Report: Current salary impacting trade interest in Baker Mayfield

“It doesn’t seem like anyone is interested at this salary,” Rapoport said. “The ‘at this salary’ part is key, because Baker Mayfield is unlikely to be traded at $18 million. If the Browns are able to eat some money or if the agent and the new team can work it out and come up with some sort of answer to how to split or deal with Baker Mayfield’s salary, then I believe he will be traded. I don’t get the sense that the Browns are going to release him.”

What is perhaps more interesting is that Rapoport would not rule out a scenario where the Browns keep Mayfield as insurance against a Deshaun Watson suspension. Watson could be suspended for a significant portion of the 2022 season, so Cleveland might want Mayfield to start in the meantime.

It is highly unlikely that Mayfield would want to remain in Cleveland as a contingency plan, of course. He publicly requested a trade just because the Browns showed interest in Watson. Would he want to stick around now that the deal has been completed? The answer is almost certainly no.

The Browns appear to be taking a hard stance in Mayfield trade talks. That could certainly change, especially if Mayfield starts creating issues for the organization.