The Detroit Lions keep surfacing as a team people think makes sense for Baker Mayfield, but they’d be bailing the Browns out at this point.
The Cleveland Browns made their bed with Baker Mayfield, and for sure ended his tenure with the team by trading for Deshaun Watson and signing Jacoby Brissett as protection against Watson being suspended.
As teams have made moves for quarterbacks around the league, the possible suitors for Mayfield have dwindled. A reported issue for any said teams is his $18.8 million salary for 2022, as he plays out his fifth-year option. Even if the Browns cover part of that money to facilitate a trade, there just aren’t many suitors.
The Detroit Lions keep surfacing as a possible suitor for Mayfield. The list of reasons he makes little sense for Detroit outweigh the ways it could work. Albert Breer of MMQB, while admitting it may be hard to make a trade work, pointed to the Lions earlier this week.
Ultimately, to me, doing that, then dealing him to a team like the Seahawks or Lions, where he could compete with another reclamation project quarterback (Drew Lock or Jared Goff), and give those teams another shot at getting their quarterback spot right, makes the most sense.
The Lions can’t be the one to bail Browns out with Baker Mayfield
The Browns wouldn’t take Jared Goff back in a deal for Mayfield, but if the Lions could somehow trade him to another team the door would theoretically be open to making Mayfield their clear-cut starter. Otherwise he’d be an expensive, and surely disgruntled, backup if he competed with Goff for the starting job and didn’t win.
Bleacher Report pointed to Detroit potentially sending one of their third-round picks to the Browns for Mayfield (No. 66 overall). But a good young player could be taken there. Mayfield is not any better than Goff, and the Lions would be spinning their wheels at quarterback next season with either one starting. Goff at least has continuity with the coaching staff, and he did play well late last season.
At this point, any team that trades for Mayfield is bailing the Browns out. The Lions should not be that team. Even as the speculation comes easy for some, the chances they make a deal for another former No. 1 overall pick quarterback stand at slim to none.