The Browns are expected to trade Baker Mayfield after acquiring Deshaun Watson to play quarterback, but one former Brown thinks Mayfield only has himself to blame.
On his podcast, former Cleveland offensive tackle Joe Thomas said Mayfield’s actions leading up to the Watson deal could be why the Browns pursued Watson.
“It seemed like Baker overplayed his hand a little bit,” Thomas said on The Thom and Hawk Football Show. “Because the interesting thing was at that moment, the Browns were out of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes. And it seemed by all accounts that they were ready to do what it took to smooth things over with Baker.”
Thomas believes Mayfield should’ve worked with the team to try and fix their relationship instead of asking out.
“He was their quarterback and he could’ve said ‘Hey, I realize you guys went after Deshaun Watson, it didn’t sit well with me, but make it up to me, I need to do something with this contract, you need to commit to me so I can commit to you, right? Let’s bring this relationship back together.”
Instead, Mayfield released a public statement thanking Cleveland fans for their support, and privately asked for a trade elsewhere. Additionally, believing they were out of the running for Watson, Cleveland wasn’t going to accommodate Mayfield’s trade request.
“He got a little sensitive about it, he got a little emotional,” Thomas said. “He went radio silence on the Cleveland Browns and said ‘You have to trade me to the Indianapolis Colts,’ thinking he was perceived as a franchise quarterback in the NFL and that he could kind of dictate the terms of where he was gonna be traded.”
The Browns, meanwhile, were upset with Mayfield’s attitude and were interested in replacing him with “adult” at quarterback.
Indianapolis, who was believed to be Mayfield’s preferred destination, chose to trade for Matt Ryan instead.
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