my bias because I have watched Baker since he was a wee lad, this is the fact that you dont show up to prom with girl A then ask girl B for the first dance. 

I clarified this in about 3 of my next 4 posts.  

[Tk3]

2 minutes ago, Matts4313 said:

You are smart and reasonable 99.95% of the time. You know I like you as a bro and fellow coach.

I am buttering you up to tell you that you are dead wrong. Browns are 100% in the fault on this one. And this isnt my bias because I have watched Baker since he was a wee lad, this is the fact that you dont show up to prom with girl A then ask girl B for the first dance. 

Except this isn't a consensual relationship. The Browns are not a human being, who are married to Baker, who are cheating on Baker.

It's a business partnership, where, as they approach the end date, both parties have the opportunity to use their leverage to meet their goals
 

Seriously.. are people really up in arms and questioning the ethical nature of a team exploring a trade? Have we really gotten to this point?

[Matts4313]

7 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

I clarified this in about 3 of my next 4 posts.  

I was elected as FF.com Czar to lead, not to read. 

[MWil23]

4 minutes ago, Tk3 said:

Except this isn't a consensual relationship. The Browns are not a human being, who are married to Baker, who are cheating on Baker.

It's a business partnership, where, as they approach the end date, both parties have the opportunity to use their leverage to meet their goals
 

Seriously.. are people really up in arms and questioning the ethical nature of a team exploring a trade? Have we really gotten to this point?

Here's the reality:

The Browns probably made a mistake in the "adult" comment, especially while pursuing Watson (and they're not wrong on Baker's maturity or lack thereof).

That said, the Browns have the majority of the negotiating power. Baker is under contract, he has underperformed with some flashes of competent to good play (he's average), and with their core roster as good as almost anyone else in the league, Baker can either demand a trade somewhere else, which the organization is under no obligation to grant him morally or otherwise, or Baker can try to leverage it by sitting out.

Is he really going to leave $18 million on the table in the weakest QB class in years after a year of bad film and try again at 27 years of age in a less advantageous overall roster situation to then go "all in" on a prove it deal?

He's playing chicken with a freight train, whether the Browns are the villains or not in this business partnership. They're well within their rights to hold him and try to move him at maximum value or keep him because he's better than anyone else they have or could get this year.

[Matts4313]

6 minutes ago, Tk3 said:

Except this isn't a consensual relationship. The Browns are not a human being, who are married to Baker, who are cheating on Baker.

It's a business partnership, where, as they approach the end date, both parties have the opportunity to use their leverage to meet their goals
 

Seriously.. are people really up in arms and questioning the ethical nature of a team exploring a trade? Have we really gotten to this point?

To simplistic. Way to simplistic. Even in business only relationships there is a level of decorum expected. This is a bad look from the FO. 

I dont see how there is any way to spinzone this as anything but 'not a good look'

[Matts4313]

3 minutes ago, MWil23 said:

That said, the Browns have the majority of the negotiating power.

-------------------------------------------

 in the weakest QB class in years

Pick one. You dont get both.

Edited March 18, 2022 by Matts4313