Baker Mayfield trade rumors continue to flare up despite the fact that neither the Browns nor any other team in the league seems ready to end the drama.
If you’ve been holding your breath for movement in the ongoing Baker Mayfield situation, you’ve probably passed out. Molasses moves faster than negotiations to get Baker out of Cleveland have gone and it doesn’t sound like that’s going to change any time soon.
Two things have happened in regard to Baker’s future in the NFL but neither of them moves us any closer to a potential resolution.
According to Jake Trotter from ESPN, the Browns have drawn a line in the sand when it comes to Mayfield. To the surprise of no one, Cleveland is reportedly unwilling to negotiate his release and will continue to hold out until he either reports to the team or a trade partner is found.
“With no other trade partner on the horizon and Cleveland thus far unwilling to negotiate Mayfield’s release, according to sources, the Browns quarterback continues to have a murky future,” Trotter writes.
Baker Mayfield trade talks are apparently going nowhere fast
In a shoe on the other foot situation, teams around the league are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the Browns. NFL insider Josina Anderson reports that one team with interest in Mayfield is refusing to play by Cleveland’s rules and won’t make a deal simply to make one happen.
“I spoke to a source from a team that expressed interest in Baker Mayfield, had talks, but they cooled not wanting to pay asking price feeling he has to be cut. Their follow-up comment tonight: ‘no one’s trying to do the Browns any favors in this situation.’,” Anderson reported.
Simply put, the Browns have about as much leverage in trading Mayfield as the quarterback appears to have with the team.
The saga, which ignited into a full-blown tire fire when the Browns made it known they were interested in trading for Deshaun Watson, seems to be nowhere near conclusion. With Watson in Cleveland, there seems to no longer be a logical place for Mayfield, however, the team seems hellbent on keeping him in case Watson is suspended by the NFL for the nearly two-dozen sexual misconduct and assault civil suits that have been brought against him.
