National Football League

Would Cleveland Browns cut Baker Mayfield?

Published May. 3, 2022 11:35 a.m. ET

Baker Mayfield's status since the start of the offseason has remained unchanged.

And while the NFL's quarterbacking carousel has been bustling, including several deals struck for signal-callers with new teams (Carson Wentz, Marcus Mariota, Russell Wilson and Matt Ryan, to name a few), Mayfield's own phone lines have remained seemingly dormant.

The Browns' QB1 last season has now plummeted to third on the squad's depth chart after Cleveland inked deals with Deshaun Watson and Jacoby Brissett to head its troupe, and with no plans to involve him in their long-term plans, Mayfield's tenure in Cleveland is all but over.

But as Yankee legend Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over till it's over."

And despite the fact that Mayfield has been adamant about his desires for a new home, Cleveland has been predominantly inactive in its pursuits to ship him elsewhere. That's in part due to his low value on the market, coupled with his lofty contractual total.

According to new reports though, Cleveland tried to offload Mayfield during the draft. Their efforts clearly proved unsuccessful.

"What's going on is there's very little interest in Baker Mayfield," Shannon Sharpe said Monday on "Undisputed." "He's not the hot commodity that Skip [Bayless] thought he was."

In Sharpe's mind, that leaves but one option for the Browns: release Mayfield.

"I think he's going to get cut. The thing [for Cleveland] is, 'How much of Baker's salary are you going to pay to take him off our hands? He's due $18.9 million. Are you willing to pay 15,16 of that? If not, what are we discussing?' Teams are like, 'We're not going to give you draft capital for a guy that we know you have to get off of.' It seems to me that Cleveland wasn't trying to pay a whole lot of his salary."

Baker Mayfield trade talks reportedly fell through during NFL Draft I UNDISPUTED

The NFL Draft came and went, yet Baker Mayfield remains in Cleveland. The Carolina Panthers were rumored to be interested in acquiring the QB after the first round of the draft ended, but despite reported discussions between the two teams, nothing ever materialized. Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless weigh in on Baker's future.

Many of the teams that could have found use for Mayfield's services seem to have moved on. Carolina drafted Matt Corral over the weekend, and the Steelers drafted Kenny Pickett, in addition to giving Mitchell Trubisky a two-year deal.

In addition, Washington traded for Wentz, and the Indianapolis Colts landed Matt Ryan.

Sharpe, however, said there is still hope for Mayfield in one city.

"The Seahawks might be the only viable place I could see him going. It's hard for me to believe that they're going to start the season with Drew Lock, Geno Smith, or Jacob Eason."